the starseed journey

Today, we are living in the golden age of veganism. Gone are the days where vegans are few and far between. Every year the number of people eating vegan is increasing exponentially. And with that, we find ourselves in a vegan Mecca of plant based products available.

And one of the biggest times of the year where people are searching for vegan alternatives is: the holiday season! Whether you’re a kind family member trying to ensure there is something for everyone attending your gathering or cooking up a vegan feast for everyone, vegan holiday meats have been growing in popularity. They are easy to cook up without much thought and there are plenty of options to try.

With a plethora of choices, I decided to do my own little taste test of them. I bought as many vegan holiday meats as I could find and scored them based on ease of preparation, taste, and price (all prices are subject to store and location). Hopefully this makes your holiday grocery store decisions a little easier. Check out my vegan Thanksgiving and Christmas recipe lists as well to cook up an unforgettable vegan feast!

---

1. Tofurky Ham Roast with Amber Ale Glaze

$15.99

“A plant-based main course for extra-special get-togethers, this ham has a tender, smoky flavor, complimented by a sweet, tangy glaze. Roast, slice and serve with your favorite stuffing and vegetables, or maybe even fancy mac and cheese. Invite your flexitarian friends and let the festive feasting begin!”

This Tofurky Ham has been my favorite for several holiday seasons to come. Since I usually have multiple family gatherings for each holiday, I can never seem to stock up on enough as it gets gobbled up by vegans and meat-eaters alike. Its extremely easy to prep since there is no defrosting, and can be thrown in the oven way ahead of time and taken out right before it’s time to sit down to eat. I love how moist it stays and the glaze is one of the best sauces thrown in with a vegan meat I’ve ever had. I usually find gravies, sauces, glazes from other vegan meat products to be un-satisfying, but this one adds a delicious coating! Take care follow the instructions and cover the vegan ham as it will dry out if you don’t. The Tofurky Ham Roast with Amber Ale Glaze takes first place in my books for ease of preparation, taste, and cost!

2. Gardein Savory Stuffed Turk’y

$9.99

“We’ve crafted a delicious stuffing, seasoned with tart cranberries and sage, to fill our delicious plant-based turk’y. To serve alongside our delightfully golden baked turk’y¸ we’ve created a rich homestyle gravy. Our plant-based stuffed turk’y is feast for every day.”

Okay, YUM! I really enjoyed this vegan product. It also was the simplest to cook out of all the meats and lowest in price. While the small bagged version serves only 4 people, which is less than some of its vegan meat counterparts, Gardein offers a bigger box with more of the 2 person bakes inside! I would even eat this on a regular day with some veggies on the side. The inside stuffing was only decent, but the plant-based meat and crusty outside were delicious! I definitely recommend pouring the gravy on a plate and then placing the bakes on top. If you pour it overtop you will lose some of the crispy goodness. And I didn’t hate the gravy which I often do with all prepared sauces that accompany vegan items. For me, this is a win-win-win on all accounts.

3. Field Roast Plant-based Celebration Roast

$14.99

“Indulge in our perfectly seasoned plant-based roast that takes you back to the comforting flavors of special social gatherings. Elevate the taste with our aromatic porcini mushroom gravy—simply simmer it on the stovetop for a dark, rich and earthy experience that complements the roast in delicious ways. So, eat as boldly as you live and enjoy our roast as a centerpiece, appetizer or sliced sandwich for any occasion.”

I’ve been excited to try this Field Roast Celebration Roast for a while, and it didn’t disappoint. After defrosting overnight, this roast was pretty straight forward when it came to preparation. It came out tasting good and is something I would serve up to my friends and family. I do wish it was a little more moist, but that’s what gravy is for. I didn’t care for the included gravy, so I would opt for making my own vegan gravy recipe which I’m usually already whipping up for the holidays. The ease of prep, small dent in my wallet, and the overall taste land this one as a solid in my book!

4. Tofurky Roast & Wild Rice Stuffing

$15.99

“A savory blend of wheat and tofu, the Roast is filled with a flavorful wild rice and bread crumb stuffing, ready to be basted, roasted, carved and devoured by the whole posse.”

I wanted to enjoy this Tofurky roast as much as its plant based ham counter part, but I couldn’t get behind it with quite the same fervor. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed this vegan holiday roast, but it’s not at the tippy-top of my list. After defrosting overnight, this roast was easy enough to prepare. It did require throwing together a little baste to pour over it before and towards the end of cooking, but you can throw together something relatively easy or get fancy with it. The taste was decent in my book. It didn’t stay together when cutting like I would like. I couldn’t get a nice, clean slice out of it for serving which only mildly annoyed me. The wild rice stuffing was also decent, and a good ratio of stuffing to vegan meat. I enjoyed how tasty and crispy the bottom got. That was one of the tastiest parts. Most likely because it was sitting in the baste while baking. I recommend turning this roast every 20 minutes or so for the best taste. I would also recommend preparing a vegan gravy to enjoy this with. I should note that Tofurky sells this same roast with a gravy. I haven’t has a chance to try it yet, but when I do I will report back how their gravy tastes. Overall, with the additional prep work, the low cost, and the taste I would rank this as a decent option for your holiday gathering.

5. Field Roast Hazelnut & Cranberry Plant-Based Roast

$24.99

“Our Hazelnut & Cranberry Plant-Based Roast is crafted with rich hazelnuts, sweet candied ginger and fragrant rosemary for a satisfying and bold flavor profile. It’s seasoned to perfection and wrapped in a flaky puff pastry—ideal for holidays, personal celebrations or Sunday indulgence.”

Okay Field Roast, I see you trying to spice it up and add a new twist to vegan holiday meats by adding a pastry covered option. And fortunately, the taste was mostly there! The puff pastry crust was actually really satisfying. I do wish the roast was slightly smaller since I felt the plant based meat to pastry ratio was a little heavy on the meat side. But overall, I thought it was a great attempt and something different from the crowd. The inside vegan meat did have Field Roasts standard sausage flavor most of their products have, but I enjoy their sausages so this was okay by me. I don’t know if I would buy it again, unless they released a smaller version. Cooking it was easy enough since there was no defrosting, but it did take about 15 additonal minutes than stated on their packaging to allow the pastry to turn golden. I would say this one is worth a try if you enjoy Field Roast products!

6. Vegetarian Plus Vegan Turkey Roll

$29.99

“Vegetarian Plus Vegan Turkey Roll let’s you enjoy classic turkey flavors with any meat in the mix. Made with soy protein, this meatless turkey dinner satisfies your vegan lifestyle and includes a cinnaberry glaze to enhance the flavors. Once defrosted, this vegan turkey roll cooks in under and hour, simplifying your meal prep time. Thanks to the firm yet moist texture, this meatless turkey dinner slice easily.”

Never in my many years as a vegan have I so severely unenjoyed a vegan meat as much as this. I’m usually fairly kind when it comes to rating vegan products as I’m ecstatic to see any new product or company helping change the world, but I feel it is my duty to you all to lay out exactly how I feel on all these vegan holiday meats. Not only was this product the priciest of the bunch, but it looked nothing like the photo on the packaging. MAJOR red flag. Cooking it was easy enough after defrosting it overnight, although I did have one complaint that their instructions listed nothing on if I should remove the string prior to cooking or after. The ease of prep is sadly the only redeeming quality to this product. I eagerly took one bite of the Vegetarian Plus Vegan Turkey Roll and immediately sprinted to my trash can to remove this rubbery, very unsatisfactory taste from my mouth. I thought to myself maybe the cinnaberry glaze makes it better, so I tried a second bite with the sauce atop. I was very wrong. On top of not being able to chew through the meat, the cinnaberry glaze made it even worse. I so badly wanted to enjoy this new-to-the-shelves vegan meat, but I won’t be spending another dime trying this new brand. I tried to venture to their website which stated “coming soon”. Maybe the bad taste, falsified photo, and incomplete instructions were all a symptom of rushing out a holiday product? Let’s cross our fingers that’s the case.

Additional Vegan Holiday Meats I left out:

• Field Roast Sage & Garlic Plant-based Celebration Roast – I haven’t seen this one in a store near me, but I’m eager to try it as I enjoyed Field Roast’s other Celebration Roast. I’m on the look out for this vegan meat and will update this list when I’ve tried it! I like how it seems like a smaller option for those who don’t want a giant roast.
• Tofurky Plant-based Roast & Gravy – I left this option out since usually homemade gravy is much better than anything that comes in all these vegan holiday meat packs. However, I’m still eager to try it out since I know including a gravy offers more ease to a lot of you. I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for it at the store to try it out.
• Gardein Turk’y Roast – I didn’t realize until after writing this blog that this had different ingredients than the Gardein Savory Stuffed Turk’y (reviewed above). If it’s similar to the Stuffed Turk’y, I’m sure it’s really tasty! I’ll be testing it as soon as I can to add it to my list above.
• Vegetarian Plus Vegan Ham Roll – After how extremely terrible Vegetarian Plus’s other holiday offering was. I couldn’t find it in good taste to ever purchase an absurdly overpriced, unsatisfying product from them again. Maybe in the future I’ll cough up some cash and try this one out, but for now I’d rather spend my money and save my taste buds the agony.
• Vegetarian Plus Vegan Whole Turkey – sigh…. $69.99!? I just can’t pay that after how their vegan turkey roll tasted. Maybe one day I’ll test it out. Let me know if you do as I am curious how they shaped it into looking like a meat turkey. But then again, after how their other product didn’t look anything close to how advertised, I highly doubt it looks that realistic in shape.

Let me know which vegan holiday meat is your favorite and if you found my ranking helpful! I hope I saved you some time and money deciding between the many options. And be sure to let me know if you see any US-sold products I don’t have listed so I can try them out and add it to the list!