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Vegan Sunday Roast With All The Trimmings

Vegan sunday roast

Vegan Sunday roast, the most quintessential British past time. A weekly ceremony consisting of devouring huge swathes of food with friends and family. This event normally ends when one’s trousers fail to close. At this point I normally retire to have a slight snooze before inevitably eating a little more of the leftovers later!

I love Sunday roast, but sadly it’s environmental creds aren’t too hot. Traditional Sunday roast normally features lamb or beef, two of the worst offending meats when it comes to environmental credentials. Roast chicken fairs slightly better, but if you’re looking for the most sustainable roast in town, this is it!

This fully plant-based Sunday roast is packed full of flavour. The roasties are crisp and fluffy, the yorkshires are crunchy and moist and the cauliflower is wonderfully savoury. But, the secret is the gravy, which is so damn good. It’s rich, umami and luxuriously smooth. I normally make double quantities and then bathe my plate in a sea of gravy.

This recipe’s centrepiece is a luscious harissa roast cauliflower. The cauliflower is wonderfully spicy and salty, I love it. However, an alternative option is to use my Ultimate Seitan Roast in place of the cauliflower. The seitan is a smoky and delicious. It’s perfect for those looking for a vegan sunday roast you can actually carve. I thoroughly recommend it!

When to eat vegan sunday roast

This recipe can be enjoyed year round. Sunday roast is incredibly flexible and so if you’re enjoying this recipe at a time of the year when certain veggies aren’t available just switch them out for whats in season. Cauliflower can be exchanged for a whole roast spring or winter cabbage. Carrots can be exchanged for swede. Potatoes are normally available pretty much year round. Feel free to throw in new potatoes if you fancy.

Cookbook

sweet potato loaf

An updated version of this recipe with added sweet potato loaf (pictured above) appears in coconut bowls Simple Swaps cookbook. The cookbook features over 100 recipes, each which has been inspired by traditional meals that you may have thought were no longer an option. Check it out here.

Vegan Sunday Roast With All The Trimmings

Ah a Sunday roast, the most quintessential British past time. A weekly ceremony consisting of devouring huge swathes of carbs. Here's my go to recipe for this wonderful tradition.
Vegan sunday roast
4.52 from 143 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 4
Course Main Course

This meal is around 86% less polluting than the average UK meal.

Eating this recipe will save around 2.50 KG CO2e per person.

That’s equivalent to the emissions produced driving 20.60 KM in a modern car.

How do I calculate this?

Ingredients

  • 400 g Assorted Seasonal Greens (chopped into ribbons and steamed)
  • 400 g Carrots (peeled and boiled)

Harissa Roast Cauliflower

  • 1 Large Head Cauliflower
  • 4 Cloves Garlic (minced into a paste)
  • 1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika
  • 1 Teaspoon Turmeric
  • 1 Teaspoon Cumin
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Rose Harissa
  • 5 g Fresh Thyme (stems removed and finely chopped)
  • 1/2 Medium Lemon (juiced )
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Roast Potatoes

  • 1.5 kg Potatoes (peeled and cut into even sized pieces (around 5cm/2inch in size))
  • 2 Tablespoons Plain Flour
  • 3 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil

Yorkshire Puddings

  • 75 g Flour
  • 75 g Gram Flour
  • 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
  • 90 ml Aquafaba
  • 250 ml Plant milk
  • 1 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 3 Tablespoons Sunflower Oil

Gravy

  • 1 Medium Onion (finely diced)
  • 2 Medium Carrots (finely diced)
  • 5 g Fresh Thyme (stems removed and finely chopped)
  • 1 Tablespoon Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons Plain Flour
  • 1 and a 1/2 Teaspoons Marmite (or other yeast extract brand)
  • 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree
  • 2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
  • 500 ml Vegetable Stock
  • 1 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Instructions

Yorkshire Puddings

  • Preheat your oven to 220˚c/430˚f (fan oven).
  • In a mixing bowl combine the 90ml of aquafaba, 250ml of plant milk, 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Whisk until frothy and thick.
  • In separate mixing bowl add the 75g plain flour, 75g gram flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Stir to evenly combine. Then slowly whisk in frothy wet mixture until you have a thick batter. Tip the batter into a measuring jug so that it is easier to pour later.
  • Pour a little of the sunflower oil in the bottom of each opening of a deep muffin tray. Place in the oven and heat for 10 minutes or until the oil begins to smoke. It's important to get the oil as hot as possible.
  • When the sunflower oil is hot enough remove the muffin tray from the oven. Working quickly pour a good helping of the mixture into each muffin depression. Depending on the size of your muffin tin holes you should get about 6 – 8 Yorkshire puddings from the batter.
  • Place the muffin tin back in the oven and cook for 20 – 25 minutes until the Yorkshires have risen and are golden brown.
  • Serve the Yorkshires immediately for best results or they can be kept warm until needed by covering with tin foil and placing into an oven at low heat.

Harissa Roast Cauliflower

  • Preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f (fan oven).
  • Remove any leaves from the cauliflower and cut the stem so the vegetable sits flat. Place into a large casserole dish (one with a lid).
  • Mix together all the rest of the roast cauliflower ingredients into an even paste. Using your hands or a pastry brush, coat the entire outside of the cauliflower with the paste. If there is any left pour on top of the cauliflower.
  • Cover the cauliflower dish and place into the oven. Roast for 30 minutes.
  • After 30 minutes remove the lid of the casserole dish and roast for a further 30 minutes until the outside of the cauliflower has nicely browned.
  • Serve immediately for best results. Alternatively the cauliflower can be kept warm in a oven on a low heat until needed. Then 5 minutes before serving, place back into a hot oven to crisp up the exterior again.

Roast Potatoes

  • Preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f (fan oven).
  • Place your chopped potatoes into a large saucepan. Cover with water and season heavily with salt. Bring to the boil and cook the potatoes for 2 – 3 minutes until they start to become a little soft on the outside.
  • Drain the potatoes into a colander and cover with 2 tablespoons of flour. Shake the colander vigorously until the potatoes begin to fluff up round the edges and the flour is evenly coating all the potatoes.
  • Pour the 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil onto a large roasting tray and place into the oven for 5 minutes until the oil is spluttering and hot.
  • Remove your hot tray from the oven and pour the potatoes into the hot oil. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to toss the potatoes in the oil. Then place into the oven and roast for 40 – 50 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Turn the potatoes halfway through cooking to ensure even browning.

Gravy

  • Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Toss in the chopped onion and carrot and cook for 3-5 minutes until the vegetables have started to soften.
  • Pour the rest of the gravy ingredients except the vegetable stock into the pan. Stir to coat the carrot and onion and cook for a further 30 seconds.
  • Then pour over the 500ml stock and simmer, lid off, for 10 – 15 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half and the sauce is nice and thick.
  • If you prefer a smooth gravy, strain the gravy through a fine sieve. Otherwise you can leave it as is for a chunky and rustic gravy. Keep warm on a low heat in the saucepan until needed.

Hi i'm Hugo

I started Lowly to help more people discover sustainable food. Planet-friendly food doesn’t have to be bland and boring. My recipes celebrate how diverse and flavourful it truly is.

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23 Comments

Lisa

December 7, 2020 at 8:25 pm

can I use yeast flakes or something like that instead of marmite? unfortunately I can’t get it in Austria but really wanna try this recipe!

    hugo

    December 7, 2020 at 8:27 pm

    Hey lisa, yes yeast flakes would work well. You can also substitute the marmite for white miso paste. Use the same measurements for each. I hope you enjoy it!

      Lisa

      December 7, 2020 at 8:32 pm

      nice, thanks for the super quick reply! will definitely try very soon!

    Rachel

    August 22, 2022 at 12:27 am

    You can use Vegemite, its basically the same thing.

Juliana

January 12, 2021 at 11:22 pm

Tryed to roast cauliflower, nice done and lovely smell, thanks for resipe!

gord

February 20, 2021 at 11:47 pm

Am a meat eater, but am definitely going to try this, looks so good

    hugo

    February 21, 2021 at 1:26 pm

    Thanks gord, lovely to hear

Clare

February 23, 2021 at 11:55 am

Feel ready to embrace a healthier eating lifestyle – so happy to try out your recipes – vegan roast tonight !!

    hugo

    February 24, 2021 at 10:03 am

    Awesome to hear Clare!

Chris T

July 11, 2021 at 8:34 am

Hi there,

Halfway through making and I’m hoping you can clarify if it’s 500ml or 1L of stock for the gravy.

I’ll go for 500ml to begin with but we’ll see!!

Cauliflower is lush though.

    hugo

    July 11, 2021 at 8:45 am

    500ml is correct!

Lou

September 19, 2021 at 5:36 pm

Wow!! Thank you for this recipe.

I have been trying to find an edible Yorkie recipe for years. This isn’t just edible – my non-vegan traditional yorkie loving kids loved them too.

And the Cauli – everyone LOVED it – finally, we have our roast staple.

    hugo

    September 22, 2021 at 8:59 am

    Amazing news Lou, glad you enjoyed it

Marie

February 13, 2022 at 6:38 pm

Hi,
Can we use normal salt rather than kosher salt?
And what can I use instead of red wine vinegar?

Thanks!

    hugo

    February 13, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    Hi Marie, yes you can use normal salt instead of kosher salt. Ideally use good quality sea salt, but if you don’t have that on hand you can use table salt. I’d slightly reduce the salt amounts if using regular iodized table salt, as it tends to be more pronounced. You can use balsamic vinegar in place of the red wine vinegar.

Mark Quilietti-Bird

March 7, 2022 at 11:53 am

Hi
What’s the calorie count for your ‘Vegan Sunday Roast With All The Trimmings’ meal? Looking at a healthier diet and this seems delicious.
Cheers
Mark

    hugo

    March 8, 2022 at 9:42 am

    Hi Mark, The calorie count is 908 per portion (although that’s a massive portion, tbh). So not exactly diet material!

Dawn

April 2, 2022 at 5:35 pm

I’m making this for my vegetarian daughter in law for tomorrow’s Sunday roast however Marmite is a no-no as its not vegetarian/vegan friendly! She would kill me if I gave her that. Will substitute with vegemite. Thanks for the recipe!

Sammy rose

November 23, 2022 at 8:02 pm

Thankyou for these wonderful recipes can’t wait to try them for Christmas dinner this year as my son is now vegetarian

Baljit

November 25, 2022 at 10:44 am

Absolutely delicious!
Never tried the vegan yorkshires before, you smashed it Hugo… thank you for this Sunday roast recipe !

    hugo

    February 2, 2023 at 2:27 pm

    Too kind Baljit, thanks so much!

David Crewe

July 30, 2023 at 1:41 pm

I MADE THIS THE OTHER WEEK! MY YORKIES WERE A LITTLE CAKE LIKE (STILL DELICIOUS!) BUT I THINK MY OIL WASNT HOT ENOUGH.
BUT THE GRAVY!
THE EASIEST AND TASTIEST VEGAN GRAVY I’VE MADE- DOESNT INVOLVES HOURS OF REDUCING OR A WHOLE BOTTLE OF WINE, LIKE SOME OTHER RECIPES DO.
MY NEW GO TO GRAVY RECIPE- THANK YOU!