Looking for an easy holiday main dish or a way to use leftovers? Well, you’ve come to the right place! This is pretty easy to assemble but is impressive as heck and people will think you spent hours in the kitchen. It starts with premade puff pastry sheets. Pepperidge Farms makes a vegan variety, but there are others out there. Feel free to make your own, but why would you? Then you’re going to use a vegan stuffing mix, and a vegan turkey substitute. I used Trader Joe’s ground turkey burgers and they were perfect. Feel free to use another vegan chicken or turkey meat but chop it up fine in a food processor or by hand.
You’re going to basically create a filling, pop it inside the puff pastry and bake! Easy right? You can do this, I’ll walk you through the details. One is that puff pastry needs to be cold when baked. If it warms up to even room temperature then the fat will just bleed out when baked and the resulting bake will be flat and greasy. We don’t want that, so make sure your sheets are defrosted in the fridge overnight and not out on the counter and after assembling, pop them back into the fridge to chill before baking.
The filling also needs to be cold so after cooking it you’ll need to let it cool completely before assembling the turnovers. I struggled with calling these turnovers or hand pies. En croute is technically what they should be called but that sounds too posh right?
Another reason these look so appetizing is that I brushed some vegan half and half on top before baking. Often an egg wash or cream is used for the purpose of browning the baked item. There are a number of vegan half and half and cream substitutes on the market. I used Silk brand but use your favorite. If you can’t get it, don’t worry, they’ll still be amazing.
I served these with a cranberry relish but vegan gravy would be a natural choice or any other dip would work. There is no wrong condiment! I think these are best served warm, so you could bake them in advance then reheat by wrapping in foil and cooking for about 10 minutes at 375°. They’re also delicious cold too so any way you slice it, they work!
If you have leftover stuffing and a vegan holiday roast you want to use up then just sauté the onions and celery in butter then add the leftover stuffing and mock meat and loosen them up with a little broth just so you can form them into a ball. Even adding some leftover sweet potatoes would be an excellent addition as well. Make sure to cool completely before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. I hope you’re as thankful for vegan options as I am and I hope you enjoy this simple recipe!
Vegan Thanksgiving Turnovers
4
servings30
minutes18
minutesA show stopping vegan holiday centerpiece or a way to use up leftovers that is super easy to make!
Ingredients
1 package vegan puff pastry sheets (2 sheets)
1/2 large yellow or white onion or one small, diced
1 rib celery, trimmed and diced
3 tablespoons vegan butter
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pack vegan turkey burgers or 8 oz of vegan chicken
2 cups vegan stuffing mix
1 cup vegan vegetable broth
1 tablespoon vegan bouillon powder
3 tablespoons vegan half and half or cream
Flaky salt (optional)
Directions
- Take the puff pastry sheets out of the freezer and place in the fridge to defrost for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight.
- In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and salt and cook for 3-5 minutes until wilted and translucent. Add the turkey burgers and break up with a fork and cook for 3-5 minutes until slightly browned. Add the poultry seasoning and cook for a minute. Add the stuffing cubes and bouillon powder and stir to coat in the butter mixture. Add the broth (pan will sizzle) and stir to combine. Take off the heat.
- Place the stuffing mixture in a bowl and refrigerate until cold. Take the puff pastry sheets out of the fridge and unfold onto a piece of parchment paper. Cut each large square in half and place a fist sized amount of filling on each end of the dough. Make sure the stuffing is in a ball and slightly pressed together to hold its shape. Using water or the vegan half and half, brush the 3 edges of one half where the stuffing ball is to moisten it so it will seal. Fold over the piece of pastry and press down with your fingers trying to remove any air from the stuffing ball for a tight seal. Using a fork, crimp the 3 sealed edges by pressing the tines of the fork into the dough overlapping as you go for a good seal. Once all are filled and sealed, poke the fork eight times into the tops evenly so steam will escape when baking and then place them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven to 425°. Take the turnovers out of the fridge and brush each one with a bit of half and half on top then sprinkle with some flaky salt if desired. Bake for 18-20 minutes until browned and puffed nicely. Serve immediately or if making in advance wrap in foil then reheat when needed at 350° for 10-15 minutes so the pastry doesn’t burn.
Notes
- I used Trader Joe’s turkey burgers but use any vegan chicken you’d like or even another type of burger.
- If you don’t have poultry seasoning then add 1 teaspoon ground thyme, 1/2 teaspoon ground sage, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper and 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary.
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