To tell newly vegan guest to bring their own dish on Christmas Day?

[GunpowderGelatine]

I'm hosting Christmas day at my house this year, not something I've done in ages. There's ten of us, including the kids, which is a great number - my plan, like every year I cook, is to order M&S food and pick it up on Christmas Eve then just bung it all in the oven and make some homemade gravy. I usually get a pork joint as I'm not a turkey fan, but will also be getting a turkey joint for my guests. I'm not usually the type to stress about Christmas dinner (it's only a roast after all!) but I also want it to be as simple as possible. One of my guests has declared they are now vegan. Which is a bit of a PITA for dinner if I'm honest as I'll have to sort a vegan main, gravy, dessert etc. I also have a nut allergy sufferer in the group which excludes quite a lot of vegan options as mains.

WIBU to ask the newly vegan guest to bring their own dish on the day or is that really rude? I've kind of planned the food around the size of my oven/hob and could do without the added stuff having to go in it (don't mind warming something up though)?

Suppose this extremism will continue to grow in the UK until vegetables everywhere rise up and aid dolphins in enslaving the human population. Mental.

Suppose this extremism will continue to grow in the UK until vegetables everywhere rise up and aid dolphins in enslaving the human population. Mental.

Judging by the all the anti-vegan frothing on this thread I don't think it's the vegans who are "mental".

Gregg's do a great vegan sausage roll....

So much anti vegan froth! Luckily I’m one of those vegans with a sense of humour (albeit a crazy extremist one)

@Winniethepee Aldi’s are even better.

But you’re not cooking anyway! So why not just buy a nut free vegan dish and bung that in the oven too? I’d understand if you were toiling away but it won’t be a problem for you if you’re doing pretty much ready-meals anyway.

Can you contact the the guest and ask for help in finding a meal that they like and and doesn’t contain nuts? They may well just say I’ll bring my own and then your win win.

I think it would be rude and mean to ask a family member to bring their own food to a special meal. In my experience vegetarians and vegans are happy to just eat the side vegetables - can you just cook all the veg without animal products and not worry about a main? We normally have at least four vegetable sides with Christmas dinner, which is plenty to offer the vegan person for a meal. If you are roasting potatoes you might need to use vegetable oil instead of drippings, and keep them separate, that's not too difficult. I always cook my stuffing separately anyway -- I think it taste better that way and the joint cooks more evenly.

I think it would be nicer, and less stress for you, to just try to do vegan veg for everyone and let the vegan skip the meat and gravy.

Dessert is definitely awkward, though. Maybe a nice fruit salad along with whatever you would normally serve?

"Eh? Veganism is self-improvement? And there’s me thinking it’s a dietary choice."

You could debate the 'self-improvement' aspect, but strictly speaking, veganism is much more than a dietary choice. According to the Vegan Society: "veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose."

Lots of people decide to exclude meat, dairy and eggs from their diets for all sorts of reasons apart from the above philosophy, hence the recent popularity of the phrase 'plant-based'.

How to make someone feel unwelcome!

Are you also asking the person with the nut allergy to bring their own food? If not, then YABU.

Also, it's still November and you've got loads of time.

You can buy ready made vegan dishes from M&S, your omni guests will probably like them too. So doesn't have to be extra food, just different dishes to supplement the meat that everyone can enjoy.

You sound rather unwelcoming.

M and S doing vegan food this Christmas.
Do the veg and roast potatoes with olive oil
Bistro red is vegan
I love me and s food and shop there most days but fir large numbers it's not that good

Can people please RTFT?

I can recommend Tofurkey - it tastes delicious and you can use the rest of it in sandwiches and rolls on Boxing Day.

its a pain in the arse, i have one vegan, two vegetarians (who are not keen on vegan options, they like and want cheese and butter etc) and one who is gluten free. How I wish everyone would just eat the same thing!
It is a faff and requires juggling oven space, timing issues etc. However if you have just one vegan, I'd try and source something nice pre-made and bung it in the oven, it is a bit churlish to ask them to bring their own dish, there should be some nut free vegan options out there.

If your inviting someone to dinner there is an assumption that dinner will be provided by the host. However given the multiple diets to cater for you could ask each guest to bring a contribution. One dish.
Personally I'd make sure there was something for everyone and given your buying it pre made , it's not a major problem. Enjoy your meal and your friends company.

I don't understand the difference, oven and hassle-wise, between you buying an M&S vegan tart tatine and chucking it in the oven, and your guest bringing something from home and chucking it in the oven. Unless you're hoping he/she brings salad - something that doesn't need cooking.

I do get the oven space issue, but your solution doesn't seem to solve it, so I'd roll my sleeves up and be A Gracious Host, cater for them, and make sure someone else cooks next year.

I dont eat meat or dairy and am providing my own vegan option when I go to family for Christmas dinner. Don’t see the issue?

A word of warning - You need to be extra careful with any vegan options that include nuts. Veganism is a trendy lifestyle choice (okay I’ve got my tin helmet and flak jacket on) while genuine nut allergies can be serious and life threatening and can occur even if the person is near to the nuts.

You have my sympathies. I recently had to (was conned into it) organise a birthday party for a family member. It was a small group of eleven but there was one vegetarian (he was an easy one) three big steak lovers (they were easy too) then one vegan - who delights in ruining meals by lecturing everyone else on their planet destroying eating habits. Add in a teenager who is convinced she’s lactose intolerant (no actual diagnosis of that) and three more kids whose diet is mainly McDonald’s or chicken nuggets and who go into meltdown if there’s a lettuce leaf on their plate and to put it bluntly it was a nightmare!

It’s alright people being sniffy with you and telling you to cater for all your guests but my experience with the vegan person in my family is that she is so evangelical about her new ‘religion’ that she makes everyone feel uncomfortable. So no, YANBU! Let them sort their own ridiculous diet out.

It seems that self-improvement is the worst possible offence in this country.

This is what makes people hate vegans. You're literally saying that becoming vegan makes you an improved human. Improved compared to, say, vegetarians or pescatarians or omnivores.

Get over yourself. You're not a better human being for not eating meat, dairy or eggs. It's like bf vs ff. Just give it a rest already.

It's rude and not very welcoming but if that's what you want to do then do it.

All the anti-veggie/vegan stuuf is borne of guilt a lot of the time so best to just ignore it.

I'm vegan and I can see it's difficult because m and s are very buttery unless it's plant kitchen or veg you cook yourself.
I would be happy to bring my own main - but would hope the veg are eatable
Instant
gravy is vegan anyway

I would say it’s fine to ask them to. I’m vegetarian and if we’re going somewhere else for Christmas I’ll always bring a veggie main at least.

I prefer taking my own meal as I know it's cooked without meat fat etc and definitely vegan ingredients, and something i will enjoy eating (not a given as a guest if you eat meat or not!).
It's always awkward as I don't want to offend the host so this sounds perfect!

Fair point by