Thanksgiving Survival Guide For Vegetarians

Oh what a wonderful time of year! Autumn! In America, that means Thanksgiving is coming! Some call it turkey day. What if you don’t eat turkey? Thanksgiving can be a difficult day for vegetarians. We want to experience all of the magic of the holiday, be grateful, enjoy our friends + family, and above all, eat! So this Tuesday, I bring you The Thanksgiving Survival Guide for Vegetarians. Just because you don’t eat turkey, does not mean that the holiday can’t be as wonderful for you as it is for the meat-eaters in your life.

Tara’s Tuesday Tips:

Thanksgiving Survival Guide for Vegetarians

• BYO: Bring your own food! People love when we bring yummy vegetarian food that they would not normally make for themselves! Small dish, big dish, salad, appetizer, side dish, or dessert. Bring enough to eat and share.
• Call ahead: If you are the host, call your vegetarian guest, ask them what vegetarian dishes they prefer, ask them to bring something! If you are the guest, call the host and give them some tips about feeding a vegetarian, offer to bring something.
• Look out for hidden meat products: be wary, there might be meat in it even if it isn’t the turkey!
  • Chicken or turkey broth in the potatoes, stuffing, or veggies
  • Cross contamination with the meat spoon
  • Fish sauces in Italian or Asian side dishes
  • Sausage in the stuffing
  • just ask! OR don’t eat it
• Not a time for protest: It is Thanksgiving, not a PETA event. Don’t get into a debate over animal rights, just eat!

You CAN be vegetarian AND survive Thanksgiving 🧡🤎💚

• Change Tradition: Tradition is a weird thing on holidays.  We sometimes get into what I call a ‘tradition rut’ and we do the same things year after year.  Then one year something changes, and we fear it. If we are open to it, that small change can evolve into new opportunities, friendships, and ideas. Never had a vegan over for Thanksgiving dinner? New tradition! Don’t fear it, embrace it. “Change is a challenge & and opportunity, not a threat” – Prince Phillip
• Be the host: if possible, host the dinner yourself.  You will be surprised how willing others can be to trying new meatless foods when given the opportunity.
• Be prepared to answer, “why you are vegetarian”? How could you do that? Why do you do that? Where do you get your protein? (ugh). Come prepared with polite, informative answers.
• BE GRATEFUL: Thanksgiving is about being grateful. If you are the host, be grateful to have your vegetarian friend over even though it was a little more work.   If you are the vegetarian, be grateful that you are surrounded by the people you love on a day of thanks. It’s just one meal!

This survival guide was published in 2018,

for my updated survival guides for Thanksgiving, click these:

 How to Handle a Vegetarian Coming to Thanksgiving Dinner, 

What To Eat On Thanksgiving If You Don’t Eat Turkey.

Ready to cook some yummy Thanksgiving food?

Click here to find ALL of Tara’s Thanksgiving recipes: My Vegetarian Family Thanksgiving Recipes

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