Thanksgiving is basically here and, notwithstanding the frigid weather we’re getting around here, it’s my favorite time of the year. I love Thanksgiving, I love that it has evolved into a holiday that is purely about spending time with family, no presents or strings attached, I love that it’s a four day weekend, and I love the food most of all.
A lot of people question when I say that it’s my favorite because I’m a vegetarian. They’ll ask, but you don’t eat turkey?? Yes that’s true and it’s still my favorite because Thanksgiving is the one time each year where everyone makes an absurd amount of sides! And alllll the sides are vegetarian! Unless of course you’re one of those people who puts bacon in stuff unnecessarily. When that happens with mashed potatoes, it’s my worst nightmare.
Now, I know that Thanksgiving isn’t the best for vegan’s. Many of these incredible sides I’m discussing are loaded with cream, butter, sour cream and cheese. So, I’m not sharing anything for thanksgiving this year that isn’t completely vegan. The number of vegans in this world are increasing drastically and it’s time we be a little respectful of that. Especially because it’s good for the planet. The other fun thing about cooking vegan things is it challenges you to make things from scratch that you would normally cut corners on.
For most of you, I’m sure green bean casserole was a staple at Thanksgiving every year. Green beans drenched in cream of mushrooms soup and topped with crispy onion straws. It is delicious, but let’s be honest, cream of mushroom soup out of the can, not the best thing for you. That’s why I challenge you to try this creation here, vegan cream of mushroom soup base. I swear, it’s thick, creamy and even has a rich almost meaty flavor to it. Nobody will ever know it’s vegan, it can be your little secret.
But, I also wanted to think outside the box on what other ingredients would work well with this creamy sauce. After trying a few different combos of seasonal vegetables, the natural conclusion was that sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts were the best. They go together just perfectly. I also threw some more portobello mushrooms in there just to amp up the mushroominess, but that’s totally optional here.
Now, since I did make you go out of your way to make a healthier, homemade soup base, this recipe does have good way to cut corners that doesn’t involve buying those french’s onion straws that have an ingredient list a mile long. It’s substituting kettle potato chips on the top. If you’ve bought the kettle brand before, you know they’re crunchy and delicious, but they also have like 5 ingredients in them and you can pronounce all of them! (this is not sponsored, I swear I just love those damn chips)
This calls for the jalapeno chips because I found that slight kick to be a good accompaniment to the recipe, however, you can choose a different flavor, personally I think barbecue would be outstanding as well.
One last thing before you leave, this recipe is meant to be served to a group. The chips are perfect out of the oven when they have a crunch. If you’re not serving this at a party and intend to eat it for dinner and keep a lot of leftovers, I recommend only baking it with chips on a small part, and then adding chips before you reheat it later. You can also layer the whole thing with chips and just save some to top with later as well.
Lots of Love,
Jackie
Sweet Potato and Brussels Sprouts Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner, Entertaining, Comfort Food, Seasonal
- Cuisine: Vegetarian, Vegan
Description
A homemade, almost guilt free, and totally vegan Thanksgiving casserole made with sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts and a from scratch cream of mushroom base.
Ingredients
Scale
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 2 lbs white mushrooms, sliced
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1/4 cup white miso
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1/2 tbsp celery salt
- 3 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup white rice
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 1 tsp black pepper
- Casserole Filling
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 lb Brussels sprouts, quartered
- 2 portobello mushrooms, stem removed *optional*
- 1/2 lb cremini mushrooms, cut in half *optional*
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp each salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 bag jalapeno kettle chips (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Then start by making the mushroom soup base. Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat, add in the onions and celery. Saute the onions and celery for 5 minutes until the onions become translucent.
- Next, add in the mushrooms and sautee for 5 minutes until they start to cook down. Then add in the red wine and simmer for 3 minutes until the red reduces by about half.
- While the mushrooms are sauteing, whisk together the miso, garlic powder, onion powder, celery salt, soy sauce, sea salt and nutritional yeast in a small bowl until it forms a paste like substance.
- Add the miso paste mix to the pot along with the water. Whisk vigorously until the paste is thinned out and fully mixed, it will look kind of creamy. Add in the rice, cashews and black pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the rice is fully cooked and there isn’t much liquid left.
- While the mushroom soup base is simmering, you can start on the rest of the casserole. Add the sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, portobello mushrooms and cremini mushrooms to a large casserole dish. Toss then with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake the vegetables for 20 minutes uncovered.
- When the soup base is done simmering, allow it to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a high speed blender and blend on high until it’s smooth. Add the remaining, uncooked mushrooms to the pan with a drizzle of olive oil and saute for about 3 minutes then add the soup base back into the pan. Cover and set it aside.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven then pour the mushrooms soup base over the vegetables. Add in the basil, rosemary and thyme and toss to combine everything and make sure all the veggies are covered. Then cover in the chips, crushing them as you do it. Bake again for 20 more minutes until the chips start to brown and crisp.
Notes
**You can choose different chips for the topping, I used jalapeno because I liked the added spice.
