Introduction
Everybody stares at me at high school graduation parties because I usually don’t eat or drink anything. No, I don’t have anorexia, and I’m not trying to be rude. Instead, I’m vegan. In other words, I don’t eat there because almost all or all of the food has animal products in them. Here is more information about veganism.
After getting input from my family and answers from my Facebook friends, here are 30 vegan graduation party food ideas, including but not limited to the following.
- Cauliflower Wings
- Sloppy Joe
- Pulled Jackfruit
- Vegan Pork Tenderloin
- Hamburger Buns
1. Cauliflower Wings
My parents always like to have fried chicken at their graduation parties. Instead, you can have these cauliflower hot wings from Cheap & Cheerful Cooking.
2. Sloppy Joe
I’ve seen a decent amount of Maid-Rites at graduation parties. Something more well-known and similar to that outside of Iowa is a sloppy joe. Happy Kitchen has a fantastic sloppy joe recipe for you.
3. Pulled Jackfruit
Jackfruit is a huge tropical fruit trendy in the vegan community because it has a meaty texture. Try using some jackfruit in this vegan alternative to BBQ pork from Nora Cooks.
Read my blog post on vegan American recipes if this dish is up your alley.
4. Vegan Pork Tenderloin
We can’t talk about graduation parties without mentioning pork tenderloin. Even though this vegan tenderloin recipe from Planted365 is dinky compared a normal pork tenderloin, making two or three batches should be enough for your vegetarian and vegan guests.
5. Hamburger Buns
You can’t have sloppy joes and BBQ jackfruit without hamburger buns. Whether you are vegan or not, these hamburger buns from The Healthy Family and Home are worth trying because they have fewer ingredients than store-bought buns.
If you like veggie burgers, you may like my blog post about plant-based burger recipes.
6. Potato Bar
When I think of a baked potato, I remember eating Wendy’s broccoli and cheese baked potatoes before they got discontinued. Get some ideas for your vegan potato bar from EatPlant-Based.
7. Carrot Hot Dogs
Hot dogs are a main course that many kids and picky eaters love. Try these vegan hot dogs made out of carrots from Shane & Simple.
If you are a big carrot fan, check out my blog post about vegan carrot recipes.
8. Breakfast Casserole
I’ve been to many graduation party brunches, and most serve egg bake for their main course. Try this vegan breakfast casserole from From My Bowl.
Find more breakfast recipes on my vegan breakfast blog post.
9. Hashbrown Casserole
My parents have gotten numerous compliments about their hash brown (cheesy potatoes) recipe being the best one around. Try this vegan hash brown casserole from Contentedness Cooking.
If you want more vegan casserole recipes, you can find some in my blog post about plant-based Lent recipes.
10. Creamed Corn
Iowa has the best sweet corn around. My parents would freeze a bunch of buttery corn for sports potlucks, band meals, and graduation parties.
Here’s some vegan creamed corn from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken. If this sounds good, you may like my blog post on vegan corn recipes.
11. Green Bean Casserole
Another common hot side at high school graduation parties is green bean casserole. Have some vegan green bean casserole from Know Your Produce.
12. Baked Beans
My grandma always likes making homemade baked beans for our family get-togethers and my family’s graduation parties. Make some vegan baked beans from Nora Cooks.
13. Broccoli Salad
Broccoli is one of my favorite vegetables because it’s versatile and yummy. Have some vegan broccoli salad from Minimalist Baker.
14. Pasta Salad
Pasta can be put into cold dishes too. For example, here’s a vegan pasta salad from The Simple Veganista.
15. Coleslaw
Even though I'm not too fond of coleslaw, probably because I dislike almost all of the ingredients, my mom and many others love it because it’s a classic. Make some vegan coleslaw from The Hidden Veggies.
Try these cabbage recipes today.
16. Jello Salad
The tricky thing about making jello vegan is finding jello without any gelatin in it. Try this vegan jello salad from spabettie.
17. Potato Salad
Potato salad is a relatively famous cold salad at funerals and graduation parties. Here’s a vegan potato salad recipe from Loving It Vegan.
18. Tropical Fruit Salad
Many graduation parties serve some fruit salad. Even though they’re usually not as fancy as this tropical fruit salad from Simple Vegan Blog, it exemplifies all of the fantastic fruit salad options.
19. Chocolate Sheet Cake
When I found this chocolate sheet cake from Nora Cooks, that reminded me of my grandpa’s Texas sheet cake.
Read my blog post about vegan cakes for some more vegan cake recipes.
20. Ice Cream Bar
A word of caution, having a vegan ice cream bar without a common allergy replacing dairy in the ice cream itself, like soy, tree nuts (almonds and cashews), and coconut is challenging.
Here are some ideas for your vegan ice cream bar:
- almond milk ice cream from Chocolate Covered Katie
- Enjoy Life chocolate chips (some Certified Vegan options)
- MyMochi (My/Mo’s vegan flavors)
- MadeGood Soft Baked Mini Cookies (all vegan)
- Dandies Marshmallows (all vegan)
- Almond Cow’s chocolate sandwich cookies (a vegan alternative to Oreo cookies)
- Wildly Organic chocolate syrup (all vegan)
- Hot Cakes vegan caramel (some vegan options)
- Once Again nut butter (some vegan options)
- Baking Time Club sprinkles (all vegan and gluten-free)
- fresh or frozen berries
21. Frosted Sugar Cookies
I’ve seen a lot of colored sugar cookies at grad parties. Here are some vegan frosted sugar cookies from Six Vegan Sisters.
If you’re interested in more vegan cookie recipes, here’s my blog post about vegan cookies.
22. Vegan Food Coloring
Food coloring isn’t usually vegan because it isn’t cruelty-free, meaning it goes through animal testing. Try making this vegan food coloring at home from Your Daily Vegan.
23. Ice Cream Float
I would be a horrible human being if I gave a spiel about the wonders of having a vegan ice cream bar at a graduation party without including some vegan ice cream float on this list.
Even though this vegan ice cream float from Almond Cow isn’t a root beer float, it is still a great addition to an ice cream bar or an excellent beverage with vegan soft-serve ice cream.
24. Lemonade
Unfortunately, most lemonades aren’t vegan because they contain gelatin (bone char). Luckily, here is some vegan sugar-free lemonade made with fresh pineapple and without gelatin from Delish Knowledge.
You may like more recipes with pineapple or lemon.
25. Fruit-Infused Water
It’s always good to stay hydrated. Offer some fruit-infused water, in addition to bottled water, from Simple Vegan Blog.
26. Sparkling Fruit Punch
I apologize that spiked punch isn’t at most graduation parties because it would be hard to prevent underage people from having any. Regular punch is delicious anyway. Here’s a non-alcoholic sparkling fruit punch recipe from The Vegan 8.
27. Taco Dip
Many grad parties serve chips, and it’s only natural to have a chip dip alongside them. Try some vegan taco dip from Kathy’s Vegan Kitchen.
If you’re in the mood for some tacos, check out my blog post about vegan tacos. You may also like this blog post about vegan Mexican recipes.
28. Popcorn Bar
I first encountered a popcorn bar at one of my cousin’s weddings, but none was vegan. With EatPlant-Based‘s help, you can make a vegan popcorn bar.
29. Chex Mix
When you eat at grad parties, each table usually has some snack mix or candy bowl. Try this vegan Chex Mix from It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken.
30. Candy Bowl
I made a blog post about vegan-friendly candy brands. They have vegan or 100% plant-based labels on all their vegan options on their websites and/or candy wrappers.
Feel free to mix whatever candy on that list that fits the occasion.
Conclusion
Sadly, when I wrote this blog post, the only reason that my immediate family members were probably psyched about me compiling a list of graduation food was because they were disappointed that COVID-19 canceled all of their graduation parties the previous year. Imagining graduation food was better than nothing.
I postponed this blog post a year partially due to COVID-19 wrecking almost everybody’s graduation party plans and because of thinking of this blog post idea too late.
In the end, if I see a vegan recipe at a graduation party, I would probably try it regardless of whether I liked the food. The exceptions are pickled food and food with peanut butter. Good luck convincing me to have those recipes because that won’t happen.
If you are interested in talking about graduation food, comment your thoughts below.
- What is your favorite food at high school graduation parties?
- What food do you have at the graduation parties that you have/host?
- Do you have any graduation party recipes that you would like to share? If so, include them in the comments below.