Jamie Oliver's best vegetarian Christmas recipes (2024)

FAQs

What does a vegetarian eat for Christmas dinner? ›

Try one of our best-ever vegetarian Christmas dinner recipes, from roasted butternut squash with butterbean and goat's cheese mash to spinach and ricotta lasagne roll-ups – or an impressive spiral vegetable tart. Serve up plenty of greens on the side, and it will be a merry Christmas all round.

Nut Roast. The most popular Christmas meal for vegetarians and vegans is the nut roast. This typically describes a mixture of nuts, breadcrumbs, leeks, onions, broth and either oil or butter. However, this recipe is malleable and offers the opportunity for many alterations according to personal preference.

Book overview

Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook is packed with all the classics you need for the big day and beyond, as well as loads of delicious recipes for edible gifts, party food, and new ways to love those leftovers.

In a week, he goes vegan for a day and a half and then goes vegetarian twice a week, the remaining days he sticks to his usual diet. It's definitely a step in the right direction. He also believes that this is the right way for meat eaters to make a smooth transition, by including vegan days into their weekly routine.

Not far behind Brussels sprouts are roasted parsnips and carrots when you think of traditional Christmas vegetables. Roasted root vegetables can be delicious but perhaps always suffer from being shovelled onto your plate alongside roast potatoes, which are of course one of the highlights of Christmas day dinner.

Well, the short answer is yes! Unless they are vegan (meaning they don't eat dairy products, eggs, or any other products which are derived from animals), some vegetarians do eat eggs and belong to a group known as lacto-ovo-vegetarians which according to the Vegetarian Society is the most common type of meatless diet.

If you really want to serve something that is a nearly seamless substitute for Thanksgiving turkey, there's always Field Roast, a plant-based meat and cheese company that sells soy-free holiday roasts. They are wheat-based vegan stuffed roasts with a sage, rosemary, and bread filling.

In Northern Italy, Lasagne Bolognese and filled pasta like manicotti and ravioli are traditional Christmas fare. Next comes the main event, the meat. Roasted veal, baked chicken, sausages or braised beef are common Natale entrées worth celebrating.

And the second name in this European ranking — none other than Jamie Oliver — doesn't hold a single Michelin star, despite being the subject of 4.4 million Google searches last year, compared with 1 million for Alain Ducasse.

Which chef trained Jamie Oliver? ›

Born in Minori on the Amalfi Coast, Gennaro Contaldo is one of the most respected chefs in London and is widely known as the man who taught Jamie Oliver all he knows about Italian cooking.

Personal life. In July 2000, Oliver married former model and writer Juliette Norton, usually known as "Jools".

This steak sarnie recipe remains one of Jamie Oliver's most famous dishes.

Jamie Oliver revealed he lost two stone by eliminating meat from his diet. He decided to lose weight after realising how unhealthy his eating habits were. Feeling the need to make a change in his lifestyle, the 44-year-old celebrity chef decided to replace meat-based meals with vegetarian options.

He said: "It's a secret that's so big, I'm almost afraid to say it on national television." "After all these years, I can finally admit that I actually love vegan food," he added before saying that it has taken "20 years to get to this point." In recent years, Ramsay showed some understanding of plant-based food.

Intake and status of vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, zinc, iodine, calcium and bone turnover markers were generally lower in plant-based dietary patterns compared to meat-eaters. Vegans had the lowest vitamin B12, calcium and iodine intake, and also lower iodine status and lower bone mineral density.

The specific dishes may differ from country to country, but many of them are universal. Due to the Nativity Fast, no meat, eggs or milk (including cheese) are allowed during the supper.

How much veg is too much? Whether it's parsnips, sprouts, braised cabbage or carrots, 80g of each per person will do the trick.