STORE-BOUGHT

Tofurky
The OG turkey alternative, vegan trailblazers and in many ways still the champ.  Their product line has expanded significantly since launching the original plant based roast in 1995.  They have a ham flavoured roast too now, which I prefer to the original, and a Holiday Feast package, that includes the roast, plus gravy, and a brownie for dessert.  Aside from their roasts, Tofurky’s Chick’n line is still, in my opinion, the best meat alternative product on the market.

Sol Cuisine
Sol Cuisine is another veteran of the plant-based food industry, having been around since 1980!  They started off as tofu supplier for restaurants in the Toronto area and then expanded into stores.  Their original tofu line is still widely available, but they now also make a wide variety of burgers, appetizers, and other meat alternatives. The Stuffed Turk’y Roast is a continuation of Sol Cuisine’s tradition of delivering delicious, high-quality products, and is filled with lots of good stuff like cranberries, onions, and celery.  It also comes with gravy.

Very Good Butcher
Very Good Butcher is the newest company on this list, but the British Columbia based manufacturer of plant-based meat alternatives have been making some big waves over the last few years as their products gain wider distribution. Their Stuffed Beast is one of several new products that have shown up in Ontario recently. It’s a bit pricy, but certainly worth it as a special holiday splurge.

Gardein 
Gardein is a mega-star when it comes to meat alternatives. It’s also owned by a giant corporation, so if that’s not your vibe there’s certainly other options, but Gardein has the advantage of mass availability, and may be the easiest products to find on the list, especially outside of urban centers. They have a few different turkey-esque alternatives in their large and diverse product line. The Turk’y Roast is unfortunately not available in Canada as far as I know, but the Breaded Turk’y Cutlets and Savory Stuffed Turk’y can be found in most grocery stores. Both are delicious and very easy and quick to prepared.

Field Roast
Field Roast emerged in the late 1990s, selling their vegan loaves from a deli co-op in Seattle Washington, and then gradually expanded their business and product line to include sausage, burgers, cheese alternatives and more. They also helped break some important market barriers in the U.S. for the plant-based food industry and were one of the first meat alternative to sold at football and baseball stadiums. Their Sage and Garlic Celebration Roast and the Hazelnut and Cranberry Roast seem to be a bit difficult to find in Canada but are available through Vegan Supply.

RECIPES

Gluten Free Vegan Turkey – Recipe by One Green Planet
Wheat gluten features heavily in a lot of plant-based turkey and meat alternatives, but the gluten tolerant need not be left out of the vegan Thanksgiving feast. This recipe from One Green Planet uses a variety of gluten free flours and oats to make meatless cutlets that will satisfy all the hungry celiacs at the dinner table.

Vegan Turkey – Recipe by Nora Cooks
This is a classic roast recipe that uses a mix of chickpeas and wheat gluten to form a turkey alternative that will appease even the most adamant meat eater.

Vegan Turkey – Recipe by Edgy Veg
I haven’t tried this one by it looks pretty wild and eerily similar (maybe a bit too similar) to the real thing. The skin is made from rice paper and the roast itself is a mix of wheat gluten and jack fruit.

Homemade Vegan Tofu Turkey – Recipe by The Spruce Eats
Tofu based turkey has the advantage of usually being a bit lighter on the stomach than the wheat gluten versions. If you want to avoid the post-thanksgiving food coma, then this recipe might be a good option. This one is also stuffed, making it extra fancy and filling. 

Vegducken – Recipe by One Green Planet
You’ve likely heard of the somewhat Turducken. It’s an engastration (animals stuffed inside another animals) dish where chicken is put inside a duck, which is then put inside a turkey. It’s all bit morbid even by meat eating standards. Instead of stuffing dead things inside of other dead things (kind of a strange way to celebrate a holiday), this more humane recipe uses squash, stuffed with eggplant, zucchini and a mushroom-lentil mix.