EV’s Take: An Easy Vegan Roast for the Holidays
We’re reviewing as many vegan holiday entrées as possible as we approach the holiday season. Field Roast’s Celebration Roast immediately appeared during my search. I was excited to start my holiday review journey with what appeared to be a stunning celebration of flavors.
I was really excited to try this roast. The photo on the packaging looked absolutely sublime. However, I had a bit of an “expectation versus reality” moment when seeing how my roast turned out and how the roast looked on the package. The slices of the roast on the packaging looked so moist and tender. Our slices looked and tasted a bit dry and tough. I noticed other commenters who tried this roast remarked on the chewiness of its exterior. I don’t think we were the only ones to experience a rubbery roast.
My only other nitpick is that the packaging claims this roast is crafted with “sage, garlic, and bread stuffing,” but I did not pick up on that. Unlike the Tofurkey roast, which has a very distinct stuffing filling, Field Roast’s stuffing seemed to be mushed into the texture of the plant-based meat. I would have liked it if this roast felt like it was truly accompanied by stuffing rather than having a homogenous texture.
I was impressed by the overall flavor profile of the roast, which made my entire house smell like a holiday feast! While the roast did deliver savory flavors, it still carried a lot of bitterness in each bite, which we found very unsavory. Though smooth and velvety, the gravy was even more bitter than the roast. It was also so salty that we found it nearly inedible.
Overall, this roast would make a fine addition to any vegan holiday feast. If you’re hosting a traditional Thanksgiving, it would be a suitable solution for your vegan or vegetarian guests. If I had to choose between this Celebration Roast and the Cranberry & Hazelnut Roast, I would give the latter the edge. You can read my review of the Cranberry & Hazelnut Roast here.
Field Roast Celebration Roast Ingredients
This is a complex plant-based product, so the ingredient list is longer than other products I’ve reviewed on Exploring Vegan. It contains many whole veggies and fruits, including butternut squash, cranberries, and shiitake mushrooms. It also contains lots of herbs like sage, rosemary, garlic, and onion.
Like seitan, the Celebration Roast relies on vital wheat gluten as its protein source. If you have an allergy to wheat or gluten, you should skip this product.
Here’s what’s in Field Roast’s Celebration Roast:
Filtered water, vital wheat gluten, expeller pressed safflower oil, breadcrumbs (enriched flour [wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sea salt, cane sugar, wheat gluten, yeast, malted barley flour), wheat protein isolate, yeast extract (yeast, salt, cane sugar), barley malt extract, wheat flour, butternut squash, granulated garlic, onion powder, wheat flakes, yellow pea flour, garlic, organic expeller pressed palm fruit oil, celery, onion, lemon juice concentrate, sea salt, lentils, dried sweetened cranberries (cranberries, evaporated cane juice sugar, sunflower oil), spices, tomato paste, rubbed sage, rosemary, natural smoke flavor. Mushroom Gravy: Organic wheat flour, yeast extract (yeast, natural flavor, salt), porcini mushroom powder, cane sugar, onion powder, sea salt, shiitake mushrooms, spices.
Field Roast Celebration Roast Nutrition
| Serving Size | ⅛ Roast (100g) | ⅛ Roast with Gravy (160g) |
| Calories | 230 | 260 |
| Total Fat | 8g | 8g |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 1g |
| Trans Fat | 0g | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 0mg | 0mg |
| Sodium | 670mg | 1030mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 18g | 24g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4g | 4g |
| Total Sugars | 3g | 4g |
| Protein | 22g | 24g |
Nutritionally, nothing in this roast gives me pause except the sodium. It’s manageable if you don’t eat the roast with the gravy. Enjoying the roast with the gravy will give you nearly 50% of your daily sodium. The gravy is very salty and adds significant sodium to the dish. If you’re worried about sodium, I recommend making homemade gravy so you can better control the amount of salt.
How to cook Field Roast Celebration Roast
Another gripe I had with Field Roast is the cooking directions. The packaging has the instructions on the back, which seem simple. All you do is pop the roast into a preheated oven, and you’re done! If you scan down to the bottom of the packaging, you’ll see–in small print, I might add–the instructions to thaw the roast in the refrigerator for 24 hours first. They should include the thawing as the first step of the instructions because it’s very easy to miss. I can imagine many people making the same mistake I did! Can you imagine the stress of not thawing the roast first and only realizing it the day of your dinner? Eek!
Now that I’m done complaining, I can say that cooking this roast is easy.
- Thaw the roast for 24 hours before cooking.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Remove the roast from the plastic wrapping and place it on a lightly greased pan or baking dish. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the pan and cover with foil or a tight-fitting lid.
- Transfer to the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the cover and continue baking for 15 minutes until the roast reaches 165ºF.
- Before serving, add the gravy to a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Simmer over medium-high heat until smooth.
How did EV eat Field Roast’s Celebration Roast?
I kept it simple and prepared the roast according to the instructions above. I served it with roasted cauliflower and lightly mashed potatoes.
Where can I buy Field Roast Celebration Roast?
You can purchase the Celebration Roast from Amazon. You can also use the store locator on the Field Roast website to find a brick-and-mortar or online retailer near you.
What do you think?
Have you tried Field Roast’s Celebration Roast? Love it or hate it? Will it be on your holiday table this year? Tell us in the comments!
