Help! There’s a Vegan Coming for Dinner! What to Serve Your Vegan Guests (With Next to No Effort)

Vegan Guests

No matter if it’s for ethical, ecological or health reasons (or all of them combined): more and more people are going plant-based/ vegan. Therefore the likelihood of having a vegan at your dinner table increases. What to do if your nephew or the grandchild’s girlfriend refuses to eat your meatloaf? What does a vegan eat anyway? Here you’ll find the answers and some ideas for meals you could prepare without a lot of extra effort (or even any extra effort at all).

Why this post?

At the very beginning of my dietary change, we visited my boyfriends family where they would serve coffee & cake, and later dinner. The cakes would all be made with eggs/ butter/ cream/ milk, and for dinner, there was typical German good traditional fare: cold cuts, cheese in every variation possible, sausage salad, egg salad, and butter. There was neither a salad (without eggs or sausage) nor fruit or vegetables. I settled to bread and butter eventually since everything was served already and I didn’t want to make a lot of fuss. Since that day, I always bring my own food – even if it’s just an avocado which I could spread on some bread. I’m not telling this story to expose or even judge anyone. Instead, I’m telling it to spotlight how we often are completely unaware that there isn’t even one single sheer plant-based dish on the table. I also never really noticed until that day, as I used to eat most of it before myself (except for meat).

A lot of things have changed since then: at one of the last family gatherings I was caught unaware by one family member who got some vegan patties at the organic store, pan seared and brought them to the party for me, just to make sure „I’d get something to eat, too.“ While I courageously took a bite of the patty, he explained how he had pan seared it in some ghee (= clarified butter = animal product). He basically assumed that I would love ghee which is currently promoted as „healthy“ because I was also joining in the „vegan trend“ 😉 Of course, I didn’t say anything, ate the patty and was utterly grateful about the fact that he had thought of me – especially because I never expected it. 

By the way, there’s a post already with tips on what to serve your vegan friends at a BBQ. And then there’s one with ideas for vegan finger food (maybe for your next party? New Year’s is around the corner). 

Once again: Most of the time I would bring something to eat (enough for everyone to try) and I would never expect any special treatment. However, of course, I’d be pleased if someone is considerate. Whenever I’m a host, I personally care about my guests who have allergies or for whatever other personal reasons don’t want to eat a certain thing. For instance, I considered two of my friends who don’t like onions simply by leaving onions out of every single one of my finger food dishes. It’s the little things that can make someone’s day. With this article, I want to show you how simple it really is. By the way, every recipe mentioned is approved by vegans and non-vegans alike 😉

Obvious animal products, and therefore not vegan

• meat, fish
• dairy products, this means cream, yogurt, butter (also ghee) etc.
• eggs

Not so obvious but also not vegan

• jellies etc. made with gelatine
• wine, when filtered through fining agents like fish bladder membranes or gelatin (most common wines)
• honey isn’t vegan, considering it’s made by bees. However, not everyone who eats vegan is particular about it.

Watch out: hidden animal products

What does a vegan eat anyway?

• vegetables and fruit
• grains: rice, millet, potatoes, oats, …
• grain products like bread and pasta (if made without eggs)
• legumes: beans, chickpeas, lentils,…
• nuts and seeds: walnuts, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds,…
• vegetable oils: olive oil, flax-seed oil, canola oil,…
• candy, when it’s coated with shellac or dyed with carmine
• …

A lot of things have changed the past years. Vegan groceries have become omnipresent. By now, not only oat milk has made it to the shelf of regular grocery stores, but also vegan yogurt, cream and a ton of vegan completed products.

You can find a huge range of vegan groceries online as well. This way you can also find specific vegan foods, like candy for Christmas.

Not everyone is into mock meat

Some inspiration for what to serve your vegan guests

Depending on the time and effort you want to spend, you can find the following different categories (simply click to directly go to the particular suggestions):

• No (extra) effort at all
• Minimal effort
• A little more effort
• Ambitious

Then again I split the categories as follows:

• breakfast/ brunch
• with coffee/ snacks
• lunch/ dinner
• a little more festive (also from simple to ambitious: these recipes are especially for holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving and in my experience are liked by non-vegans as well)

No (extra) effort at all

• guacamole
• bruschetta (you can find more delicious finger food recipes here)
• tabouleh
• avocado herb dip

While these are just a few examples of traditional recipes, which are vegan originally, the list can be continued eternally.

• radish salad
• hummus – quick and easy recipe
• pan roasted potatoes with sauerkraut
• the best chili sin carne

A little more festive (e.g. for Christmas or Thanksgiving)

• Meditteranean quinoa salad
• Bavarian potato salad
• Russian deviled potatoes 
• creamy pumpkin soup

Ambitious, or: making whole vegan meals

If you like to cook and are open to new adventures in the kitchen, here are some ideas of whole vegan dishes that you could make.

Breakfast/ brunch

• sweet millet apple casserole
• traditional pancakes or healthy with only two ingredients (banana and oats)
• bircher müsli
• savory vegetable millet casserole

With coffee/ snacks

• nut wedges
• pistachio rosewater nice cream
• copycat candy, like Raffaello, Magnum or Bounty
• cake, like this apple cake or the New York cheesecake (as seen in the picture above)

Lunch/ dinner

• mini falafel burgers
• quiche
• baked sweet potato, best with this vegan sour cream
• vegan tacos

A little more festive

• BBQ glazed lentil loaf
• potato dumplings with red cabbage and vegan gravy
• Mediterranean stuffed tomatoes (or portobello mushrooms or bell peppers)

Related posts:

Vegan Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce How to Eat Vegan at Any Restaurant / Eating Out on a Plant-Based Diet Creamy Mashed Potatoes | vegan