Vegan Holiday Roast

October 27, 2022 By Melissa Huggins / 59 Comments

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Make your festive dinner complete with this succulent Vegan Holiday Roast. It's filled with savory flavors and finished with a mouth-watering glaze.

Two slices of vegan holiday roast on a white plate with gravy on top.

Let the celebrations begin!! I'm SO ready for some spiked nog and a nice sit-down dinner with family and friends. It's always a blast!

I usually make this Vegan Holiday Roast along with my Vegan Wellington for the main entrées and serve them with all the holiday classics. It's an absolute feast!

This vegan roast recipe may look intimidating but it's actually quite easy to make, so don't be scared off. The hardest part is waiting for it to come out of the oven. I promise it'll be worth it though! Check it out...

Table of Contents

Ingredients Needed

Here are the ingredients you'll need and some additional notes:

Ingredients to make the recipe on a stone backdrop.

Olive oil - you can also use avocado, sunflower, grapeseed, etc.
Onion - I used a yellow onion, but you can use white if that's what you have. Shallots will work nicely, too.
White mushrooms - you can use any type of mushrooms, just note that the brown mushrooms will create a slightly darker roast.
Garlic - lots of fresh garlic will provide wonderful flavor.
Soy sauce - it adds umami flavor. You can also use tamari or coconut aminos.
Cannellini beans - any white beans will work such as great northern or navy beans.
Nutritional yeast - adds lots of umami flavor.
Better Than Bouillon - no chicken base - yields tons of savory flavor and I highly recommend it, but if you can't find the 'no chicken base', you can use their regular vegetable broth. This will darken the loaf slightly and will taste a little different, but it will still be delicious.
Vegan Worcestershire sauce - If you can't find it, you can use barbeque sauce or vegan steak sauce. You can also use a combination of 2 teaspoons of ketchup, 1.5 teaspoons of balsamic vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of low-sodium soy sauce.
Seasoning - granulated garlic, granulated onion, rosemary, thyme, ground sage, smoked paprika, ground white pepper. Feel free to switch it up here, but don't omit too much or it won't be as flavorful.
Vital wheat gluten - this is essential for the recipe and cannot be substituted with anything else.
Water

How to make a Vegan Holiday Roast

Here are step-by-step photos to show you the entire process. It's easy!

six process photos showing how to cook the onions and mushrooms, then processing everything together.

Sauté the onion in oil over medium heat until translucent then add garlic and sauté until fragrant.
Add the mushrooms and cook until they have released their water, have reduced in size, and are lightly golden. Pour in the soy sauce and stir into the mushrooms. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
To a food processor, add 2 cups of mushroom/onion mixture, and all the remaining ingredients (except the vital wheat gluten). Process for 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides as needed until everything is broken down and combined.
To a large mixing bowl, add the vital wheat gluten and the mixture from the food processor. Stir until it just starts to come together (about 30-60 seconds).

six process photos showing how to knead and form the dough, then glaze.

Using your hands keep combining, sweeping up all the vital wheat gluten in the bowl (about 30-60 seconds). Now knead for 5 minutes. The dough should be thick, slightly elastic, and somewhat fibrous looking.
Let the dough rest for 5 minutes then knead for 30-60 seconds and shape the dough into a loaf shape about 8 inches long and 3.5" inches wide.
Roll the loaf in a piece of parchment paper, then roll in a piece of foil that's about 20" long, and twist the ends like a candy wrapper, securing in place. Bake for 80 minutes, flipping halfway through. Now remove from oven and allow the roast to sit undisturbed for 20 minutes. Remove from foil and parchment. You can slice and serve now OR prepare the loaf for glazing.
Preheat your oven broiler to the low setting. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, oil, and soy sauce until the sugar has dissolved. Now, place the loaf back in the roasting pan and brush the top and sides with the glaze. Broil for 2-3 minutes until you see the glaze start to caramelize. Now brush one more layer on the top and sides and broil for another 2-3 minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning.

Success Tips

It's best to dry-brush the mushrooms instead of rinsing them. They absorb a lot of water and this can make it difficult to brown them.
It's very important to measure all of the ingredients accurately and follow the instructions precisely or this will alter the end results.
For an accurate measurement, you can weigh the vital wheat gluten to get exactly 280 grams. If you don't have a kitchen scale, don’t scoop the VWG with a measuring cup directly from the container. Instead, aerate it first, then scoop it out of your container with a spoon and then into a measuring cup. Don’t pack or tap the cup. After filling, lightly sweep a butter knife across the top to remove the excess.
Kneading is very important and should be done for 5 minutes. Any less and the loaf can turn out spongy. Also, if you over knead, the loaf can turn out tough and rubbery. If you feel you may have over kneaded, you can let the dough rest for 15 minutes before shaping it into a loaf.
The loaf should be wrapped snugly but not super tight or it won't expand.

What should I serve with a Vegan Holiday Roast?

You can serve just about anything with this delicious seitan roast, but here are some of my faves:

Mashed Potatoes & Mushroom Gravy
Sautéed Green Beans
Apple Cranberry Sauce
A Festive Salad
Baked Vegan Mac and Cheese
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Vegan Cornbread

The best way to reheat leftovers

Preheat your oven to 350 °F (177 °C). Place the portion you'll be eating in a covered baking dish. It will get too dry if you leave it uncovered. You can top it with some gravy for extra moisture. Cook until heated throughout.

Overhead view of sliced vegan holiday roast on a white platter.

I'd love to hear from you

If you make this recipe, let me know what you think by ★ star rating it and leaving a comment below. It would really make my day. You can also follow me on Instagram and share your creation with me. Just tag me @veganhuggs and hashtag #veganhuggs so I don’t miss it.