This easy nut roast is a family favourite. It’s a staple for a vegan roast dinner and is always popular at Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Our recipe is quick to prepare with just 10 ingredients and is rich in nutty flavour.
Table of Contents
There are a lot of recipes out there for nut roast. But there’s two reasons why we’ve been making this nut roast pretty much every week for more years than I can remember:
- Because it’s so easy!
There’s hardly any prep work. You just need to chop and fry an onion and some garlic. Then all you need to do is whizz up the nuts in a food processor and mix everything together. Just like that, it’s ready to go in the oven!
- Because it’s so yummy!
The other thing that sets this recipe apart from other nut loafs is that it’s super nutty and doesn’t contain tons of ingredients or filler. I don’t know about you, but I think nut roast should be full of nutty flavour, and not taste like vegetables.
This recipe is inspired by the famous Nut Roast from pioneering vegetarian restaurant Cranks which opened in London in the 1960s. We made a few adaptations to make the loaf hold together and be easy to serve and slice.
It's a great centrepiece for your vegan Christmas or Thanksgiving celebrations. But it's also a recipe that's simple to make for an everyday family meal.
We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
Ingredient tips
Here’s what you’ll need for this vegan nut roast:
- Nuts - we tend to use a mix of peanuts, cashews and walnuts. We buy organic nuts in bulk for better value. And because you’re grinding them anyway you can get the pieces rather than whole nuts to save a bit more!
- Breadcrumbs - you can make your own (instructions below) or use shop bought. We find this nut loaf the perfect way to use up the end of a loaf that has gone a bit dry.
- Onion and garlic
- Olive oil - for an oil free version you can use some broth to sauté the onions and garlic.
- Dried herbs - we like herbs de provence or using dried herbs from our garden.
- Veggie stock - we use Marigold Swiss Bouillon Powder to make our stock. You can use your favourite vegan bouillon or homemade broth.
- Soy sauce - this enhances the umami taste and adds seasoning to the nuts. We like to use organic soy sauce which has a really full bodied flavour.
- Chia seeds - these help to bind the nut loaf so it holds together well and is easy to slice.
- Dried cranberries - these are optional, but they add a nice subtle sweetness and a special festive twist if you are cooking this nut roast for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
Making Breadcrumbs
We’re always saving any stale bread and transforming it into breadcrumbs to use later.
Here’s how to make your own breadcrumbs at home:
- You can use white, wholemeal, and other types of bread. Wholemeal bread is what we like to use for this nut loaf recipe.
- Cut your stale or toasted bread into cubes and process in a food processor until fine.
- If the bread isn’t dry enough to blend finely, you can spread it out on a baking sheet and bake at 150ºC (300ºF) for a few minutes. Then blend again.
- Store breadcrumbs in a jar or airtight container. For long term storage we keep them in the freezer.
Step by step
You'll find the full recipe in the card below, but here's a handy visual overview to the steps.
Step 1 - In a frying pan, saute the diced onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, translucent and just starting to brown.
Step 2 - In a food processor pulse the nuts until fine.
Step 3 - In a mixing bowl, combine the ground nuts, sauteed onion, breadcrumbs, soy sauce, herbs, chia seeds, optional cranberries and vegetable stock.
Step 4 - Fill a lined tin with the nut mixture and smooth off the top with a spatula.
Step 5 - Bake in a preheated oven at 180C / 360F for 30-40 minutes until the top is browned.
Step 6 - Leave in the tin to rest for 10 minutes, before placing a board or serving plate on top, and flipping over to remove the roast from the tin.
Variations & substitutions
You can vary the nuts to your taste. Experiment with pecans, hazels, almonds, chestnuts or even pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
As an alternative to soy sauce, you can use 2 tsp of Marmite or yeast extract mixed with 4 tsp boiling water.
Serving
We love our nut roast served with:
- Roast potatoes and glazed carrots
- Some caramelised onions
- A good helping of vegan gravy
- Sautéed kale or steamed broccoli
- Some homemade cranberry sauce
Nut roast is also yummy served cold. And leftovers make a great sandwich filling.
Storing and freezing
Leftovers easily keep for three days in a covered container in the fridge.
This nut roast also freezes well. You can freeze it before cooking, directly in a lined tin.
After it’s frozen solid, you can take it out of the tin with the baking paper, and wrap in more paper and foil or an airtight bag for longer storage. Simply return to the tin to defrost overnight and cook as normal.
You can also freeze cooked leftover roast. We like to freeze individual slices separated by parchment paper. That way, it’s really convenient to defrost as many portions as you need.
FAQs
What can I use instead of chia seeds?
You can use an equal amount of ground flaxseeds as they also help to bind the loaf and absorb moisture. You don't need to mix them with water to make flax eggs, just stir the flaxseed into the nut mixture.
What consistency should the nut mixture be before baking?
For best results, you want a moist mixture that can hold its shape - this produces the best nut roast texture.
If you have a wet mixture that seems a bit runny after resting for a few minutes, then you can adjust it by adding more dried breadcrumbs. Your mixture can be too wet if you use fresh breadcrumbs which have much more moisture, or if the nuts are very coarsely ground.
How can I make this vegan nut roast recipe gluten-free?
To make a gluten-free nut loaf, make sure to use gluten-free vegetable stock or bouillon and use gluten-free tamari sauce instead of soy sauce.
For the breadcrumbs, you can make your own from gluten-free bread or use store-bought. Gluten-free certified ground oats also make a great alternative. Replace the 1 cup / 100g breadcrumbs with 1 cup / 80g of oats that have been pulsed in a food processor until you have coarse oat flour.
How can I make it advance?
If you're making this nut roast for the holiday season or Christmas dinner then it's really convenient to make a day ahead. Make the mixture as directed in the recipe, fill it into your prepared loaf tin, cover the tin and then store in the fridge overnight and bake as normal the next day.
Do I need to line the tin?
If you want a really neat roast for a special occasion, then we highly recommend using a lined loaf pan. To save time, you can line the base and sides with one piece, and simply grease the ends with oil.
Can I make a bigger nut roast? How about mini ones?
Yes, for a bigger roast you can adjust the servings in the recipe card to 9 portions to make one and half times the roast.
Double the mixture is too much for a standard loaf tin, so if you need more portions then make two roasts. For cute mini roasts, check out our Individual Nut Roasts recipe.
We hope you enjoy this easy nut roast recipe! We invite you to try our other nutty vegan recipes:
Our Vegan Nut Burgers are a great nut roast alternative for the summer.
These Vegan Almond Crescent Cookies make great gifts (for both yourself and your friends!)
And this Vegan Mushroom and Walnut Pate is always a hit at parties!
📖 Recipe
Easy Nut Roast
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (220 g) mixed nuts walnuts, peanuts, cashews...
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup (100 g) fine breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp dried herbs
- 1 cup (240 ml) vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 2 tbsp dried cranberries chopped, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C / 360°F.
- In a frying pan, cook the diced onion and garlic with the olive oil, until translucent and just starting to brown.
- In a food processor, pulse the nuts until fine. If you are also making your own breadcrumbs now, process the bread separately from the nuts, as they will take longer to become fine.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients - the ground nuts, breadcrumbs, fried onion and garlic, soy sauce, dried herbs, chia seeds, optional cranberries, and vegetable stock.
- Transfer the nut mixture into a loaf tin lined with parchment paper, and smooth the top with a silicone spatula.
- Bake the nut roast for 30-40 minutes until the top starts to brown.
- Remove from the oven, and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. To remove from the tin, place a board on top of the tin, flip over and peel off the baking paper.
- Before serving, you can add some extra nuts on top for decoration.
Notes
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
Kathy Rich says
Nut roast, very good consistency, so easy to make. I can see how you can change the flavour by adding different thing like grated carrot. Next time I will add more cashews. I didn't have cranberries so finely chopped a handful of dried apricots which worked well. thank you, leftovers sliced & in the freezer.
Sophie and Paul says
So happy you love the recipe Kathy! Great call on the dried apricots.
Theresa Clark says
Hi - quick question:
Do you need to soak the chia seeds. I’m assuming not and they’ll use the liquid in the loaf. But just want to check
Thank you
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Theresa, no need to soak the chia beforehand, just stir them in with the rest of the ingredients and they will soak up some moisture from there. 🙂 Enjoy
Suzy says
I'm completely intrigued! I've never heard of a nut roast. Is it crunchy? My husband is not a fan of nuts in quick breads or cookies, etc. Would this take the place of a traditional meat loaf on the dinner table? The Polish Christmas Eve is traditionally vegan. This looks like it will fit the bill nicely! I'm eager to try it! Merry Christmas!
Sophie and Paul says
It's a very popular vegetarian main course for a roast dinner here in the UK. It's similar in the meatloaf in shape and function yes, but will of course taste quite different. The texture is crisp on top and moist on the inside. Hope you enjoy it! Happy Christmas to you too 🙂
Sandra says
I had saved this recipe some time ago, having never made a nut roast before. I made it for a festive meals the other day and it was delicious - and so simple to make.
Zuzana says
What a fantastic recipe! I made it for dinner tonight but I don't think there will be any left by then😀 Thank you so much.
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much Zuzana! So glad it was a success, enjoy 🙂
Mike Owen says
Prepared this on Saturday and cooked it with roasted potatoes and roasted veg for Sunday dinner absolutely delicious “ Clean plates all round” thank you
Sophie and Paul says
So glad you all loved it Mike. Thanks for using our recipe and we hope you enjoy it again soon.
Susan says
Perfect recipe. Made it a few times now and it's tasty every time. Plus so easy to make😊
Liesl says
I've made this recipe so many times now I love it. Just packed with flavour and so simple. Even my meat eating mum enjoys this (she's fussy!)
It's my absolute go to nut roast recipe 😋
Sophie and Paul says
So happy to hear that Liesl! Thanks for using our recipe again and again 🙂
Hannah says
I made this nut roast for the first time tonight. It was so simple and I had everything already in the kitchen to make it except the cranberries which I just left out. I had no baking paper to line the tin so I just greased it with some vegan butter and it worked fine. It turned out so great! Thanks!
Sophie and Paul says
Fantastic! So happy it turned out so well for you Hannah. Enjoy it again soon 🙂
Susan says
My first time of making this nut roast.
So easy to make.
I made one mistake by lining my tin with foil instead of paper. So it came out as a deconstructed roast as it stuck to the foil.
But, it was absolutely gorgeous and both me and my daughter really enjoyed eating it.
Thankyou 😋
Sophie and Paul says
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback Susan! Glad it turned out so yummy and you and your daughter loved it 🙂
Rochelle says
Can I use Panko "Gluten Free" bread crumbs?
I've had a tough time finding a recipe without mushrooms and am excited to try yours- thank you!!
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Rochelle, So glad we could help you out with a mushroom free nut roast recipe! We haven't tested the recipe with gluten-free panko breadcrumbs, but it should work out alright. You might need to adjust the quantities a little as breadcrumbs can vary in the amount of liquid they absorb (panko tend to be lighter and drier), I'd recommend adding stock in bit by bit until you reach the right kind of consistency shown in the photos (moist but holds its shape after 5 minutes resting). You can also use gluten-free certified oats too - replace the 1 cup / 100g breadcrumbs with 1 cup / 80g of oats that have been pulsed in a food processor until you have coarse oat flour. Hope that helps and happy cooking!