- Prep-time: / Ready In:
- Makes one 9-inch torte
- Serving size: ⅙ of recipe
- Print/save recipe
Dreena Burton’s savory vegan holiday torte makes a beautiful and delicious centerpiece for your next Thanksgiving feast. Flecked with cranberries, herbs, and pumpkin seeds, it’s a souped-up vegan loaf reimagined in torte form that’s packed full of everything you love about holiday stuffing—no turkey required. Brown rice, oats, and chickpeas form the hearty base, which includes mouthwatering sautéed onions, white wine, and poultry seasonings. Chopped apples add bursts of juicy sweetness to each bite and celebrate the season’s best produce. Brushing the torte with a layer of vegan Worcestershire sauce infuses savory flavor into every nook and cranny as it bakes in the oven. Serve each slice with a side of cranberry relish or vegan gravy, and watch how quickly your loved ones gobble it up!
For more vegan Thanksgiving mains, check out these tasty ideas:
- Harvest Vegetable Casserole with Lentils and Gravy
- Pumpkin Risotto Frittata with Mushrooms
- Roasted Cauliflower Steaks with Creamed Spinach
- Or take a look at our full collection of plant-based Thanksgiving recipes
By Dreena Burton,
Ingredients
- 1½ cups ½-inch diced apples
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1½ cups chopped onions
- ¼ cup dry white wine or water
- 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 15-oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained (3 cups)
- 3 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce, plus 1 to 2 tablespoons for topping
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 2½ cups cooked brown rice
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ¾ cup toasted pumpkin seeds, plus 2 tablespoons for topping
- 2 to 3 tablespoons dried cranberries or sliced fresh cranberries, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. In a small bowl toss apples with lemon juice.
- In a large skillet cook onions, wine, garlic, poultry seasoning, ¼ teaspoon of the salt, and a few grinds of pepper over medium 10 minutes or until onions soften and turn golden, stirring occasionally and adding water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, as needed to prevent sticking and to loosen any browned bits in bottom of skillet.
- Transfer onion mixture to a food processor. Add chickpeas, 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, the tahini, and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Process until mixture is fairly smooth. Add rice, oats, and ¾ cup pumpkin seeds; pulse to combine. Scrape sides of food processor; process just until mixture reaches a fairly uniform consistency but still has some texture. (Don’t overprocess or the rice will become sticky.) Remove blade from food processor. Stir in apples.
- Transfer mixture to a 9- or 10-inch nonstick springform pan. Use a spatula to smooth out the mixture, lightly pressing to evenly distribute. Spread the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce over surface of mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds and the cranberries (if using).
- Bake 30 minutes or until torte is slightly firm and top is lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes. Release pan’s outer ring. Cut torte into wedges.
Per serving (⅙ of recipe): 400 calories, 72 g carbohydrates, 14 g protein, 7 g total fat, 1.1 g saturated fat, 0 g cholesterol, 417 mg sodium, 13 g fiber, 14 g sugar
Note: Nutritional information is provided as an estimate only.
Comments (23)
(5 from 2 votes)Which apples would work best in this torte?
Hi, Can this dish be frozen as I have a lot of guests staying over the holidays and it would be nice to pull something out of the freezer. Thanks
This was delicious and turned out great! I will post a warning though - you need a very large food processor to fit everything in! I have an 8 cup processor and I had to process this recipe in batches!
This sounds scrumptious! However, I’m cooking for someone who doesn’t like to mix sweet and savoury in the same dish. Would you recommend eggplant/mushroom/zucchini, in lieu of the apples? (Open to all other suggestions.) Thank you!
Hi Ellen, Thank you for pointing out the mistake! The ingredient list has been updated with the correct amount of onions. We hope you enjoy the recipe!
Making it for the holidays again- goes perfect with the 5 min cranberry compote
Can this be made a couple of days ahead and reheated?
What do we do with the apple?
See step three ;)
Thank you, this looks amazing! Do you have any tips for making it ahead of time?
One and a half cup of chopped onions
Hello! I have no idea what the questions are referring to, because it's in the ingredients list and in the instructions when to use the onions and the apples. Please re-read the recipe and have a blessed day!
I am wondering what to do with the 1 1/2 cups of diced apples?
Step 3, last sentence says to stir in apples.
I think it would be helpful if step 3 was split into 3 steps. It’s easy to overlook a step when you’re in cooking mode. I’m pretty sure they do this to say look you can do this in 3-4 easy steps, but really it’s like 7-8 steps.
This is delicious.
I looked on her website and it says 1-1/2 cups diced onion
How many onions?
The amount and kind of onions is not listed in the ingredients list?
There is something WRONG with this recipe!! There are NO onions listed in the ingredients, but both the descriptive lead-in and the directions mention onions. How many diced onions should I use to make this recipe?? I want to make it.
Onions are not on the ingredient list. What is the amount?
Onions are in the directions but not in the ingredient list. How many onions please? This looks really yummy!
The onions are in the ingredients list. (But maybe they fixed it since you wrote your review.)