Whole Foods Has Vegan Holiday Meals This Year—Here's What to Order

Shape

Any vegan or vegetarian will tell you how frustrating it can be to attend holiday parties where there are only one or two measly side dishes available. Which is why we're excited to share that Whole Foods Market will make festive vegan entreés and sides throughout the holiday season this year, making it easier to accommodate friends and family with plant-based diets. (Related: 10 Vegetarian Recipes to Be Thankful for This Thanksgiving)

Whole Foods has teamed up with James Beard finalist Jeremy Fox, author of On Vegetables, 2017's most celebrated vegetarian cookbook that stems his experiences as a chef at Rustic Canyon and Tallula's in California, to make the new range of vegan holiday meals. And it's not Tofurky dinners, either—the star creation is a whole, slow-roasted Romanesco cauliflower delicately dressed in lemon-garlic bagna cauda sauce and a red miso glaze (a fantastic addition to any Thanksgiving spread).

Photo: Whole Foods

The rest of Whole Foods' vegan holiday menu includes a cremini mushroom stuffing made with kimchi, roasted acorn squash stuffed with maple and hazelnut dukkah, charred escarole with tomatoes and chickpeas, and frosted sweet potato blondies coated in vanilla frosting and toasted cashews. (Related: These Vegan Dessert Recipes Will Make You Forget All About Dairy and Eggs)

The best part? Whole Foods' vegan offerings are pretty nutritionally redeeming, especially when shared at a holiday table—the whole roasted Romanesco cauliflower entree, for example, clocks in at 480 calories and 760mg of sodium for the entire dish. Each entree and dish is designed to be shared between two people, ranging anywhere between 200 and 300 calories per serving across the board. The blondie cake dessert is more decadent, at 490 calories and 8g of saturated fat per slice. It's worth a splurge on the holidays, but you can also make a vegan dessert that's healthier, without too much effort.

Photo: Whole Foods

How much is it to buy a vegan holiday spread, you may ask? Prices range per store, but at our local Whole Foods, the entire spread is just $39.99. If you're just looking for one dish, you can also order a la carte, with prices ranging between $8 and $15. Use Whole Foods' online ordering system to place your order here.

If you're interested in sampling these dishes before ordering them, you're in luck—Whole Foods will be serving them throughout the first week of November at every store's hotbar in the deli section. During this time, Whole Foods is also offering a $5 coupon on all pre-orders of the vegan holiday meals with the promo code "VEGAN." (Related: Insanely Good Vegan Recipes for Your Favorite Comfort Foods)

This isn't the first time that Whole Foods is making vegan dinner an easy affair for the holidays—last year, they partnered with vegan chefs from Philadelphia's Vedge, a popular plant-based restaurant. According to a representative, these offerings were the best-selling items of the season, so we're guessing that these new meals will be just as fabulous.

This story originally appeared on CookingLight.com by Zee Krstic.