By Makaela Willis, Marketing & Owner Services Assistant
With all the exciting holidays coming up, everyone is making sure their family and friends are well fed. Are you or someone close to you vegetarian or vegan? Have no idea what to make them for the holidays? Well here at GreenTree we have a variety of plant based meat alternatives for those who do not eat meat but don’t want to miss out on a roast during the season. So, I decided to do some research to help you decide which one is best for your holiday occasion!
Here is what I learned about the products we have here at GreenTree! We carry several Plant based Alternatives for Holiday Roasts: Gardein, Field Roast, and Tofurky.
For Gardein we have two options: Plant based Turk’y Roast and Plant Based Savory Stuffed Turk’y
From reviews and research these are a great option for a turkey substitute. The Turk’y roast can feed about 8 people and the Savory Stuffed Turk’y is two individual portions for two people. Essentially, these options are the same thing just one is a larger size. The texture is firm with a nice crisp to it and there are many comments on how delicious the cranberry wild rice stuffing is, as well as the gravy that is included. This is also a brand that Megan, our Grocery Manager, recommends!
We have one option by the brand Field Roast: Sage & Garlic Plant Based Celebration Roast.
It seems this has been a fan favorite for a while. The tasty bread based stuffing and flavors make it a strong contender for many vegans/vegetarians for more than just the holidays. Some say that the product can be a little tough to cut through, but that seems to be the only complaint. We carry the half roast which feeds one to two people – depending on how hungry they are!
Tofurky has the most options for the Holiday season: They have an entire Plant Based Holiday Feast, Plant Based Savory gravy, Plant Based Ham Style Roast with Amber Ale Glaze, and Plant Based Roast with Wild Rice Stuffing.
From what I understand, the Plant Based Roast with Wild Rice Stuffing has been around for nearly 2 decades! It seems to be a very good option; feeding up to 6 people, it has a great texture, and the skin is not too tough. The Feast adds vegan fudge brownies to the roast, stuffing, and gravy included in most plant-based roast in our lineup. Sounds pretty tasty to me! Just writing this article is making me excited for holiday meals with my family and friends. Recently, Tofurky added the Plant-Based Ham Style Roast to their line up and it seems to be a new crowd pleaser. In my family we do not like to repeat turkey on both holidays we celebrate, so we tend to have a Ham around Christmas time, just to mix it up a little bit! So, this gives our vegan and vegetarian friends that option too! No need to have the same roast over and over unless you want to.
A few little things to think about when purchasing your meat alternatives for the holidays: Many of these roasts first need to be thawed out for 24 hours (other than Tofurky products that can be cooked from frozen). All these options have great reviews so in my opinion it all comes down to personal preference and how many people you are trying to feed with this roast.
I hope this little guide helps make things easier when you are trying to pick out which plant based alternative to have at your holiday meals!
Comment below or contact us with your thoughts on any of these plant based options. Which ones have you have tried before? Do you have a favorite?