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Nut Roast is a delicious vegetarian dinner idea featuring nuts, herbs, and cooked veggies. It tastes better than traditional meatloaf and will satisfy vegetarians and meat-eaters alike!
The combination of fresh herbs, nuts, and sautéed veggies make this nut roast a dish you’ll be proud to serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. It’s a delicious alternative to lentil loaf and is naturally gluten-free!
It pairs well with all of your favorite holiday sides, like Brussels sprouts salad, wild rice stuffing, and green bean casserole.
Ingredients You’ll Need
This nut roast recipe gets its bulk from a combination of sauteed mushrooms, cooked brown rice, and mixed nuts. The grated Parmesan cheese adds flavor and helps bind the loaf, along with the protein-rich eggs.
You can use any nuts you happen to have on hand for this recipe. A combination of walnuts and pecans works well here, but you could also add in hazelnuts or brazil nuts if you like.
Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds may also work if you need a nut-free option.
How to Make the Best Nut Roast
In a food processor fitted with an S-blade, add the walnuts and pecans and process briefly, until the nuts look like coarse flour.
Transfer the ground nuts to a large mixing bowl, then add half of the mushrooms to the food processor. (There’s no need to clean the machine between processing ingredients.)
Briefly process the mushrooms until they have a crumbly texture, then transfer the processed mushrooms to a separate bowl. Repeat the processing with the remaining mushrooms, until all of them have been finely chopped.
Add the olive oil to a deep large frying pan over medium heat, and sauté the onion until it starts to soften, about 5 minutes.
Next, add the garlic, thyme, and chopped mushrooms. Continue to cook the veggies until the mushrooms release some liquid, about 8 more minutes.
Transfer the cooked veggies to the large mixing bowl that has the ground nuts inside, then add in the cup of cooked brown rice. Make sure the veggies have cooled slightly before adding the Parmesan cheese and eggs.
Season with salt and black pepper then stir well, until the mixture looks relatively uniform.
Prepare a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan by lightly spraying it with oil, then press a piece of parchment paper into the bottom of the pan. (The oil will hold the parchment paper in place, and make it easier to remove from the loaf tin later.)
Transfer the nut loaf mixture to the pan, and flatten it with a spatula. Bake at 375ºF for 1 hour, or until the loaf looks golden and feels firm in the center.
Let the loaf cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes, then it’s ready to slice and serve.
Serve with your favorite holiday side dishes, like mashed potatoes, vegan gravy, and cranberry sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Don’t try to swap chia eggs or flax eggs for the eggs in this recipe, because they will give you a gooey result. Try my Vegan Meatloaf recipe instead, which is already egg-free and dairy-free.
Yes, you can replace 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs with 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried herbs in most cases.
Looking for more holiday recipes? Try Sweet Potato Casserole, Butternut Squash Soup, or Green Bean Casserole to add more vegetables to your meal.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup walnut halves
- ½ cup pecan halves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion , chopped
- 16 ounces mushrooms (like cremini or baby bella)
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF and line a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. (I like to spray the pan with a bit of oil first, to help the parchment stay in place.)
- Add the walnuts and pecans to a food processor fitted with an S-blade and process briefly until they resemble finely ground flour. Transfer the pulverized nuts to a large mixing bowl and set them aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, and saute the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- While the onion is cooking, add the mushrooms to the food processor and process briefly until they look roughly chopped. You may need to process 8 ounces of mushrooms at a time, to make sure they are all chopped evenly. Add the mushrooms and garlic to the onion in the skillet, and saute until the liquid from the mushrooms evaporates, about 8 more minutes.
- Transfer the cooked veggies to the large mixing bowl that already has the ground nuts inside. Let them cool slightly, then add in the brown rice, Parmesan, eggs, parsley, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Stir well until everything is evenly mixed.
- Transfer the mixture to the prepared loaf pan, and use a spatula to smooth the top. Cook the loaf at 375ºF until the top is golden and firm, about 1 hour. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before removing the loaf from the pan, then slice and serve.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you try this Nut Roast recipe, please leave a comment and star rating below letting me know how you like it.
Suggestions for cheese sub to make it dairy free?
Made this a couple times. Once I halved the recipe and baked in a mini loaf pan in an airfryer. Second time in a regular pan in the oven. Delicious even to the ones who think they have to have meat with every meal and requested this dish become a regular rotation.
This was my first vegetarian Thanksgiving meal. I had never had a Nut Loaf. It was so strange-looking to me while I was making it. But so was the vegan gravy the first time I made it, and I have made it for about five years. Trusting Detoxinista and her tasty recipes, I carried on. And I loved it! I am glad we have left overs. My husband made the Intstant Pot mashed potatoes, and I poured the gravy over the nut loaf and potatoes. It was all attractive, tasty and satisfying! Thanks for this great Nut Loaf recipe!
So delicious!! I’m not a vegetarian but I wanna make it again!!
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review.
Our family loves this! Even those who are not vegetarian. It is a staple in our house now. Thanks for the great recipe!
I forgot to rate the recipe. 5 stars!
Megan! You did it again!! It was absolutely delicious! One guest was a vegetarian for the holiday get together and we all loved tasting this too:) I only had white rice and portobello mushrooms, but they were great substitutes!!
Thank you!!!
I made this for lunch today and wow, it is delicious! The flavor is truly fantastic! Thank you, Megan, for this wonderful recipe!!!
I was impressed with this recipe. The look and texture were pretty close. The flavor was good. My friend who joined us for dinner asked for the recipe. I will definitely be making this again! Thank you.