Without a guilty conscience: Vegan Christmas menu – red cabbage with dumplings

Enjoy traditionally
Vegan Christmas menu: red cabbage with dumplings and cream sauce

The Christmas dinner has a long tradition and is the culmination of a successful celebration

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A successful holiday meal makes the Christmas party complete. In addition to the classic dishes, there is a vegan Christmas menu: Homemade red cabbage with dumplings and vegan cream sauce not only inspires vegans.

Advent, Advent, a little light is burning – soon it will be that time again. Christmas is almost upon us and with it a time full of culinary experiences and highlights.

Wonderful Christmas time

Christmas isn’t just a festival, it’s a feeling. Visits to the Christmas market, a warm mulled wine in hand, magnificent lights, illuminated streets and the smell of freshly baked cookies delight young and old every year.

But as contemplative as the Christmas season is – in some aspects it brings with it one or the other challenge. In the pre-Christmas stress of looking for gifts, decorating and preparing for the holidays, meal planning should not be neglected, for example. After all, there is nothing better than enjoying a successful festive meal with your loved ones. One thing is certain: Christmas dinner has a long tradition and is as much a part of the festival as the Christmas tree and Santa Claus.

Menu planning: An underestimated point

Over time, the attitude of many people has shifted towards a plant-based diet and reducing the consumption of animal products. According to a Statista graphic based on a survey by IfD Allensbach, 1.3 million more people classified themselves as vegetarians in 2020 than in 2016. This corresponds to an increase of around 23 percent. According to this, eight million Germans are now completely without meat and fish. For vegans, the plus is lower in absolute numbers at around 300,000 people – an increase of around 41 percent. The trend is clearly moving in the direction of vegan nutrition. Whether you live vegan yourself, are just curious about a vegan menu or maybe even have vegan guests to entertain – a vegan Christmas dinner is definitely feasible and – at best – comes very close to the original.

Traditional dish red cabbage with dumplings

Traditional Christmas recipes are a dime a dozen, but they almost always contain meat or fish. Be it roast beef, potato salad with sausages, Christmas carp, fondue, roast duck or the good old Christmas goose.

Especially the latter is eaten with preference in combination with dumplings and red cabbage. But did you know that the traditional preparation of Christmas red cabbage is not even vegan? Lard, butter and beef broth usually go into the pot to give the winter vegetables their characteristic touch. But red cabbage is also possible without animal products – instead of butter or lard we use plant-based margarine, and no meat broth. Instead, it is heavily seasoned – and in no time bay leaf, cloves and co. give the side dish its typical taste.

By the way, dumplings are naturally vegan. They consist only of potatoes, starch and spices and can therefore be integrated into a vegan Christmas menu without hesitation.

The star of the dish: the vegan cream sauce

The true challenge of the dish is yet to come: the sauce. Roast sauce or cream sauce ends up on numerous festive tables at Christmas time. The importance of the sauce should never be underestimated – after all, it gives a successful meal the finishing touch and ensures a harmonious overall taste. Unlike a creamy sauce made from butter and whipped cream, the vegan version is based on soy cream. The highlight of the whole thing, however, are seared mushrooms and onions, which give the sauce a fantastic roast aroma. The spectacle is extinguished with a little white wine and voilà – the aromatic vegan holiday dish is already on the table.

Tip: The vegan Christmas menu is a pleasure on its own. If you don’t want to do without a meat-like component, you can also serve the cream sauce with various meat alternatives. Soy or pea-based slices are particularly suitable for this.

Recipe for a vegan Christmas menu with red cabbage, dumplings and cream sauce

ingredients

Red cabbage

  • 500 grams of red cabbage
  • 1 white onion
  • 1 Boskop apple (about 200 grams)
  • 1 tablespoon of margarine
  • 25 milliliters of apple cider vinegar
  • 50 milliliters of dry red wine
  • 50 milliliters of apple juice
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 juniper berry
  • 1 clove
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 teaspoons of sugar
  • Salt pepper

cream sauce

  • 400 grams of mushrooms
  • 1 onion
  • 1 teaspoon coconut oil
  • 100 milliliters of white wine
  • 100 milliliters soy cream
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • Salt pepper

dumplings

  • 500 grams of potatoes
  • 100 grams of potato flour
  • 2 tablespoons soft wheat semolina
  • A pinch of salt
  • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg


Enjoy the traditional way: Vegan Christmas menu: red cabbage with dumplings and cream sauce

preparation

  1. Remove the outer leaves of the red cabbage and wash the red cabbage.
  2. Quarter the cabbage, remove the stalk and cut into 3 mm strips.
  3. Peel the onions, halve and cut into fine strips. Wash the apple, quarter, core and cut into small pieces.
  4. Heat the margarine in a large saucepan and sauté the onions for three minutes.
  5. Add the red cabbage and stir well.
  6. Pour in the apple cider vinegar, wine and apple juice, bring everything to the boil while stirring.
  7. Season with bay leaves, juniper, cloves, cinnamon stick, salt, pepper and 2 teaspoons sugar.
  8. Fold the apple pieces under the red cabbage. Cover and let the cabbage simmer over a medium heat for about an hour, stirring occasionally. If necessary, season again with salt, pepper and sugar.
  9. For the vegan cream sauce, clean and slice the mushrooms, peel and dice the onion.
  10. Melt coconut oil in a pan and sauté the onion. Add the mushrooms and deglaze with white wine. Add the soy cream while stirring and bring to the boil briefly. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
  11. Finally prepare the dumplings. Boil the potatoes with their skins on. Peel the warm potatoes and press through a potato ricer.
  12. Mix the pressed potatoes in a bowl with the semolina, potato flour, salt and nutmeg. Add a little more potato flour if necessary.
  13. Form about six dumplings of the same size from the dough and place them in lightly salted, simmering water.
  14. Bring the water to a boil and let it simmer over medium heat for 20 minutes. When the dumplings rise in the water, they’re done.
  15. Drain the dumplings through a sieve and arrange on two plates together with the red cabbage.
  16. Spread the vegan cream sauce over the dumplings and serve immediately.

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