Vegan Wellington with Oven-Roasted Carrots

This vegan Wellington is filled with braised lentils, finely chopped walnuts, and a beautiful orange center of tender, oven-roasted carrots. It’s a show-stopping centerpiece for holiday meals, gatherings, and special occasions—and it’s incredibly wholesome, also.

A vegan Wellington has been prepared with carrots and lentils at the center. Two slices of the puff-pastry-wrapped Wellington are arranged on a small, round white plate.

The vegan Wellington that I’m sharing today is a true centerpiece for your celebratory table.

Yes, we all have festive sides that are plant-based already, or they easily could be. And I know that a lot of people feel as though side dishes are the real highlight of holiday meals.

I’m not sure that I agree.

I love a heaping helping of mashed potatoes, a scoop of creamed spinach, or a side bowl of salad as part of a special dinner.

But I also like being able to serve a main dish that feels undoubtedly like the star of the show.

Vegan Wellington is such a dish. It’s also delicious, full of nutrient-rich ingredients, and fun to assemble.

How this recipe came to be

Years ago, I ate at a restaurant in New York City that had a (non-vegan) carrot Wellington on the menu. I thought to myself that it was a great idea for a “fancy” plant-based entrée, and I made a note to myself to try a homemade version sometime.

Years went by, and I conquered a lot of other elaborate or complex recipes. I baked bread, pie, and even puff pastry.

Yet I remained a little intimidated by the idea of a Wellington, until I finally gave it a try this fall. I realized that I’d been silly to avoid it for so long!

First, there’s no requirement to use homemade puff pastry when making a Wellington at home. The frozen puff pastry from Pepperidge Farm, Pillsbury, Sweet Loren’s, and Dufour Plant-Based are all vegan and can be used for the outer shell.

Constructing the Wellington is a little involved, as you’ll see. But if you approach it patiently and treat it as a (delicious) project, it’s also really rewarding.

I learned one critical thing in my homemade vegan Wellington experiments: overnight chilling time is essential.

If you put freshly roasted vegetables and hot lentils into a sheet of puff pastry, it’ll soften or melt on the spot. Puff pastry should be cold when it goes into the oven.

So, be sure to account for an overnight chill as you plan this meal.

A wholesome and beautiful cross-section

My carrot Wellington isn’t only filled with carrots. There are also braised lentils and walnuts involved.

These ingredients give the Wellington its structure and shape, and they lend plant-protein and healthful fats to the recipe. They increase its nutritional balance and help to make it a more filling vegan main dish.

You’ll braise, or simmer the lentils in liquid, in order to cook them. After they’re cooked, you’ll pulse them in a food processor with toasted lentils.

Some lentils will remain whole, others will be broken down. The processed mixture will hold the carrots in the center of the Wellington.

Speaking of that, you’ll roast the carrots in two parts. First transfer them to the oven with a foil or parchment cover, to steam-cook and tenderize them. Then, roast the carrots uncovered, so that they start to brown and become glazed in appearance.

The two-step roasting process helps to ensure that the carrots don’t start burning before they’re fully tender.

Let’s go through the steps, one by one.

How to make vegan Wellington

Before you start cooking the Wellington ingredients or thinking about assembly, devote a moment or two to planning.

You’ll need to give the lentil filling and the roasted carrots an overnight chill, so that they’re nice and cold when you construct the Wellington. It’s also important to thaw the puff pastry sheet about one hour before you use it (follow the manufacturer’s instructions).

When I make the recipe, I generally prepare the carrots and lentil filling on one day, then assemble and bake the following day. Splitting the process into steps makes the whole thing feel doable.

Step 1: Preheat the oven and toast your walnuts

Begin by preheating your oven and oven-toasting the walnuts that go into the Wellington filling. Toasting the nuts this way deepens their flavor.

Step 2: Roast your carrots

Once you’ve toasted and removed the walnuts, turn to roasting your whole carrots.

It’s not hard to roast whole carrots if they’re small. The problem with bigger ones is that it takes them quite a while to become fully tender. Often their exteriors start to burn before the interiors are cooked through.

In order to avoid this, I use a two-step roasting method for the Wellington.

First, you’ll wrap the carrots tightly in foil or parchment paper, like a sealed little package. It’s the same method that I use for my oven roasted beets, and it’s a form of par-cooking.

Unlike the beets, the carrots will get unwrapped and seasoned midway through cooking, and you’ll finish roasting them uncovered. They should be very tender and have an almost glazed appearance when you’re finished.

Roasted carrots are resting on a parchment-lined baking sheet. — The whole roasted carrots will be very tender after they come out of the oven. Thanks to seasonings and a touch of maple syrup, they’ll have a mildly glazed appearance.

Step 3: Cook the lentils

You’ll braise, or simmer-cook, the lentils with broth and a mixture of carrots, onion, celery, and herbs. This seasons them nicely.

An overhead image of a silver pot, which is being used to cook a batch of lentils. — Simmering the lentils with onions, carrots, and celery, along with herbs and broth, ensures that they’re well-seasoned before they go into the Wellington.

I like to use French lentils in this recipe, personally. I love this type of lentil and always have some on hand for my hearty vegan French lentil soup or French lentil Niçoise.

However, it’s fine to substitute black lentils, pardina (Spanish) lentils, or regular brown or green lentils in the recipe. If you use brown or green, they’ll need less cooking time than French (20-25 minutes rather than 35).

Step 4: Overnight chill

Once the lentils and carrots are cooked, transfer them to airtight storage containers and give them an overnight chill.

If you’d like to make the entire recipe in a single day, you can start early and chill both components for a minimum of four hours, or until cold.

Step 5: Pulse the lentils and walnuts together

On the following day (or at least four hours later), you can pull the lentils from the fridge. Transfer them to a food processor fitted with the S blade and pulse them together with the toasted walnuts.

You’ll end up with a somewhat crumbly mixture; the lentils will be partially broken down, and the walnuts will help with binding.

Step 6: Assemble your vegan Wellington

The fun of assembly begins!

Note that you’ll need to defrost your puff pastry about one hour before you assemble the Wellington, so plan accordingly. You should also preheat your oven to 400°F / 200°C.

Store-bought puff pastry is usually sold in either a single 14- or 15-ounce (400-425g) sheet or a package of two 8.5 ounce / 240g sheets.

The recipe card, below, will give instructions for both options. Essentially, if you have two sheets at home, you’ll roll them out together so that they merge into a bigger sheet.

Either way, you’ll roll the puff pastry out and arrange a layer of the lentil/walnut mixture along the long side.

Top this layer with a nice, stacked layer of carrots. I do two layers and alternate their direction, so that they can be as evenly arranged as possible.

A sheet of puff pastry is being filled with whole roasted, bright orange carrots. — Alternating the direction of the carrots as you arrange them will help you to keep them in a roughly rectangular shape.

Once you’ve got a nice stack of carrots, you can cover them with the remaining half of the lentil mixture. Try to pat it down around the sides of the carrots, too, so that they’re fully enveloped.

Next, you’ll wrap one side of the puff pastry around your filling ingredients. It should impartially cover the top layer of lentils.

A dish made with cooked lentils and puff pastry is being constructed. — Wrap one long side of the puff pastry over the top of the lentils, then roll everything sideways to wrap the Wellington up.

Roll the whole Wellington up sideways, so that you surround the column of fillings with puff pastry. When you finish, trim any excess pastry and seal the long edge.

Finish by trimming and tucking the pastry on the short ends of the Wellington. Finally, cut a few diagonal lines on the top of the Wellington to vent as it cooks, and brush the top with aquafaba.

Step 7: Bake

Transfer the vegan Wellington to your oven and bake it for 40-45 minutes.

A vegan Wellington has just been baked and is a golden brown color. It rests on a parchment-lined baking sheet. — Brush the Wellington once halfway through baking with additional aquafaba. It will be a deep golden shade of brown and nicely puffed after baking.

I like to brush the top of the Wellington once again with aquafaba halfway through it’s baking time. This gives it a nice, subtle glaze.

After baking, the Wellington will be a beautiful golden brown and the pastry will have puffed up.

I recommend waiting at least twenty minutes before slicing and serving your Wellington. Alternatively, you can transfer it to the fridge and store it for up to five days, or you can freeze it for up to six weeks.

What to pair with your vegan Wellington

The Wellington will play nicely with so many veggie side dishes. Its earthy flavors and hearty consistency work well with a fresh green salad.

Try my favorite butter lettuce side salad, Brussels sprout kale salad, or cauliflower pomegranate salad. Or, pair it with your own favorite every day salad for freshness and crunch.

It’s also nice to serve the recipe with shaved or roasted Brussels sprouts, some simple steamed broccolini, or green beans with Dijon vinaigrette.

If you’d like to add a leafy green component, but you’re not in the mood for salad, it would be really pretty to serve the vegan Wellington slices over a bed of steamed kale or lightly sautéed spinach.

No matter how you present the dish, it’s sure to impress!