Cooking a vegan Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner? This Classic Vegan Nut Roast (gluten-free) is a delicious and filling main dish.
As the days get shorter and chillier, Christmas has come around again with its promise of good food, celebrations and treats.
It's also the time of year that strikes fear into the heart of anyone wondering how to go vegan or their relative: What to cook?! Luckily for you, I have the answer right here: this delicious Classic Vegan Nut Roast.
Fortunately for me, wondering what to eat at Christmas was never a problem in our house as my whole family were vegetarian.
This meant we always ate a variation of this nut roast for Christmas Dinner, served with vegetables, roast potatoes, parsnips, stuffing and delicious gravy.
For some unknown reason, nut roast seems to have had a bad reputation in the past. I have no idea why! It's delicious, nutritious and protein-packed.
And in case you're wondering, it's not intended as a poor substitute for meat - it's a unique savoury main dish all of its own! Try it and see.
What is a Nut Roast?
For anyone unfamiliar, a nut roast is basically a delicious savoury loaf made with nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and vegetables. It forms the main part of a vegan or vegetarian roast dinner, and is more common in the UK.
It can be served with any of the following; roasted or hasselback potatoes, carrots, parsnips, gravy, cranberry sauce, Brussels sprouts, salad and greens.
It's incredibly filling because it's so protein-dense, and is also really delicious. It's no exaggeration to say therefore that a roast dinner featuring a nut roast is my all-time favourite meal!
Classic Vegan Nut Roast - The Recipe
This gluten free nut roast is a delicious combination of hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts and sunflower seeds, but if any of those don't suit you, you're welcome to substitute them for other nuts/seeds.
I've used this combination specifically because it's delicious and cost-effective (the peanuts and sunflower seeds help to bring the price down), but it's totally customizable.
Get creative and feel free to use your own favourite nuts and seeds to make it your own. I hope you find it as delicious as I do!
LOOKING FOR MORE VEGAN HOLIDAY RECIPES?
Vegan Cheese Board
British Vegan Mince Pies
Classic Vegan Nut Roast (gluten-free)
Ingredients
Nut Roast
- 1 tablespoon ground flax
- 4 tablespoon water
- 1½ cups peanuts
- 1 cup walnuts
- ½ cup hazelnuts
- ½ cup sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoon dried mixed herbs
- 1 tbsp dried sage (finely ground)
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ cup brown rice flour (you can use regular flour if gluten isn't an issue for you)
- 1 medium onion
- 1-2 small carrots
- 1 medium stick of celery
- 1½ tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tamari, soy sauce or Braggs Soy Seasoning
- sea salt to taste
For Decoration
- ¼ cup mixed nuts (hazelnuts and walnuts work well)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F and line a loaf tin with baking parchment.
- Mix the ground flax and water together in a small bowl and set aside.
- Add the peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts and sunflower seeds to a blender or food processor and blend until they become coarse flour.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the mixed herbs, sage, pepper and brown rice flour, and stir until combined.
- Chop the onion, carrot and celery into four large chunks each. Place them all in a blender or food processor and blend until they are finely chopped.
- Add the olive oil to a saucepan and heat. Add the onion, carrot and celery and fry the mixture gently for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened and fragrant.
- Transfer the vegetables to the large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, add the flax egg and tamari, and mix everything together really well.
- Season to taste with sea salt (I would sample the mixture at this point before adding salt as soy sauces tend to vary in their saltiness, and you may not need to add any extra!).
- Pour the mixture into your loaf tin and press it down to flatten it with a spatula.
- Press the ¼ cup of nuts your reserved for decoration into the top of the roast, placing them evenly all over the surface.
- Bake the roast in the oven for approximately 45 minutes, until the top of the loaf is browned.
- Remove from the loaf tin and place on a cooling rack for 30 minutes - or serve immediately!
- Serve with roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots, kale and gravy.
If you’ve tried this recipe, please leave a comment or tip for others below. I'd love to know how you’ve made it your own!
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Gynetha
I am delighted to find your recipes.But I have a question: what are the little vertical rectangles that appear where a number/fraction should be at the beginning of an ingredient to indicate the amount (US measurements)?
Elizabeth
Hi! I'm so glad you like my recipes. 🙂
Apologies - these little rectangles are what happen when some devices are unable to read fraction symbols in a particular font. I'm working on sorting this out - do you have another device you can view the recipes on for now?
Thanks so much for your feedback!
Jen
Hi there! What would work well instead of brown rice flower please?
Elizabeth
Hi Jen!
You could use almost any flour - regular if you aren't gluten-free, or chickpea, white rice, buckwheat, any standard gluten-free blend, or oat flour also works really nicely. The only flour I'd really recommend you don't use is coconut - it has too strong a taste and is very fibrous!
Hope this helps.
Elizabeth x
Luke
A staple! Any occasion even if that is just because it is Sunday.
Elizabeth
I couldn't agree more. 🙂
Miriam
This was good!! I over processed my nuts so they were more like peanut butter than flour.... I’d like to sub all those peanuts with something else maybe? But overall a nice, easy dish that I’d make again. I had it with Brussels sprouts & green beans with cranberries ?
Elizabeth
Hi Miriam! Thanks so much for your lovely feedback. I'm so glad you liked it. You can definitely sub the peanuts for any other nut - the beauty of this recipe is that virtually any kind of nuts work. The reason for such a large amount of peanuts is just to help keep the cost down for those who are concerned about it! 🙂
Lisa
Thank you! I was googling where to find a gluten free vegan turkey as all of the ones I’ve found (premade) have gluten! Woohoo ?
Elizabeth
That makes me so happy to hear! Yes they almost always have gluten in - so annoying. Really hope you love it as much as I do and Merry Christmas! 🙂
Jo
Lovely to find a vegan, gluten free and mushroom free nut roast. Have saved the recipe.
I substituted chestnuts for the peanuts and put a little leek in too.
Absolutely delicious with roast veg and some left over for the freezer too.
Thank you
Elizabeth
I'm so glad you liked it Jo! I agree, it can be hard to find gluten free nut roast! What a great idea using chestnuts - I'll have to try that one myself!
Donna Sue
Can you prepare this ahead of time and freeze it raw?
Elizabeth
Yes you can! I frequently do this actually when I make more than I need, then thaw it and cook it as normal. (Just do make sure you thaw before cooking!)
Pam
It was tasty but I found it crumbled when I tried to slice it. Any suggestions ?
Elizabeth
Ah I'm sorry to hear that Pam. I'd suggest using a little more flour in that case - maybe 3-4 tbsp more.
Rachael Ann Rogerson
Hi there - can you tell me what a cup is in grams please as it depends what sort of cup it is! I’m in the U.K. and have scales rather than “cups” - sorry of this is a dim question! Thanks
Elizabeth
Hello! Not a dim question at all. 🙂 Apologies for not having all my measurements in grams too. 1 cup nuts is approximately 125g (all nuts have slightly different weights). I hope that helps!