What is Nut Roast?

If you’re unaware, a nut roast is a hearty loaf made from nuts, vegetables, and whatever other tasty ingredients you like, mixed together and baked to golden perfection. It’s a British recipe, and here in the UK, it’s been a vegetarian favourite for decades, and sometimes it’s probably unfairly considered to be a bit old-fashioned. But I say it’s time to bring back this old favourite!

It’s really hard to beat a nut roast that contains so many wonderful textures and flavours – a soft crunch from the nuts, aromatic herbs, plenty of vegetables, and little pops of festive sweetness from the dried cranberries. It’s wonderful.

What Makes this Nut Roast so Easy to Make?

Many nut roast recipes call for a long list of (in my opinion) unnecessary steps: pre-cooking vegetables, boiling lentils, blitzing up breadcrumbs…

My version, on the other hand, is all about simplicity. There’s absolutely no pre-cooking required, so no hassle… just deliciousness. It’s such an easy recipe – if you can mix ingredients, you can make this easy nut roast.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• nuts – I used cashew nuts and peanuts (which happened to be red peanuts, but any type will do!). Nuts can be quite expensive, so honestly, I would just choose whatever nuts make sense to you. If you can find another kind of nut more cheaply, that’s totally fine.
• vegetables – I used carrot, mushrooms, and red onion. Make sure you chop your veggies nice and finely (or grate them, if appropriate), so that the nut roast holds together nicely.
• tinned lentils – using a can is so much easier than boiling dried lentils (but you can do that instead, if you prefer).
• rolled oats – a quicker, and more nutritious, alternative to breadcrumbs.
• grated cheddar – use a nice mature cheese for extra flavour.
• eggs – to help hold everything together.
• fresh sage – brings a Christmassy flavour. Use dried sage if you prefer, though I do like having the whole leaves to garnish the nut roast.
• dried oregano (or any other dried herb you like)
• garlic – I used minced garlic from a jar because it’s quick and easy, and I hate chopping fresh garlic.
• dried cranberries – you can skip these if you’re not a fan, but they really do bring a nice touch of sweetness to the nut roast.

This recipe is quite versatile, so you could swap out some of the ingredients, if you’d like to. For example:

• Most other kinds of nuts will also work just fine – use whatever you like. Walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, etc. will all be great. You don’t have to only choose two. I used plain, unroasted and unsalted nuts, but roasted nuts will also work. If yours are pre-salted, don’t add any additional salt to the nut roast.
• You can swap out the vegetables I chose (mushrooms, carrots and red onion) if you like – just make sure you chop everything quite finely, as big chunks of vegetable may stop the loaf from holding together strongly. Grated parsnip, chopped bell peppers, or finely chopped broccoli should all work okay. I’d avoid anything too wet, like tomatoes or zucchini (courgette), or you might end up with a soggy loaf.
• The herbs can be swapped for any other herbs (fresh or dried) you have on hand. Nut roast is a great opportunity to use woody herbs, like thyme or rosemary, but fresher herbs like parsley will also work well.

What’s in Homity Pie?

There are three parts to this recipe:

• garlicky sautéed leeks and onion
• buttery crushed potatoes (with a cheesy topping)
• a crispy pastry case

These 3 elements can all be prepared simultaneously, or one at a time, depending on how good you are at multitasking. I’ve written the recipe in 3 separate parts, but if the timings work out (or if you have someone else helping you in the kitchen), you can prepare them all at the same time.

Once all three parts of the recipe are ready, they can be assembled, and baked one last time to complete your cheesy homity pie.

And by the way, I am 100% not a pastry expert. You may think my homity pie looks decidedly… rustic. But I like it that way If I wanted it to look perfect, I’d have saved myself a couple of hours, and bought one in a shop.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• leek – It’s hard to get the scale from the picture, but the leek I used was absolutely enormous – a proper monster (probably as big as my forearm!). If your leeks are a more normal size, you’ll probably need at least two.
• potatoes
• shortcrust pastry – I used a ready-rolled sheet of shop-bought pastry, as making pastry is not my forte. Feel free to use homemade pastry if you prefer!
• cheddar cheese – If possible, use freshly grated mature cheddar cheese rather than the pre-grated stuff, as it melts more nicely.
• onion – I used red onion, but regular onions would also be good.
• fresh parsley
• egg
• garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar because I hate chopping large amounts of fresh garlic.
• curry powder (optional, but it does add a lovely hint of warmth)

How to Serve Corn Casserole

This sweetcorn casserole is intended to be a side dish – perhaps as part of a Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. A scoop of this would be amazing on a plate with a vegetarian main course, some roast potatoes, and a couple of other vegetable dishes (roasted green beans are a good option!).

Since this corn casserole is quite a rich dish, with plenty of flavour, it’s a good idea to serve it alongside some more simple dishes (like simply boiled or roasted veggies), so they’re not competing for attention on the plate!

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• canned sweetcorn
• eggs
• plain flour
• milk
• butter
• cheddar cheese
• sugar (optional, but it gives a lovely hint of sweetness)
• pickled red jalapeños (again, optional, but they bring so much flavour)

Why Roast Gnocchi on a Sheet Pan?

If you’ve been reading Easy Cheesy Vegetarian for a while, you might know that I usually encourage people to pan fry gnocchi, in order to crisp it up and make it extra light and fluffy (it’s so much better than boiling!).

However, I really wanted to keep this sheet pan gnocchi to just one tray – I generally don’t like recipes that give me extra chores to do. Roasting the gnocchi in the oven gives it a similar crispy exterior, while also keeping the recipe super straightforward.

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Ingredients and Substitutions

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• gnocchi – any type is fine, either fresh ones or the vacuum-packed kind
• pumpkin
• tomatoes – use nice quality ones, if you can (it makes a difference!). I used medium sized tomatoes, but cherry tomatoes would be fine too.
• arugula / rocket (whatever you like to call it)
• rosemary
• red onion
• garlic
• feta cheese
• garlic butter (or regular butter, if you don’t have garlic butter)

Because this recipe is essentially just ‘lots of stuff roasted up together’, it’s really easy to swap out any of the ingredients, if you want to put your own spin on the recipe. Here are some suggestions:

• If it’s not the right time of year to buy pumpkin in the shops, butternut squash is a perfect alternative.
• The arugula (rocket) can be replaced by any fresh green leaves which can brighten up the dish – perhaps some spinach, watercress, or even some fresh herbs like parsley or basil.
• Instead of rosemary, you could use any other woody herb, like thyme or sage.
• If you’re not a fan of feta cheese, you could use soft goat’s cheese, halloumi cheese, or even melt over a bit of cheddar!
• Feel free to add extra vegetables to this roasted gnocchi recipe – anything that will roast up nicely will work, e.g. mushrooms, zucchini, or peppers.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• dried lasagne sheets
• vegetables – I used onion, carrots, mushrooms and celery
• canned tomatoes
• basil pesto
• fresh mozzarella
• cream
• vegetable stock (a stock cube + water, jelly stock, or liquid stock all work fine)
• garlic (I used garlic puree from a jar because I hate mincing garlic and the jarred stuff is so much quicker and more convenient)
• dried thyme

💚🤎 Recipes using Green or Brown Lentils

Cheesy Slow Cooker Lentils

These cheesy slow cooker lentils are almost zero effort to make, they're tasty served in a million different ways, and you can use whatever veg you have on hand!

Total time: 3 hours hours 40 minutes minutes

Servings: 3 people

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Vegetarian Lentil Sausage Rolls

These vegetarian lentil sausage rolls are packed with rich, earthy flavours, and they're perfect for a kids' party or a lunchbox!

Total time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 16 small rolls

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Enchilada Lentil Casserole

This Tex-Mex lentil casserole is the perfect healthy comfort food – packed with veggies, and full of protein and fibre, but still cheesy and irresistible!

Total time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 3 people

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🥫 Recipes using Canned Lentils

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd's pie is proper British comfort food, and this vegetarian version is absolutely packed with flavour and wholesome ingredients.

Total time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 4 people

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Cheesy Lentil Burgers

If you’re looking for a straightforward, easy to make veggie burger that’s completely delicious and hearty too, these cheesy lentil burgers are the recipe for you!

Total time: 55 minutes minutes

Servings: 5 burgers

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Vegetable Moussaka Casserole

This vegetable moussaka casserole is a much easier version of a vegetarian moussaka – but is just as tasty, with a luxurious creamy topping!

Total time: 2 hours hours

Servings: 4

Get the recipe here!

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• potatoes
• eggplant (aubergine)
• canned lentils (mine were green lentils)
• onion – I only used half an onion (a small onion would also work!)
• canned tomatoes
• tomato paste
• garlic – I used pre-minced garlic from a jar (my favourite time-saving ingredient!)
• dried herbs – mint and oregano. I very rarely use dried mint but trust me, it tastes amazing in moussaka! Not a hint of toothpaste, I promise.
• tomato – to slice up for the topping
• milk, flour and butter – for the creamy white sauce. You can add a pinch of nutmeg to it as well, if you like.

What is Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni?

If you don’t already know, cannelloni are long, wide tubes of pasta, which are often filled with a creamy spinach and ricotta filling. The tubes are then baked in tomato sauce, with a cheesy topping – it is incredible.

However, making homemade cannelloni isn’t always straightforward. Sometimes it can be tricky to get the filling inside the raw pasta tubes – often people use some sort of piping bag. But simply rolling tortillas around the filling is a lot simpler!

Spinach and ricotta cannelloni is already one of my favourite dishes of all time, but these spinach enchiladas are quite possibly even better.

Yep, I said it.

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• flour tortillas
• spinach – you could use frozen spinach if you prefer, but make sure you squeeze out the water after it’s cooked, as it releases a lot more liquid than fresh spinach does.
• ricotta cheese
• tomato sauce – choose a tasty one! I used a good quality tomato pasta sauce with garlic and basil.
• basil pesto – again, a good quality pesto can really amp up this dish!
• black olives – totally optional if you’re not an olive fan, but I love them, and they bring a lot of flavour to the dish!
• grated cheese – I used a mixture of mozzarella (for meltiness) and cheddar (for flavour).
• cherry tomatoes

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• frozen spinach – fresh spinach will also work, but I love the texture frozen spinach gives, and it’s so handy to keep in the freezer!
• paneer cheese
• onion – I used half an onion for this recipe. You could use a whole small onion instead, if you prefer.
• tomatoes
• tomato paste
• cream – you can skip this if you like, but it really lifts the saag paneer to the next level of deliciousness!
• garlic (I used garlic puree)
• ginger (I used ginger puree)
• curry powder

Printable Instructions

Print

30 Minute Saag Paneer

This easy saag paneer (cheese and spinach curry) is an unbelievably tasty vegetarian curry that can be on the table in just 30 minutes!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Diet Gluten Free, Vegetarian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Calories 318kcal

Author Becca Heyes

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1/2 onion (or 1 small onion), sliced or diced
• 200 g (~ 7 oz) paneer cheese, cut into bitesize pieces
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp ginger paste
• ~ 5 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 560 g (~ 1 1/4 lb) frozen spinach
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 3 Tbsp single cream

Instructions

• Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-low heat, and add the onion and cubes of paneer cheese. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent, and the cheese is lightly golden.
  
• Add the curry powder, garlic and ginger, and cook for a couple more minutes, until fragrant.
  
• Next, add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste, and mix to combine. Cook for 5 more minutes.
  
• Add the frozen spinach to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid to help the spinach defrost – it will probably take 5 minutes or so.
  
• When the spinach has defrosted, remove the lid, and allow to cook for a few more minutes, until everything is piping hot and some of the excess liquid has cooked off.
  
• Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add the cream. Simmer gently until you’re ready to serve.
  

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 318kcal | Carbohydrates: 17.5g | Protein: 17.1g | Fat: 20.2g | Saturated Fat: 10.1g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 579mg | Potassium: 486mg | Fiber: 10g | Sugar: 5.4g | Calcium: 532mg | Iron: 7mg

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Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. See the printable recipe card below for detailed ingredient quantities.

• black beans. Canned black beans ensure this recipe is quick and easy. If you prefer, you can cook dried beans from scratch beforehand, then follow the recipe as written.
• onion – I used half an onion, because I find a whole large onion is too much in this recipe. If you’d rather not have half an onion left over, try to just use a small one instead.
• tomatoes (try to use good quality ones)
• tomato paste
• garlic – I used minced garlic from a jar, but fresh garlic would also be fine.
• smoked paprika
• ground cumin
• fresh chilli (or chilli flakes, if you prefer) – I always choose a small, mild chilli. I do like things quite spicy, but adding too much spice can spoil a meal very quickly! If you’re not sure how hot your chilli is, start with just a small amount – you can always add more later.