From Meaty Fillings to Raw Treats, Here’s How Walnuts Can Transform Your Holiday Dishes

Walnuts are one of the most incredibly undervalued foods on a plant-based diet. They’re phenomenal brain food, rich in omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, and antioxidants, and are beneficial for warding off inflammation. But these fabulous nuts are much more beneficial than just for trail mix and oatmeal toppings; walnuts are also an excellent meat replacement in a variety of dishes. They can be used to supplement your diet if you’re avoiding soy and gluten, which are typical ingredients in meat replacement products like seitan and tofu. And while they don’t have that much protein, walnuts’ healthy fats are especially filling, so they can help keep you full for longer periods than fruits and veggies can.

All nuts and seeds can help provide healthy fats, protein, and a satisfying texture in meatless dishes. And, of course, they’re a fantastic food to consume when you need something to satisfy your cravings in between meals or you just need that perfect oatmeal or smoothie topping! But they’re also culinary masterpieces! Just like cashews make foods creamy, walnuts make things meaty, rich, and nutty. If you’ve stuck with cashews and almonds until now, it’s time to give walnuts a spin or two this season.

Though they’re great to keep around all year, walnuts are waiting patiently to transform your holiday dishes in more ways than you imagined. Check out all these yummy ways we love to use walnuts in our holiday recipes:

1. As a Meaty Filling

Okay, if you’re tired of the sweets and ready for something more hearty, we’ve got you covered. Walnuts are a perfect replacement for meat crumbles in dishes if you’re not into the whole store-bought vegan ‘meat’ crumbles trend or you’re avoiding soy and wheat-based alternatives. Walnuts even have the same crumbly texture as crumbled meat (but without the animal) and are very filling, so you’ll never feel lacking for more. Use walnut crumbles as an easy taco filling, in a vegan lasagna, or try it out in a veggie burger like Black Bean, Corn, and Walnut Vegan Butter. Some yummy ideas for the holidays are Raw Vegan Enchiladas With Chunky Salsa Cheesy Sauce and Spicy Nut Meat or Gluten-Free Vegan Lasagna and Yummy Vegan Lasagna.

2. As a Crust

Walnuts and other nuts can be used to make simple, quick, and quite tasty pie crusts. Since walnuts have a rich, almost buttery texture to them, they’re perfect for using in your recipes where you need that buttery taste and flaky texture- like crusts!

To make a crust with walnuts: process a cup of walnuts and a cup of dried fruit in your food processor until you get a dough-like texture. Spread that out into a pie crust or in a square baking pan, and you’ve got a healthy, two-ingredient crust in minutes. Another alternative is to warm some coconut butter or coconut oil (about 2 tablespoons) and blend in a food processor with 1/2 cup walnuts and 1/2 cup ground flax seeds. It makes a delicious yummy crust that you can also easily spread into a pie crust pan or a square baking pan. Try out one of these crusts in any of our delicious pie recipes. How about A Pumpkin Pie Recipe Everyone Will Love, a Gluten-Free No Bake, Low Sugar Vegan Pumpkin Pie, or Sweet Potato Maple Mousse Pie?

3. As a Buttery Filling

Though walnuts aren’t creamy like cashews, you can still use them to make a tasty filling for pie, cake, or even a dessert crisp. To use them as a filling, you’ll need to process them into a buttery consistency, like the walnut butter you would buy at the store. You can then use this as a filling in chocolate desserts like truffles, or you can use it in any replacement for peanut butter, almond butter, or another butter in any vegan dessert recipe. Also, try blending the walnut butter with some fruit (fresh or dried) to use in any of your dessert crisps. This will make them hearty, filling, and incredibly nutritious! Try using walnut butter as a filling in Vegan Brownies, Clean Eating Pumpkin Chocolate Truffles, use it in replacement to almond butter in Almond Butter and Chia Jam Bars, or your filling for Autumnal Apple Pie-lettes.

4. In Easy, Quick Raw Treats

Not in the mood to make a full-fledged pie or cake? We don’t blame you since things are so busy this time of year! Thankfully, you make a raw dessert in minutes that’s honestly just as good and a true people pleaser if you’re preparing your dessert for a tough (even non-vegan) crowd. To use walnuts in easy, quick raw treats, you just process them in a food processor with other ingredients like dried nuts and seeds and dried or even fresh fruit. Walnuts can be used in replacement to other nuts like cashews and almonds if you’re looking for a richer, buttery, and sweeter flavor. Some tasty recipes to use them in are: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites, Clean and Colorful Cacao Walnut Truffles,  No Bake Smores Bars,  or Raw Walnut Coffee Cake With a Brownie Base.

5. As a Spread, Topping, or Other Garnish

Lastly, if your vegan holiday recipe is perfect just as it is (because we certainly don’t want to insult your best seasonal dishes), consider using walnuts as a lovely topping or to even add a nice tasty touch to your spreads. Walnuts make a great garnish for pies, puddings, parfaits and sundaes, and cakes, or can be pureed into a spread with some cinnamon, ginger, and a little healthy sweetener, and spread onto vegan crackers and vegan cookies.  Walnuts can also just be added to spreads like hummus or dips to make them more filling and add a nice, nutty flavor. Here are 15 Double Dip Worthy Vegan Dip recipes to try using walnuts in, 10 Ways to Make Awesome Vegan Dips and Spreads, make a spread to go with Vegan Crackers, or use them in Vegan Carrot Walnut Bread, Walnut Bread with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic, or as a garnish on Raw Chocolate Chia Pudding.

See what walnuts can do for you? Give them a spin this season and let us know what you think!

Related Content:

• From Basil Arugula Pesto with Walnuts to Jamaican Jerk Walnut Tacos: Our Top Eight Vegan Recipes of the Day!
• Pumpkin Seeds: Health Benefits, Tips, and Recipes!
• How to Make Walnut Taco ‘Meat’
• 15 Rich and Filling Vegan Walnut-Based Desserts

Learn How to Cook Plant-Based Meals at Home

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental well-being, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Unfortunately, dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, and prostate cancer, and has many side effects. 

For those interested in eating more plant-based, we highly recommend purchasing one of our many plant-based cookbooks or downloading the Food Monster App which has thousands of delicious recipes making it the largest vegan recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Weekly Vegan Meal Plans
• Plant-Based Health Resources
• Plant-Based Food & Recipes
• The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
• Plant-Based Nutrition Resources
• Budget-Friendly Plant-Based Recipes
• High Protein Plant-Based Recipes
• Plant-Based Meal Prep

Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
• Support Independent Media: Being publicly funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!
• Sign a Petition: Your voice matters! Help turn petitions into victories by signing the latest list of must-sign petitions to help people, animals, and the planet.
• Stay Informed: Keep up with the latest news and important stories involving animals, the environment, sustainable living, food, health, and human interest topics by subscribing to our newsletter!
• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!