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The flavor of this vegan wellington is OUT OF THIS WORLD. Beef Wellington, who?! This recipe is nut-free and perfect for holiday dinner.
Vegan Wellington
If you have heard of Gordon Ramsay, you probably know about the famous Beef Wellington dish that he serves at his restaurants. Or rather, you probably have memories of him yelling at Hell’s Kitchen contestants about how they totally screwed up the beef wellington. Except he says it with plenty of expletives.
I had big, big dreams of making a beef wellington before I went vegan, and I never got around to it. But who says we can’t make a vegan wellington?
Beef Wellington is essentially a cut of beef, like filet mignon, rolled up in a puff pastry with some seasonings.
Is Puff Pastry Vegan?
MOST store-bought puff pastry sheets are totally vegan! My grocery store carries the Pepperidge Farm brand. It comes pre-rolled in a 10×15 sheet which just makes life easier. If you find one that is not pre-rolled, roll it out to about that size if possible.
How to Make a Vegan Wellington
The process of making a vegan wellington is much less complicated than I anticipated – we are going to make the filling in one pot, roll it up in puff pastry, and then bake it.
The filling is completely nut-free. I noticed that many vegetarian or vegan wellington recipes contained walnut or pecans (alongside mushrooms). Instead of nuts, we’ll get that same texture from sunflower seeds and lentils. Sunflower seeds were a total hit in this vegan bolognese.
Perhaps the most complicated (but it’s not really complicated at all) part of this is rolling up the filling in the puff pastry. I recommend using an ice cream scoop or a large spoon to pack the filling tightly, then forming it so it’s wide enough to take up the center third area. Leave about an inch of room on the ends. Fold up the sides. They should overlap about 1/2 an inch or so. Use a little water to help seal the seam.
Then, pinch together the ends of the puff pastry. I like to tuck them in like you would wrap a gift. Again, use some water to help seal so the filling doesn’t sneak out.
Flip the puff pastry over so the seal is down. Place on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
How to Score Puff Pastry
Scoring is a simple method that 1) allows steam to escape while cooking and 2) looks pretty. To score mine, I basically just drag a knife diagonally across the pastry to make shallow slits, about 1 inch apart. Then, I go down the opposite way. This creates the diamond shapes. If you don’t want to get super fancy, you can just cut 3-4 slits across the pastry.
To create a golden crust without an egg wash, I brush non-dairy milk all over the top. Then, just pop your wellington in the oven and bake until beautifully golden brown!
Can I Make Vegan Wellington Ahead of Time?
Yes! Follow the instructions up until the baking part. Wrap in plastic wrap or store in a large container in the fridge for up to a day. Bake as instructed, but keep in mind it might take some extra time.
It’s best to eat right after baking, of course, but I still really enjoyed the warmed-up leftovers the next day.
Vegan Wellington
Ingredients
- 1 frozen puff pastry sheet
- 1 large carrot peeled and chopped
- 1 large celery stalk chopped
- 2 tsp vegan butter or oil or 1/4 cup veg stock
- 2/3 cup dry lentils green or brown
- 2 cups water
- 1.5 tsp vegetable or "no beef" bouillon see notes
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1.5 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce see notes
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp sage
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- soy sauce or salt to taste
- 2 cups chopped kale loosely packed
- 1/2 cup roasted unsalted sunflower seeds coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Set the puff pastry out to thaw.
- In a medium-sized pot, saute the carrots and celery in the vegan butter/oil or vegetable stock until tender.
- Add in the lentils, water, bouillon, onion powder, garlic powder, vegan Worcestershire sauce, paprika, sage, thyme, and pepper.
- Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender and have absorbed the liquid. Add some salt or soy sauce if needed.
- Turn off the heat, but leave the pot on the burner. Stir in the kale and sunflower seeds. Cover the pot for about 5 minutes, or until the kale has wilted.
- Mix in the breadcrumbs. Let the lentil mixture cool until just warm, no longer hot.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400F degrees.
- Once the puff pastry is thawed and pliable, you can start assembling your vegan wellington.
- Scoop the lentil mixture in the center third of the puff pastry in the shape of a log. Leave an inch of room on the edges. Make sure it's packed tightly.
- Fold the sides of the puff pastry over the top of the lentil mixture, tightly. There should be about a half an inch of overlap. Pinch, seal and tuck the edges. Use water to help create a more secure seal.
- Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place the wellington on it, seam-side down.
- Score the pastry (directions in the post above) and then brush with the non-dairy milk (this will create a golden crust as an egg wash would.)
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes, then use a serrated knife to cut slices.
Sarah Beauchamp
I am not vegan, but I regularly cook for vegan friends and family. ‘Tis is scrumptious.
One thing: I serve with the NYT make ahead mushroom gravy now because it is requested.
Another thing: I’m making it just now. I have baby spinach, but no kale. Will that work?
Karissa
Yes, spinach will work!
Sandra Keating
Where can you get puff pastry that does not contain butter?
Karissa
Pepperidge Farm brand is vegan.
Mike Carner
Wondering about your calorie count. 1/6 of the puff pastry alone is 230 calories. Yet you have only 222 calories per serving. Did you leave out the puff pastry when you figured the calories? Looks very yummy anyway.
Karissa
Hey, Mike! Good spot. I use a nutrition calculator and went back through to manually calculate. The calculator got the amount of puff pastry wrong. I’ve changed the nutrition facts to reflect the re-calculation. Thanks for the comment!
Megan
Made this for Christmas dinner – it was beautiful and super tasty! Thanks!!
Jill
I made this to bring to a potluck. In the end, it was delicious and well recrived. However, I believe the recipe should read to allow the filling to cool before adding it to the pastry. My filling was still warm and the pastry disintegrated under it. It was messy and nearly impossible to save without a second sheet of pastry.
Karissa
Thank you for the input. I am glad it still turned out okay.
Liv
Can’t wait to make it! Can you use canned lentils? I’ve not much experience with dry lentils, do they soften that quickly? (15/20mins). Thank you! 🙂
Karissa
Sure!
Monica
Can I make this a day before or the morning of (xmas dinner). I’ll be having a 22lb Turkey so won’t have room or the time. Also, can I use my red lents instead l (what I have at home).
Karissa
Hey Monica! You can assemble the wellington ahead of time, stick it in the fridge, and then bake it when you are ready to eat it. You may need to add a little more time to the baking time since it will be cold when you put it in the oven. I don’t recommend baking it ahead of time because the puff pastry texture will not be as light & flaky reheated. Unfortunately, red lentils will be too mushy for this recipe, they kind of disintegrate when cooking – green or brown lentils will remain firm which is the best texture for this recipe.
Jenn
How much water when cooking the lentils ?
Cathy
It’s in the recipe
kelli
Have you added mushrooms to this? Thinking of adding some because I love mushrooms!
Karissa
I haven’t, but you definitely could!
Janet
Looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it.
Lora
Sounds yummy and easy!!! Great main dish. Thanks for no nuts!! Too many vegan recipes use cashews.
Donna
I’m not a big fan of kale. Any other suggestions? Spinach, perhaps?
Karissa
Sure!