Vegan Vegetable Wellington

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

Flaky puff pastry is stuffed with a sweet and savory mixture of mushrooms, butternut squash, pecans and rice to make this mouth-watering vegan vegetable Wellington. This stunning holiday main dish will please vegans, vegetarians, and omnivores alike!

This recipe is carb-o-riffic. But hey, if there’s a day when you can go all out on the carbs, it’s got to be Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or any of the year-end holidays really.

Vegan holiday recipes certainly take the cake (ha ha! Um, sorry.) when it comes to carbing things up. This one is puff pasty stuffed with carbs. And it’s SO good.

This dish is kind of based on beef Wellington, but it’s also kind of not. I’ve wanted to create a vegan beef Wellington (or at least a vegan beef Wellington-inspired dish) forever, but didn’t know where to start. See, beef Wellington is basically a big piece of meat and a few other fixings wrapped in puff pastry. Great! So I’ll wrap some vegan food in puff pastry. But the challenge was in deciding what foods would work best.

I decided to give up on the idea of using any filling that resembled beef, and instead to combine a bunch of sweet and savory fillings, including a whiskey-spiked mixture of mushrooms, butternut squash, pecans and herbed brown rice.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Brown rice. You could substitute another type of rice, but I like the grainy texture and nutty flavor of brown rice best in this recipe. Also, you may need to alter the cook time and amount of liquid you cook it in. Refer to the package directions for guidance.
• Vegetable broth.
• Dried herbs. We’re using thyme, rosemary and sage. Prefer fresh herbs? Just double the amounts!
• Olive oil. You could substitute another type of high-heat oil if you’d like.
• Butternut squash. Another sweet variety of winter squash could be substituted here, such as acorn, kabocha, or delicata squash. Sweet potatoes are another option.
• Mushrooms. We’re using cremini mushrooms, also known as baby portobellos or baby bellas. Regular portobellos or button mushrooms could be substituted.
• Onion.
• Garlic.
• Whiskey. This adds a wonderful flavor to the filling, but it can be left out if you prefer to cook without alcohol.
• Pecans. Walnuts or hazelnuts would make good alternatives if pecans aren’t your favorite.
• Salt & pepper.
• Flour. I’ve only tested this recipe with all-purpose wheat flour.
• Frozen puff pastry. Accidentally vegan puff pastry is surprisingly easy to find! Always be sure to check the ingredients for things like butter. I used Pepperidge Farm brand.
• Vegan butter. Look for brands such as Earth Balance and Miyoko’s near where the regular butter is sold at the supermarket.

How It’s Made

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

• Start by roasting your squash and mushrooms. Dice them both up and toss them with a bit of olive oil.
• Arrange the diced squash and mushrooms on separate baking sheets and roast them until they’re tender.

• While the squash and mushrooms roast, combine your broth, rice, and herbs in a small saucepan. Heat the broth to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pot and let the rice simmer until the broth is fully absorbed.
• Let the pot sit with the lid on for a few minutes, then uncover it and fluff the rice with a fork.

• Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and add diced onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes until it softens up, then add the garlic and cook it briefly with the onion.
• Lower the heat and carefully add the whiskey to the skillet. Let it simmer with the onion and garlic until it reduces a bit.

Tip: Always be super careful when adding alcohol to a hot cooking vessel. If it heats up too rapidly, it can catch fire!

• Add your cooked rice, squash, mushrooms and pecans to the skillet. Toss everything to combine, and give the mixture a quick taste-test. Season it with salt and pepper to taste. It’s important to taste-test and season the filling before adding flour, which shouldn’t be eaten until fully cooked.
• Now sprinkle in the flour and stir the mixture up to combine everything.

• Use a rolling pin to roll your puff pastry to a large square. Transfer the dough to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then arrange the fillings in a long strip down the center.
• If you’d like to braid your dough, cut it into 1-inch strips along the sides, then pinch alternating strips together over the fillings. Alternately, you can simply fold the dough over the fillings and seal it together. Either way, you may find that you need to stretch the dough a bit in order to fit it over the fillings. This is totally fine!

• Brush the pastry with melted vegan butter. This will help to crisp and brown the pastry since we’re not using a traditional egg wash.

Tip: It’s a good idea to move the pastry before filling it. As you can see in the photo above, I didn’t do that! Moving your Wellington can be tricky once it’s assembled. I like to recruit a helper and use a couple of spatulas.

• Bake the Wellington until it’s golden brown and puffy.
• Use a sharp knife to slice it up. I find a serrated knife works best.
• Serve and enjoy!

Tip: I like to serve my Wellington with spiced wine cranberry sauce or doused in vegan gravy.

Make-Ahead Option

The filling for this vegetable Wellington can be made up to 2 days in advance. Store it in an airtight container in the fridge. Assemble and bake the Wellington according to the recipe on the day of serving.

Leftovers & Storage

Vegan Wellington is best eaten right away, since puff pastry loses its crisp, flaky texture over time. If you do have leftovers, they’ll keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for about 3 days or in the freezer for 3 months.