Help! Vegetarian coming for Christmas dinner

[Allaboutthegirliguess]

So we planned to have a quiet Christmas this year, but my son is now coming with his vegetarian girlfriend.

Can anyone help with what we can make her please.
We will be having a roast, meat, and our potatoes are cooked in goose fat.
Ideally I need something that wont create an issue as we are cooking our meal!
So maybe can be done before or done in the airfyer.

Hoping someone can come up with an idea
Tia

DS gets his big plate of turkey and pigs - and then they both head off later to her parents’ veggie buffet. They both seem happy with this arrangement!

Oooh now I want a roast dinner.

I don't really care for most of the fake meat options, a big plate of fancy roast carrots, potatoes, parsnips, yorkshire puddings, cauliflower cheese, I'd be a very happy vegetarian! Just don't add meat fat to any of it.

mushroom wellington

I have a couple of vegetarians coming - they bring a nut roast & I cook them separate potatoes & stuffing in the air fryer, buy them a veg gravy and the veg is the same as we have.

Last time I did arancino as a starter which was rice & mushroom so no problem there

Yes its as simple as this . So don't panic its not difficult. I cook for vegetarian and vegans at Xmas and at end of day its just cooking in a different way...and delicious. Have a lovely day

Veggie Dd would sell her soul for cauliflower cheese and that’s something you can make for everyone (just make sure she gets first dibs!)

Just get something from M&S or similar ok place . No way would I make 2 dinners at Christmas, the amount if cooking it involves it’s hard enough . They should be able to eat the vegetables anyway

I can’t bear nut roast so would probably do some sort of pastry parcel. Butternut squash and goats cheese tart, mushroom leek and Gruyère cheese, Brie, cranberry and stuffing are good options. You could make it up the day before and chuck it in the oven on the day. Serve with roast potatoes done in oil and normal veg.

Or maybe a stuffed butter nut squash if she doesn’t like pastry. Again you could do most of the work the day before and oven it on the day

I'm a vegetarian. I have everything but the meat on my Christmas dinner. Cook the potatoes in veg oil and i make my own separate gravy that's about it. I just have extra cauliflower cheese bc i cannot get enough of it i love the stuff. If in doubt, just ask. Then you'll know they'll e joy what you make them.

@Allaboutthegirliguess Given the wide variety of responses on here you really need to ask the girlfriend.

For posters who are confused about vegetariansim - vegetarians don't eat meat, fish or cheese with rennet in it or anything that involves the death of an animal.

Posters saying that they don't know what vegetarians eat surprise me. Do they really eat meat or fish at every single meal?

As a veggie the last thing I want to do is put people to any trouble so I’ll quite happily bring my own or just eat the potatoes / veggies but as lots other people have suggested just ask her , you’ve got almost 3
months notice .
Do have to say though that your post comes across very negatively , I hope that you’re more welcoming towards her in person .

Roast potatoes are fabulous in walnut oil. Then you only need a protein based meat replacement & veg gravy.

I’m sure it must have already been mentioned but it might be a good idea to ask before considering quorn. It doesn’t agree with everybody. My DH being an example.

Having tried this in past, I'm inclined to agree. You still get very good roast potatoes using vegetable oil.

Anybody else picturing the scene in Downton Abbey where the exasperated Mrs Patman exclaims, "a vegetarian???!!!"

Dd is a veggie because she doesn’t like meat, it isn’t an ethical decision for her. She still eats Parmesan.

If she didn’t eat anything with any animal produce in it she would be vegan.

I find it a bit odd to see 'Help! a vegetarian's coming for dinner!' in 2026. It's something you might have seen in a BBC sitcom in around 1982. I clicked, expecting there to be another factor to consider that made it impossibly hard, but no. It's just a vegetarian coming for dinner.

Surely we've all got to grips with some people not eating meat by now? It couldn't be easier to pick something up that's suitable.

Oh wow I remember seeing this recipe from maybe 15 years ago and wanted to try it but never did. I’m not vegetarian now but seeing the recipe again is making me want to try making it!
It sounds so nice !

lidl will have (may already be in) frozen veggie mains like butternut squash wellington to just bake. Substitute goose fat for sunflower oil and a pinch of salt, cook separately from the meat (obviously). Buy standard gravy granules, not the posh ones, they are vegan eg Lidl own brand red ones, add a pinch of dried sage and stir in a couple of tsp of cranberry sauce to pimp it up. For stuffing I recommend standard shop sage and onion dried pimped up with a couple tsp cinnamon, a good handful of whole cranberries (frozen is fine) and grated zest of an orange. It’s vegan but delicious

A vegan is someone who doesn't eat any food derived from animals.
A vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat any food that has come from a dead animal.

Parmesan is not vegetarian. It is made with an enzyme that comes from a calf's stomach.

Quorn roast, roast potatoes cooked in butter/olive oil done in advance then reheated, all the veg.

Have you tried the This Isn't Pork sausages? I'm not a huge fan of fake meat but make a big exception for those, they're really good. I remember the LM ones many years ago when they first came out, the amount of fat in them was ridiculous!

Ps please don’t stress about it, if you’re cooking from scratch it’s really easy to accommodate a vegetarian by tweaking what you do. I have two vegetarians, a vegan and I’m gluten intolerant… add in my fussy mother (who claims she isn’t) and a general tendency towards gluttony, cooking for 11 in a domestic kitchen is the bigger challenge rather than dietary restrictions. My top tip overall is to ensure everything bar the meat (and pigs in blankets if doing) is vegetarian then you aren’t doubling up on many dishes

Closer to Xmas there’s bound to be some vegan ready meals Christmas themed!! If not some vegan ‘sausages’, and either do her some roast potatoes separately or tinned potatoes for garlic potatoes and veg….!
Nice and easy. Maybe some vegan cake and send her off with it, they often aren’t quite as nice and you may not eat it, would be a shame for it to be wasted.

Edit: realised she’s vegetarian not vegan!! Less of a pain. Everything above mostly applies but vegetarian cake is fine - most are anyway!!

I know!

Amazing in this day and age that a vegetarian is such a subversive panic-inducing guest.

And these nut roast and fake meat suggestions freak me out…nothing worse than meat eaters presenting you with a whole half a kilo of some shit ‘just for you’ that you then are in the spotlight and pressured to eat.

Just cook the potatoes in normal oil and do more delicious veggie sides.