Nut Roast Recipe

Bursting with flavor, packed full of nuts, lentils, vegetables, and herbs, this is quite possibly the best nut roast recipe you’ll ever taste! When we have friends round for Sunday lunch, on Christmas Day, or even American friends for Thanksgiving, they know that we’re going to be serving our famous nut roast with all the trimmings.

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Why’ll you love our easy vegan nut roast

• It’s got a satisfying nutty, umami flavor that you just don’t get from any store-bought roast that we’ve tasted.
• Everyone loves it, and even meat-eaters love it, so it’s an all-inclusive incredible nut roast that you don’t have to worry about.
• Make it ahead, which means it’s one less job when making Easter or Christmas dinner!
• It’s the perfect centerpiece for a family dinner or Thanksgiving dinner.
• All the ingredients are 100% vegetarian and vegan.

This is the best nut roast ever! Well, that’s what our friends and family say. After 35 years of tweaking, amending and cooking, we think that they are probably right. It is insanely tasty and incredibly satisfying, just proving that you don’t need meat to complete a dish.

What does a nut roast contain?

Our simple nut roast recipe has nuts, vegetables, breadcrumbs, herbs and spices, and vegetable stock.

We’ve used fresh herbs, but if you don’t have them, then just use dried herbs.

How to cook our easy nut roast with step-by-step instructions

Making an incredible nut roast is easy if you follow our instructions below.

A full printable recipe and the measurements in both US customary and metric are available in the recipe card below.

Preheat your oven to 180°C/356°F.

Spread your Brazil nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, and pecans over a baking tray and put them in the oven, and roast them for 8 minutes; when done, set them aside to cool.

Add your chopped parsnips to a pan of boiling salted water and cook until they are soft approximately 10 – 15 minutes.

When they are cooked, drain the water, then return them to the pan, mash them, and set them aside.

Over medium heat, heat your olive oil in a large frying pan, add the finely chopped onions, and fry for approximately 12 – 15 minutes until they have turned dark brown and are starting to caramelize, stirring often to stop the onions from sticking and burning.

Next, add in your finely chopped red chili and garlic, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute.

Now add in your red lentils, finely chopped mushrooms, carrots, red pepper, and tomato paste and stir to combine and cook until the carrot has started to soften, approximately 15 – 20 minutes.

Next, add in your breadcrumbs, fresh rosemary, fresh sage, fresh thyme, ground allspice, ground smoked paprika and ground nutmeg, and stir to combine.

Now, pour in your vegetable broth/stock, stir to combine all of the ingredients, and simmer over a very gentle heat until all the liquid has been absorbed.

Remove your pan from the heat.

Take the cool roasted nuts and place half of them in your food processor and blitz them until they are a fine nut meal.

Roughly chop the reaming nuts into varying sizes to your own preference.

Roughly break up and crumble the cooked chestnuts.

Add the nut mixture, the chopped nuts, and the chestnuts, and stir to combine.

Now add your orange zest, and add the amount that you personally prefer.

Finally, take your mashed parsnips and add them to the roast mixture, folding them in to create a well-combined thick mixture.

Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Next, wipe vegan butter all over the insides of your loaf tin to ensure the nut roast doesn’t stick.

Now, add the mixture to the prepared loaf tin.

Press firmly down on the nut roast mixture so it compacts tightly into the loaf tin, and this ensures you have a smooth, even top in line with the loaf tin.

Place your prepared nut roast on a baking tray; you won’t need to line the tray with parchment paper as it won’t spill.

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, then remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes.

When your veggie nut roast is ready, it’ll be dark brown on top, remove it from the oven and leave it to cool for 10 – 15 minutes.

Remove from the loaf pan by placing a plate on top of the loaf tin and then turning it upside down; your cooked nut loaf should easily fall out of the tin.

To serve, cut into slices and serve with all the trimmings!

We hope you enjoy cooking and eating our incredible vegan nut roast recipe, and we’d love to hear how you got on making it.

Please leave a comment below, or feel free to ask any questions you may have about cooking a nut roast.

Recipe notes and expert tips

• Freeze in portions
  If you aren’t going to eat a whole nut roast, then cut it into slices, open and freeze the slices on a baking tray overnight, then store the slices in freezer bags, cut a piece of baking paper, and place it in between each slice, this will stop them from sticking together.
• Add fruit
  Some people like dried fruit in their nut roasts, so try adding dried apricots or dried cranberries; you can then serve it with cranberry sauce.
• Save money
  Make your own breadcrumbs; just put a couple of slices of bread in your food processor and blitz them until they are breadcrumbs – easy!
• No fresh herbs?
  Use dried herbs instead.
• Don’t have any parsnips?
  Try a sweet potato instead; it’ll change the flavor slightly, but will still be delicious!
• Out of oranges?
  Use clementines, satsumas, or even lemons, adding the zest instead. Adding lemon zest will give a lemony flavor to your nut roast, which is different, but still works well.
• Let your roasted nuts cool
  Let them cool before you pulse them in the food processor; you don’t want to damage your food processor.
• Need to make your nut loaf gluten-free?
  Just use gluten-free breadcrumbs or make your own from gluten-free bread in the food processor.
• Is Olive oil vegan?
  Yes, it is. However, if you don’t want to use olive oil, you can use a little water or vegetable stock instead.

For extra flavor, you could use a tablespoon of soy sauce, but soy sauce isn’t essential.

If you’re looking for a roast that includes mushrooms, such as shitake, chestnut mushrooms, or cremini mushrooms, then take a look at our lentil loaf.

What can I serve with a nut roast?

Our delicious nut loaf is the perfect centerpiece of a substantial meal, such as Sunday dinner, Thanksgiving dinner, or Christmas dinner.

If you’re vegan, you can serve vegan nut roast with your favorite vegetables and a generous helping of cranberry sauce.

If you’re vegetarian, it’s delicious served with a Yorkshire pudding, roasted cauliflower, deliciously roasted carrots, mashed sweet potato, smoked spaghetti squash, veggie stuffing, honey Brussels sprouts, cabbage stir fry, or vegan gravy recipe, chestnut stuffing, and so much more!

What nuts should I use?

We recommend using mixed nuts; for our easy nut roast recipe, we used Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, and walnuts.

But you could use your favorite nuts, almonds, or cashew nuts; just experiment and get the flavor you like!

How long will nut roast keep?

Our vegan roast keeps very well.

You can make it ahead and keep it covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.

It also freezes very well too; freeze it in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.

This means you’ll have it on hand whenever you fancy adding it to your roast dinner!

How do I prepare my loaf tin?

A well-prepared loaf tin is crucial for making an incredible nut loaf.

If you have a good quality loaf tin, then all you need to do is generously coat the sides and bottom of the loaf tin with vegan butter; this will prevent your vegan nut roast from sticking.

If you want to be extra sure, then you could use parchment paper or baking paper to line your loaf tin; just make sure that you push the paper right into the corners and lay it flat on the bottom of the tin,

This will mean the nut loaf is perfect when it’s removed from the tin.

We don’t recommend lining your tin with foil as this tends to stick to your nut loaf.

What equipment will I need to make this recipe?

You’ll need a food processor to make the nut meal and breadcrumbs (it’s much cheaper to make your own breadcrumbs in the food processor than to buy them).

You’ll also need a loaf tin, we recommend a 2lb tin, and you’ll need a large frying pan, or you could use a wok.

Apart from that, you’ll need a sharp knife and a chopping board.

While a mixing bowl isn’t essential if your pan is on the small side, you could combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.

If you’re a real fan of nuts and have a sweet tooth, then check out this 7 Flavor Pound Cake with Macadamia Nut Liqueur from Call Me PMC.

More vegetarian and vegan recipes for you to try

If you love our nut loaf, then why not try these easy recipes to complement it perfectly?

• Roasted parsnips
• Roasted potatoes
• Air fryer cheesy carrots
• Yorkshire pudding
• Air fryer balsamic and honey Brussels sprouts

Follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram, for more tasty inspiration!

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