This gorgeous Vegan Wellington will be an absolute hit amongst everyone at the Holiday table this year! It looks so elaborate and uses a few ingredients to really build up the flavors, yet the steps are surprisingly easy. I’ve been perfecting this recipe over the last 3 years, and I don’t think it gets any better than this! We’ve really layered the flavors and textures with toasted nuts, mushrooms, fresh herbs, aromatics, and everything in between. Trust me, this is the center piece your Christmas table deserves!! Pair it with my easy vegan mushroom gravy and a festive maple salad on the side. If you want another holiday-worthy plant-based main, try my Mediterranean vegan quiche.
Why I Love This Recipe
- Deliciously Flavorful: The combination of sauteed vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and toasted nuts creates a complex taste that is absolutely divine.
- Perfect Texture: Crispy puff pastry encases a rich, hearty filling, offering a lovely contrast in textures.
- Visually Stunning: The lattice pattern on top makes this Wellington a gorgeous centerpiece for any table.
- A Healthier Option: The filling is loaded with nutritious ingredients like lentils, vegetables, nuts, and mushrooms and won’t leave your guest feeling heavy afterward! It’s both satisfying and nourishing.
- Prep-Friendly: You can prepare it the day before for a relaxing hosting experience, and it freezes very well! This recipe makes for 8 servings, divided between 2 lovely loaves. Even if there are only 2 or 4 people at your table, I would still recommend making the 2 loaves, as it requires a few ingredients. Freeze the other loaf before baking for up to 3 months. You can even freeze individual slices after they have been baked and reheat in the oven whenever you feel like a slice!
Main Ingredients
Lattice Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan Puff Pastry: Provides a light, flaky base for the rich filling. Most puff pastries in grocery stores are accidentally vegan. Make sure to check the ingredients. In the USA, Pepperidge Farm puff pasty is vegan.
- Walnuts and Cashews: Add a delightful crunch and nutty flavor.
- Mushrooms: Shiitake and brown mushrooms offer a meaty texture and luxurious earthy and umami flavor.
- Lentils: Add a hearty, protein-rich element to the dish. They’re very effective as plant-based meat in this vegan Wellington.
- Flax eggs: Flax eggs are used as a binder to hold the vegetable filling together. Make sure to use ground flaxseed – whole flaxseeds do not absorb water in the same way and do not make a good binder. You can grind them yourself if needed, by processing them in a blender for a few seconds. Keep in the fridge once ground.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by bringing the puff pastry to room temperature. Preheat your oven for optimal cooking. Chop all the vegetables finely. Cook walnuts and cashews until fragrant. Combine flaxseed with hot water to form an egg-like mixture.
Sauté carrots, leek, and onions, then add garlic, mushrooms, and herbs. Stir in the tamari, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and lentils.
Mix with oats, the flaxseed mixture, and nuts. Lightly process half of the mixture and add back to the rest of the mixture, mixing and combining.
Shape the filling on puff pastry, creating a lattice pattern. Brush with our vegan “egg wash” and bake until golden brown.
Variations and Tips
- Swap the mushroom: I really like the combination of shiitake and Swiss brown mushrooms, but if they are not available to you, any mushroom mix will work!
- Golden Crust: Don’t forget to use our vegan “egg wash” made of maple syrup and dairy-free milk.
- Perfect Shape: Allow the Wellington to rest after baking for a firmer structure, making it easier to slice.
- Frozen Dough: I find the puff pastry easier to work with when it’s still slightly frozen, so I take it out of the freezer only 10 minutes before using it and take the second sheet once I’m almost done prepping the first Wellington!
- Enhance with Sauce: Serve with our mushroom gravy to complement and elevate the flavors.
- Food Processor: You can dice the vegetables using a knife or a food processor. If you’re not using a food processor, mash the lentils using a fork and use quick oats.
- If you’re looking for some other delicious items to add to your Christmas lunch or dinner menu, check out our Mushroom Gravy, Crispy Wonton Guacamole Cups, our Baked Harvest Salad, our stunning Holiday Salad, these Maple Glazed Carrots, or our Cream Cheese Carrot Lox Canapés.
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Wellington TLDR
- Stunning
- Delicious
- 100% vegan
- Easy to prepare in advance
- A nourishing take on the classic Christmas Wellington
Vegan Wellington
Equipment
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 tbsp (45 ml ) olive oil - divided
- ⅔ cup (67 g) walnuts
- ⅓ cup (43 g) cashews
- 2 tbsp (14 g) ground flaxseed
- 5 tbsp (75 ml) hot water
- 1 carrots - finely chopped
- 1 leek - finely chopped
- 2 yellow onions - finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves - minced
- 3.5 oz (100 g) shiitake mushroom - finely chopped
- 7 oz (200 g) Swiss brown mushrooms - finely chopped
- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 3 leaves (3) sage - finely chopped
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) tamari
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 1.5 cups (300 g) cooked brown lentils
- ¾ cup (60 g) rolled oats
- ⅓ cup (20 g) fresh parsley - finely chopped
- Salt and pepper - to taste
Pastry
- 2 (330 g) squares of store-bought vegan puff pastry
- 2 tsp (13 ml) maple syrup
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) dairy-free milk
To serve
Instructions
- Wash and chop all the vegetables using a knife or larger chopping setting of a food processor. Remove the thym from its sprig. Roughly chop the walnuts and cashews.
- Prepare the flaxseed "egg": Add the grounded flaxseed and hot water to a bowl, stir well and let rest for 5 minutes.
- Prepare the filling: To a large pan on medium heat, add 1 tbsp of olive oil, the walnuts, and cashews, and cook for about 5 minutes, until slightly golden, stirring frequently. Keep an eye on them to avoid burning. Set aside
- To the same pan, on medium heat, add 2 tbsp of olive oil, the carrot, leek and onions. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the garlic, mushrooms, salt, thyme, sage, and salt. Cook for a further 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the tamari, Worcestershire sauce, and lentils. Reduce the heat and cook for 10 more minutes.
- Transfer the filling to a large mixing bowl. Add the oats, parsley, flaxseed egg, and chopped nuts and stir well until combined.
- Transfer half of the mixture to a food processor and lightly process (refer to the blog photos for visual clues). Transfer back to the mixing bowl and combine. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to the fridge to cool down for 20 minutes, this will make it easier to shape.
- Assemble the Wellington: Preheat the oven on fan assist at 375 degrees F (190 C).Take the puff pastry out of the freezer 10 minutes before using.
- Place a square of puff pastry onto some baking paper. Pour half of the filling mixture onto the middle of the paper and shape it into the form a log. Leave about 1 cm (1/3 inch) of dough at the top and bottom.
- Using a sharp knife, score diagonal strips 4 cm long and 1cm apart from top to bottom along the pastry on each side (use the blog photos for visual clues). Fold the pastry at the top and bottom over the log. Crisscross each strip of pastry across the filling to form a lattice, starting from the top. Continue this process, alternating strips over the log until you reach the end.
- Repeat steps 10 and 11 with the second square of puff pastry and the rest of the mixture to create a second Wellington.
- Prepare the "egg-wash": Combine the maple syrup and milk, and lightly brush over the wellington.
- Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden, rotating your baking tray halfway to ensure even baking. If you have multiple dishes in the oven, it might take a little longer. The Wellington is ready when it looks golden. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
Video
Per Serving/Portion
FAQ
If you’re using gluten-free puff pastry, it can be made gluten-free. Ensure tamari and Worcestershire sauce are gluten-free.
This recipe is freezer-friendly! You can freeze an entire loaf before baking or individual slices after they’ve been baked. Reheat in the oven when ready to eat!
If freezing a whole loaf, allow to thaw completely in the fridge overnight, brush with the vegan egg wash and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden.
Lots of Worcester sauce are accidentally vegan these days, but if you cannot find it, tamari or soy sauce is a great alternative.
Yes you can prepare it a day ahead. Wrap it in cling film or store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Brush with the egg wash when ready to bake.
Replace the tamari with coconut aminos, and add extra salt.
A lot of the puff pastry in the frozen section is accidentally vegan and uses no butter. In Australia I use Pampa from Woolworths.
Chickpeas work well. Use canned chickpeas (rinse well), or cook from dried until very soft, then gently crush them with a fork before adding to the pan.
A lot of readers have made it without mushrooms over the years with great results. Add a little more of the other ingredients to make up for the volume. Finely diced eggplant is a great recent suggestion from a reader.
If you can have seeds, substitute the nuts with 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and add 1/2 cup extra lentils.
Yes. Roll into one long sausage shape and cut into slices before baking. Several readers have made it this way for Christmas buffets and the kids loved them.
The mixture may have been over-processed. Add ingredients with more bite, such as more nuts and a bit more oats.
Quinoa flakes or buckwheat flakes are good substitutes for oats. Cooked and cooled quinoa could also work.
It is my easy vegan mushroom gravy. The link is also in the Tips & Variations section above the recipe.
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I have try this recipe and it was delicious.
Hey Ana Maria! Wow, that looks delicious! Thank you so much for sharing!
Hi, looking to cook this for new year but I cannot have oats, would there be anything i could replace them with? Many thanks!
Hi Debbie, I usually recommend quinoa flakes or buckwheat flakes to use instead of oats, but have not tested it for this exact recipe. Maybe some cooked and cooled quinoa could work here too! Let us know what you try 🙂
I made this substituting fermented tempeh for the lentils and adding rosemary and marjoram to the spices, and oyster mushrooms to the mushroom mix. Definitely a winner, and that gravy 😋 !!!!
I love the idea of tempeh in this Christine! Thank you so much for sharing 😍
Thank you for the recipe inspiration. We’ll do Christmas in July with it – our winter downunder!
Love that 😍
Exceptional! Satisfying and delicious! Not too difficult to make but the appearance is beautiful!
I’m so happy you loved it Laurie! Thank you for sharing 💚