This parsnip, chestnut and sage vegan Christmas nut roast is the perfect centrepiece for your vegetarian or vegan Christmas dinner. Serve with roast potatoes, sprouts and gravy for a delicious festive feast.
A good nut roast is an essential part of Christmas dinner for many vegans.
Made with parsnips, chestnuts and sage - all of which I consider to be perfect festive flavours - this nut roast is a delicious addition to any Christmas table.
What ingredients do you need for this nut roast?
For full recipe please see recipe card below.
You will need:
- Parsnips
- Chia seeds
- Water
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Sage leaves
- Nutmeg
- Chestnuts
- Ground almonds
- Flat leaf parsley
- Salt and pepper
Making sure your nut roast sticks together
The key to a good nut roast is making sure that it binds together well. Many nut roast recipes use eggs but in this vegan Christmas nut roast I've used chia eggs instead.
As described below, ground chia seeds mixed with water creates a gloopy paste that might sound weird but is a wonderful vegan ingredient.
Along with the mashed parsnip the chia seeds do a great of keeping this delicious vegan Christmas nut roast together.
Chia seeds are a great egg substitute
Chia seeds are small grey seeds that originate from south America. They are packed full of nutrients, fibre and protein. This makes them well worth including in a vegetarian or vegan diet. Read more about the health benefits of chia seeds.
However, chia seeds also work brilliantly as a substitute for eggs. This makes invaluable for people with an egg allergy and for vegans.
To use them as an egg substitute you will need to grind them and mix with water.
How to grind chia seeds
To make them into an egg replacer you need to grind them. They'll grind well in a high speed blender. My food processor didn't do a great job of grinding them in small quantities. Other options include using a pestle and mortar (although this is fairly labour intensive) or in a tall jug with a hand held stick blender.
A spice grinder would also do the job beautifully but sadly I don't have one. Once ground you simply add water - three tablespoons of water to every tablespoon of chia seeds. Leave for a few minutes and you'll have a sticky, gloopy mixture that is a perfect egg replacer.
Can you prepare this nut roast in advance?
Yes. You can prepare this up to three days in advance up to step six in the recipe card below.
Press into the loaf tin and then cover with foil. Store in the fridge.
When ready to make place straight in a preheated oven.
You can also freeze it before cooking for up to three months.
What to serve with this vegan Christmas nut roast
All your favourite Christmas trimmings! Here are some of mine:
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How to make parsnip, chestnut and sage vegan Christmas nut roast
If you have made this recipe I would love it if you’d leave a comment and rating below. Thank you!
Parsnip, chestnut and sage vegan Christmas nut roast
Ingredients
- 400 g parsnips
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- 6 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 6 sage leaves finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 180 g cooked chestnuts crumbled or chopped
- 125 g ground almonds
- Small handful flat leaf parsley chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
To top (optional)
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- 8 sage leaves
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6. Grease a 900g loaf tin and line the bottom with baking paper.
- Peel and chop 400g parsnips, removing the core, and steam (or boil) them until soft. Mash.
- While the parsnips are cooking grind 2 tablespoons chia seeds to a powder. Add 6 tablespoons of cold water and stir until you have a thick paste. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan and fry a chopped onion until soft stirring often. Add two cloves crushed garlic, six chopped sage leaves and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg and continue cooking for a moment or two.
- Stir through 180g chopped chestnuts, 125g ground almonds, a small handful of chopped parsley and your chia paste and mashed parsnips.
- Stir well to ensure that the chia egg is well distributed throughout the mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer to your prepared tin and press down well. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until turning golden brown on top.
- Allow to cool in the tin for five minutes then run a knife around the sides and turn out onto a board or serving plate.
To serve
- If using the sage leaves heat ½ tablespoon of olive oil in a small frying pan. Add the sage leaves and fry for a few minutes, turning over once until crispy.
- Add the sage leaves to the top of the nut roast.
- Serve with roast potatoes, veggies and a vegan onion gravy.
Nutrition
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Gill Clavey
Made this for Christmas Day and it was absolutely delicious. Had not used chia seeds in this way before and the gloop looked strange but worked well. I didn't have a savarin tin but used a normal cake tin with a foil/parchment covered empty sweetcorn tin in the middle as I wanted it to look "special". Because of my complete addiction to garlic mushrooms, I did sneak a layer into the middle of the roast but am not sure I'd bother next time as the roast would have been as good without this. I also found the prepared oat topping in a dish next to the oven later that day...am sure it would have been lovely! Served it with all the usual Christmassy veggies (including roast sprouts - will always roast from now on!) and a caramelised onion and red wine gravy. Will definitely be making this again. And again. Am hoping it will freeze - chia seed paste ok to be frozen?
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks so much Gill - I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the nut roast! I haven't tried freezing it but I think if you freeze before baking it should be fine.
melody
Hi there , we have just made the mixture for the nut roast and wanted to know if we can leave it in the fridge for a few days and then bake it? Can you freeze the mixture ? Or freeze the nut roast after baking? Thanks!
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Melody, it will be fine in the fridge for 1-2 days before baking. I haven’t tried freezing it but I think it would be best to freeze it before baking. Let me know how it goes!
Melody
Thanks. so we made it yesterday and want to cook and eat it tomorrow. Think that'll be ok ?
Mandy Mazliah
I think it should be fine as long as you've kept it covered in the fridge - I haven't tested it though!
Alix @A Hedgehog in the Kitchen
I love this recipe for a festive and vegetarian option! How lovely! I am pinning it to my "Vegetarian Recipes" board on Pinterest. Thanks so much + Happy Holidays!
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks Alix - glad you like it and thanks for pinning!
Sus // roughmeasures.com
I need to make this this Christmas!! It looks delicious!
Mandy Mazliah
Hi Sus - I'd love to hear what you think if you give it a go!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins
Oh Mandy this looks and sounds so delicious! I love nut roast so know this would go down a treat! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks - I'm really pleased with this recipe!
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain
I love that you've presented it as a reath Mandy, it really does make it look more festive. Last week I triedI grinding down some chai seeds with a pestle & mortar, but as you say it's pretty labour intensive so I gave in!! For some reason I didn't bother with the stick blender (we haven't got a spice grinder either) so I'll have to revisit that.Angela x
Mandy Mazliah
Yes it's a pain isn't it. I have a mini food processor but it didn't do anything - the stick blender worked a treat!
jenny apply to face
Sounds and looks delicious.What a great way to present it too.x
Mandy Mazliah
Thanks Jenny!
Eb Gargano / easypeasyfoodie.com
Oh this is just so pretty and it sounds like would taste fabulous. I have experimented a little with chia seeds - I enjoyed making raw jam in the summer, but haven't tried them as an egg replacer yet, I'll have to give that a go! Eb x
Mandy Mazliah
Jam is next on my list - the kids eat so much of the stuff it would be great to have a healthier version X