23 Meatless & Dairy-Free Soups, Salads, and Starters for Your Thanksgiving

It’s almost Thanksgiving and everyone is planning for the big meal. While most of the attention will go to the main course, side dishes, and desserts, there are other important courses to consider.

Let’s start with the starters. Appetizers are not only fun but also they give your guests something to munch on while you put the finishing touches on the meal and set up the dinner table. Appetizers should be small, portable, and not require utensils. Check out these Simple and Flavorful Vegan Appetizer Ideas To Take to Your Next Celebration and Be the Life of the Party This Summer With These 30 Vegan Appetizers. Dips and spreads are always popular. Learn How to Make Clean Eating Dips and Spreads That Eliminate Oil and Dairy and then try these 15 Double-Dip Worthy Vegan Dips.

Next, come the soups. A small bowl of soup is a wonderful way to start the meal and warm everyone up. Don’t worry, you don’t need to spend hours at the stove stirring a pot of soup. Take a look at The Best Quick Soups to Keep You Warm Through the Winter. You can also use a crock pot or slow cooker and let the soup cook itself while you prepare the rest of the meal. Here are 10 Nutritious Soups and Stews to Make in Your Slow Cooker. Some of you may be saying, “Hey, I live in Florida. The last thing we want is hot soup!” We agree! That’s why we also have these recipes for 15 Fresh and Cool Raw Soups.

Finally, there are the salads. With all the heavy dishes of vegan turkey, mashed potatoes, biscuits, gravy, and assorted casseroles, it’s a welcome sight to see a light and healthy salad on the table. Try these 8 Beautiful and Healthy Thanksgiving Salads. Of course, salads can also be hearty and satisfying like these 15 Salads That Are Hearty Enough to Be the Main Course. Salads are also a great way to get creative. Check out Think Salads are Just Lettuce? Here are 10 Summer Salads That Will Make You Think Again.

So now that you know how important all the other courses are, you probably need even more ideas and recipes. We’ve got you covered. Here are 25 soups, salads, and starters from the Food Monster App for your vegan Thanksgiving.

1. Cinnamon Graham Crackers With Healthy Pumpkin Pie-Spiced Hummus

Source: Cinnamon Graham Crackers with Healthy Pumpkin-Spiced Hummus

These Cinnamon Graham Crackers with Healthy Pumpkin-Spiced Hummus by Tori Cooper are a seasonal appetizer that is perfect for any party or gathering. It’s easier than you think to make graham crackers. Pair them with pumpkin pie-spiced hummus and you’ve got yourself a fall treat that can’t be beaten.

2. Cheesy Spinach Dip

Source: Cheesy Spinach Dip

Get ready for some dairy-free dipping! This cashew-based Cheesy Spinach Dip by Robin Runner is a crowd-pleaser. It’s cheesy, rich, and creamy, and everyone will enjoy it. Set it out with crackers or fresh veggies and watch everyone dig in!

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3. Caponata Siciliana (Sicilian Eggplant Antipasto)

Source: Caponata Siciliana

Mambo Italiano! This Caponata Siciliana by Katrina Abram is a beloved and delicious Italian appetizer. It’s a sweet and sour vegetable antipasto that combines eggplant, tomatoes, and celery seasoned with sweetened vinegar, salted capers, onions, and green olives. Yum-O!

4. Creamy and Cheesy Nut-Free Chickpea Fondue

Source: Creamy and Cheesy Nut-Free Chickpea Fondue

This Creamy and Cheesy Nut-Free Chickpea Fondue by Sara Hohn is a dairy-free fondue that will satisfy all of your cheesy cravings. It’s simple to make – just whiz everything together in a blender and you’re on your way to dipping heaven! It’s nut-free, too. Step aside, cashew cheese because chickpea cheese is here to stay!

5. Simple Red Pepper Bruschetta with Homemade Roasted Garlic Ricotta

Source: Simple Red Pepper Bruschetta with Homemade Roasted Garlic Ricotta

This recipe for Simple Red Pepper Bruschetta with Homemade Roasted Garlic Ricotta by Abby Thompson is about as easy as it gets, and it’s so versatile! You can season the bruschetta mixture with your favorite spices, and if fresh tomatoes and peppers aren’t available, you can substitute the veggies with whatever you like. It all tastes good on top of toast with a generous smear of creamy, garlicky homemade cashew ricotta.

6. Sticky Peanut Orange Cauliflower Wings

Source: Sticky Peanut Orange Cauliflower Wings

These Sticky Peanut Orange Cauliflower Wings are seriously amazing. Crunchy baked cauliflower “wings” coated in a sticky, spicy peanut sauce? Oh yeah! The secret ingredient is a few heaping tablespoons of orange marmalade, which gives the sauce a slightly sweet, slightly tangy hint of citrus.

7. Cauliflower Rice Paper Samosas with Tangy Mint Chutney

Source: Cauliflower Rice Paper Samosas

Here’s a lighter version of the traditional potato samosas everyone loves. These Cauliflower Rice Paper Samosas by Sasha Gill are thin, crisp, and light. The filling is cauliflower flavored with Indian spices. Dip them in tangy mint chutney for an appetizer that will be a new tradition.

8. Buffalo Sweet Potato Stuffed Mushrooms

Source: Buffalo Sweet Potato Stuffed Mushrooms

These Buffalo Sweet Potato Stuffed Mushrooms are going to have everyone’s mouths watering. They are baby Bella mushrooms stuffed with a sweet potato and chickpea pâté that’s generously seasoned with tangy Buffalo hot sauce. Is your mouth watering yet? We thought so.

9. Wild Garlic Pesto Snails

Source: Wild Garlic Pesto Snails

These Wild Garlic Pesto Snails by Bianca Haun are super easy to make and awesomely delicious. Made with puff pastry, they are light and flaky and filled with a super garlicky pesto. Topped with a homemade cashew parmesan, these are snails that won’t move slowly.

10. Barbecue Apricot Meatballs

Source: Barbecue Apricot Meatballs

The food you eat with little toothpicks is always fun and festive and these Barbecue Apricot Meatballs by Dawn Kriss will get everyone in a party mood. Just take your favorite veggie meatballs and with just three ingredients, transform them into something really special and delicious.

11. Carrot Cashew Paté (That Bursts With Flavor)

Source: Carrot Cashew Paté

You want to balance the decadent dishes with healthy ones but they still have to be packed with yumminess. This Carrot Cashew Paté by Molly Patrick is simple, healthy, and exploding with flavor because vegan food should be fun, not bland.

12. Curried Pumpkin Soup With Apple Croutons

Source: Curried Pumpkin Soup

This Curried Pumpkin Soup by Rhea Parsons is warm, comforting, and delicious. It’s filled with all the fragrant flavors and spices of fall. Top it off with a sprinkling of sweet and toasty apple croutons that will certainly impress your guests.

13. Creamy Beet and Ginger Soup with a Coconut Swirl

Source: Creamy Beet and Ginger Soup

This Creamy Beet and Ginger Soup by Diana Johnson is hypnotizing! Earthy, sweet beets are flavored with ginger for a savory bowl of goodness. The creamy coconut milk swirled into the delightfully pink beet soup makes for a show-stopping, beautiful dish.

14. Potato Leek Soup with Caramelized Tri-Color Carrots

Source: Potato Leek Soup with Caramelized Tri-Color Carrots

This Potato Leek Soup with Caramelized Tri-Color Carrots by Stephanie McKinnie is the trifecta of soup. It’s hearty, flavorful, and colorful all at the same time! Seasoned with rosemary, thyme, and tarragon, this creamy soup will satisfy your eyes, mouth, and belly. Everything you could ever want in a soup, right?

15. Autumn Vegetable Soup with Parsley Pesto

Source: Autumn Vegetable Soup with Parsley Pesto

What’s more comforting than walking into a kitchen and being greeted by a big, bubbling pot of vegetable soup? Even better when it’s this Autumn Vegetable Soup with Parsley Pesto by Dina Honke. It’s hearty yet wholesome, and so satisfying on colder days. Stir in a big spoonful of parsley pesto – it makes the soup twice as delicious!

16. Creamy Cashew and Chestnut Soup

Source: Creamy Cashew and Chestnut Soup

This Creamy Cashew and Chestnut Soup by Koko Brill is a lovely, rich soup that’s perfect for a holiday dinner. Pureed potatoes and cashew cream help give this nutty soup a creamy texture without the dairy. This seasonal soup will warm up everyone at the table.

17. Spelt Salad with Oranges, Cranberries, and Feta

Source: Oranges, Cranberries, and Feta

Hearty, comforting, and bursting with flavor, this Spelt Salad with Oranges, Cranberries, and Feta by Lucie Javorska has lots of seasonal ingredients. The juicy oranges, tangy cranberries, and salty feta compliment the nutty grain serving as the base of this spelt salad.

18. Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, and Bourgal Salad with Maple-Orange Dressing

Source: Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, and Bourgal Salad

They say we eat with our eyes first and our eyes are devouring this Beetroot, Brussels Sprouts, and Bourgal Salad by Sarah Gory. This salad is a warming one. It’s earthy and sweet at the same time, nutty with a hint of crunch and a breeze of freshness from the mint. The orange-maple dressing is bright, sweet, and autumnal.

19. Green Bean and Wild Rice Salad

Source: Green Bean and Wild Rice Salad

Who says the green beans have to be served in a casserole? This Green Bean and Wild Rice Salad by Lisa Lotts is a lighter dish that’s just as delicious. Crunchy almonds, chewy cranberries, sun-dried tomatoes, tangy olives, and hearty wild rice provide an interesting mix of textures that will have you craving more!

20. Lemon Herb Pasta Salad

Source: Lemon Herb Pasta Salad

This Lemon Herb Pasta Salad by Gretchen Caldwell is light and fresh, perfect for a course before dinner yet still satisfying enough to be the main course in itself. Mint, parsley, and lemon brighten up the dish and complement the zucchini and yellow squash well. Pasta makes a lovely change from the usual green salad.

21. Orange, Bean, and Beet Salad

Source: Orange, Bean, and Beet Salad

This Orange, Bean, and Beet Salad by Sasha Gill may seem like an unusual combination of ingredients but the flavors work incredibly well together. Salty capers, bright dill, and earthy cumin flavor the kidney beans, oranges, and beets making for a delicious, refreshing, and colorful salad.

22. Indonesian Gado Gado

Source: Indonesian Gado Gado

Change up your usual salad by serving this Indonesian Gado Gado by Anett Velsberg. The name means “mix mix” in Indonesian – it’s just a whole big mixed salad with veggies, beans, and tofu if you want. Topped with a delicious peanut dressing, you’ll think this salad is yum yum.

23. Caesar Salad Nouveau

Source: Caesar Salad Nouveau

The traditional recipe for Caesar salad has a lot of cheese, eggs, and anchovies. This Caesar Salad Nouveau by Molly Patrick packs all the same tangy, cheesy flavor in a plant-based version. Sometimes it’s best to break tradition!

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