15 Ways to Use Cranberries For Your Vegan Thanksgiving Dinner!

We don’t hear much about this little berry until fall hits and Thanksgiving preparation starts, but dried cranberries are usually lurking in deserts, trail mix, and some entrees all year long. They offer a very tart flavor that pairs wonderfully with both sweet and savory dishes and they’re healthy! Around this time of year, it’s much easier to find fresh cranberries, so grab a couple of packages and try out these unique recipes that aren’t just for the sauce.

For those interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App  – with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan, plant-based, and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help you get healthy!

Also, don’t forget to check out our ultimate guide to plant-based recipes for Thanksgiving!

With these recipes, you can include cranberries in everything from your appetizers to your desserts.

1. Cranberry Pecan Chevre Log

Source: Cranberry Pecan Chevre Log

You can’t skip the delicious cranberry appetizers! A mixture of raw cashews and young coconut meat filled with tangy dried cranberries makes the flavor of this Cranberry Pecan Chevre Log by Amy Lyons unique. It’s soft, sliceable, and spreadable, making it perfect as an appetizer to serve alongside grapes and crackers.

2. Butternut Squash Crostini With Cranberries and Tahini Dressing

Source: Butternut Squash Crostini With Cranberries and Tahini Dressing

Sweet and savory, these Butternut Squash Crostini by Jennifer Harmon are a festive appetizer that’s full of flavor!

3. Baked Mushroom Risotto With Rosemary and Dried Cranberries

Source: Baked Mushroom Risotto With Rosemary and Dried Cranberries

This Baked Mushroom Risotto by Taavi Moore is incredibly creamy and luscious. Embedded with soft chewy chunks of dried cranberries and sun-dried tomatoes. Flavored with fresh rosemary and homemade cream of mushroom soup. This will be the perfect side dish during your thanksgiving meal.

Gratitude: Plant-Based Thanksgiving Cookbook

No other holiday captures the spirit of home cooking the way Thanksgiving does. This is why you need the ultimate Thanksgiving cookbook, One Green Planet’s Gratitude: Plant-Based Recipes to Create your own Thanksgiving Tradition! In the cookbook, you’ll find our 100 most popular plant-based thanksgiving recipes like Soft Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts, Spiced Apple Cake with Cashew Frosting, Sweet Potato Chocolate Pudding with Nut Crumble Topping, Cinnamon Apple Hand Pies, and hearty entrees like Roast Root Vegetable Stack With Dukkah, Vegducken: Butternut Squash Stuffed With Eggplant, Zucchini, and a Mushroom Lentil Stuffing, and Seitan Roast With Sausage and Pear Stuffing and Apple Cider Gravy and so much more!

4. Holiday Vegetable Loaf With Cranberry Glaze

Source: Holiday Vegetable Loaf With Cranberry Glaze

Need an entrée that will please all palates? This Holiday Vegetable Loaf With Cranberry Glaze by Jasmine Briones is it. The combination of the quinoa, oats, mushrooms, and nuts provides this dish with the perfect “meatloaf” texture — and it’s speckled with cranberries, so it’s perfect for the season. Finish it off with your choice of our cranberry glaze recipe or a traditional meatloaf glaze.

5. Roasted Cranberry Stuffed Squash

Source: Roasted Cranberry Stuffed Squash

Having unexpected guests for the holiday? Need something fast, easy, and nutritious? Try these Roasted Cranberry Stuffed Squash by Helyn Dunn! They’re very easy to prepare, simply slice, fill, bake, and serve. They make a wonderful, elegant presentation, too. Serve them with rice and baked beans for a complete meal.

6. Cranberry Almond Green Beans

Source: Cranberry Almond Green Beans

Usually, a green bean recipe is not a fancy one, but this might be an exception. This recipe for Cranberry Almond Green Beans by Gina Hoskins is a healthy take on the traditional green bean casserole. It will be a perfect, modern side dish this holiday season. The added almonds give the classic ingredients an extra nice crunch.

7. Cauliflower Cranberry Sage Stuffing

Source: Cauliflower Cranberry Sage Stuffing

With this Cauliflower Cranberry Sage Stuffing by Daniela Modesto, there’s truly not much to stress over. It’s cutting up a bunch of veggies and herbs and tossing them with cauliflower. If you’re following a paleo way of eating or are gluten-free, this is going to be a nice alternative for your Thanksgiving table. The vegetables work exceptionally well with the sweetness of the cranberries and the earthy taste of sage. It will not disappoint.

8. Cranberry Sauce

Source: Cranberry Sauce

This Cranberry Sauce by Nita Ragoonanan is perfect for Thanksgiving. It is also so unique because it has a kick of chili in it to spice things up. It will pair well with all of your Thanksgiving dishes and generally any of your favorite meals!

9. Mulled Rose Cranberry Pear Cider

Source: Mulled Rose Cranberry Pear Cider

How about cranberry drinks? This Mulled Rose Cranberry Pear Cider by Claire Ragozzino is full of flavors that complement each other beautifully and warm you in wintertime. You will not believe how simple it is to make! Give it a go!

10. Banana Oat Cranberry Bread

Source: Banana Oat Cranberry Bread

This easy-to-make Banana Oat Cranberry Bread by Julie Zimmer is plant-based, moist, and delicious. It’s low in sugar and made with ground rolled oats (oat flour), ripe soft bananas, fresh frozen cranberries, and almond milk. When blended and cooked together, these ingredients create their own natural sweetness.

11. Cranberry Swirl Mini Loaves

Source: Cranberry Swirl Mini Loaves

These Cranberry Swirl Mini Loaves by Lan Pham Wilson are so comforting and delicious. The sweet, moist cake has delicious pockets of tangy cranberry. The streusel topping adds the perfect amount of crunch. Plus, warm brown sugar is a simple pleasure that everyone enjoys. Baking these cranberry loaves will make your kitchen smell amazing. Serve them at a tea party or bring them for an on-the-go snack. They are will keep for a week, covered, in the fridge.

12. Cardamom Cookies With Cranberries

Source: Cardamom Cookies With Cranberries

These vegan Cardamom Cookies With Cranberries by Nele Liivlaid are the perfect pairing for your afternoon cup of tea or coffee. You’ll only need 20 minutes of your time, a bowl, and a blender. The combination of oats, oat flour, coconut flour, and nut butter makes the cookies so hearty and filling. Furthermore, dates and mesquite flour add divine caramel sweetness that no one can resist. These vegan cardamom cookies are also pretty healthy as cardamom is beneficial to your immune system. The best part about these cookies though is the warm, autumnal flavor and soft texture. They’re the perfect treat.

13. Fresh Cranberry Scones

Source: Fresh Cranberry Scones

It’s never too late to make these Fresh Cranberry Scones by Lan Pham Wilson, but you should try them this holiday season. Studded with tart cranberries punched with the sting of ginger tempered with the subtlety of orange zest sweetened with sugar it’s perfect with morning coffee or afternoon tea.

14. Cranberry Lemon Poundcake

Source: Cranberry Lemon Poundcake

If you’re looking for that effortless holiday vegan dessert that just screams Christmas – this Cranberry Lemon Poundcake by Gabrielle St. Claire is the perfect festive treat. The cake has all of the decadence of a normal pound cake with none of the guilt. Plus, the tart lemons and the sweet cranberries make the perfect flavor and color combination.

15. Apple Cranberry Crumble

Source: Apple Cranberry Crumble

This Apple Cranberry Crumble by Natalie Martin MS, RD and Lexie Staten MS, RD is a delicious, simple, fruit-filled dessert offering a new way to enjoy the many health benefits cranberries have to offer!

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