Ideas to get you started planning your vegan Christmas dinner menu

I love Christmas. I love it so much, I get to enjoy it twice: once in the planning, and once in the actual doing. I love dreaming up all the things I'm going to cook at Christmas, Boxing Day, and beyond: from the big spread on the day itself to all the little dishes that make up the buffet lunch on Boxing Day, when you're too stuffed to move but you still have room for another (vegan) sausage roll.

When it comes to Christmas dinner, there's one element that doesn't change: I always make a big old smoked tofu and cashew loaf, modelled on this recipe from the Vegetarian Society. Everything else? That's up for grabs. Some years there are vegan yorkshire puddings, while more recently I've started adding slow braised red cabbage, filled with Christmas spices. Some times there are pigs in blankets (no pigs involved, of course) and I'm always experimenting with how best to cook up the crispiest roasties.

With Christmas a few weeks away, I've been scrolling endlessly through recipes, wondering what to add to this year's heaving Christmas dinner table. Any thoughts on what I should make? Let me know in the comments below. In the meantime, here are a few ideas to get me thinking...

Mains

• Chestnut, squash and sweet potato loaf (Olive)
• Nut roast with onion gravy (Vegan Food and Living)
• Kale Lovers' Christmas Pie (The Veg Space)
• Vegan Mushroom Wellington (Delicious Everyday)
• Lentil Roast with Balsamic Onion Gravy (Wallflower Kitchen)
• Ultimate Christmas Tofurkey Roast (Full of Plants)
• Vegan Sage and Onion Plait (The Rose and Bean)

Roasties

• Simple Herb Roasted Potatoes (I Love Vegan)
• Crispy Turmeric Curried Roasted Potatoes (One Green Planet)
• Pesto Roasted Potatoes (Veganuary)
• Balsamic roasted new potatoes with asparagus (The Vegan Society)
• Polenta roast potatoes (Sainsbury's)

Pigs in blankets

• Vegan Pigs in Sun-dried Tomato Blankets (Vegan Recipe Club)
• Vegan Pigs in Blankets (The Tofu Diaries)
• Vegan Pigs in a Blanket w/ Homemade Mini Dogs + Dijon Mustard Aioli (The Vegan Caveman)
• Mini Vegan Carrot Dogs in a Blanket (Karissa's Vegan Kitchen)

Stuffing

• Simple Vegan Stuffing (Minimalist Baker)
• The Best Vegan Stuffing Ever! (The Edgy Veg)
• Vegan stuffing with chestnuts for the holidays (Cadry's Kitchen)
• Chestnut stuffing recipe (BBC)

Vegetable sides

• Sicilian style roast sprouts (Waitrose)
• Maple Mustard Roasted Carrots with Roasted Garlic Cashew Cream (Lauren Caris Cooks)
• Potato and Parsnip Balls (Animal Aid)
• Root Vegetable Gratin (Demuth's)
• Sexy Christmas Vegetables (Avant Garde Vegan)
• Spiced Red Cabbage (Food Network)

Everything in one place

• The ultimate vegan Christmas menu: roast celeriac, miso sprouts, stuffing, red wine and mushroom gravy and more (The Telegraph)
• How to make a perfect vegan Christmas dinner with all the trimmings (The Metro)
• Our Ultimate Vegan Christmas Dinner Menu (Great British Chefs)