One in five Brits would choose a nut roast for Christmas dinner as a vegetarian option this year, a new survey has found.
According to research by recipe box service Green Chef, the next most popular choices for plant-based eaters included a meat-free alternative to turkey for 15.5% of consumers, followed by mushroom gravy and vegetarian Wellington.
For 7.5%, tofu roast and lentil roast were also found to be festive vegetarian alternatives, as well as plant-based pigs in parsnip blankes, a walnut pate and quinoa stuffing.
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While a nut roast was found to be the most likely vegetarian option across most UK cities, Londoners were almost twice as likely to opt for a roast seitan.
Data from co2everything.com suggests that a vegetarian Christmas dinner could be a more environmentally-conscious option, as beef produces 15.5kg CO2e per 100g serving in comparison to root vegetables at 0.04kg CO2e.
Statista data also found that red wine is the preffered drink paring to a festive dinner with 29% opting for this last Christmas.
White wine came close behind at 27%, while soft drinks were preferable among 27%.
“When it comes to festive drinks, red wine pairs perfectly with warming veggie dishes such as seitan, nut and tofu roasts. Whereas, fizz such as prosecco or champagne complement the earthy flavours found in mushroom gravy,” a Green Chef spokesperson said.
This comes as Ocado has reported a spike in interest for vegan Christmas food.
Earlier this month, the online-only supermarket revealed searches for ‘Christmas vegan’ had more than tripled, rising by 389%.
