This vegetarian cornbread stuffing is so easy to make, with a simple list of ingredients and not too much effort. It’s one of those easy cornbread stuffing recipes that you’ll want on the Thanksgiving table every year!

Table of Contents

• The Story Behind the Recipe
• Why You’ll Love This Cornbread Stuffing
• Ingredients
• Adaptations/Variations
• How to Make Cornbread Stuffing
• Tips for Success
• Make-Ahead Tips
• More Stuffing Recipes

• Jump to the Full, Printable Recipe
• Read Comments & Reviews

The Story Behind the Recipe

I’ve been obsessed with the idea of cornbread stuffing for awhile, but I’d actually never tried it. How can that be?! I guess if no one around me was going to make it (woe is me), I was going to have to take care of business myself. Incoming cornbread stuffing situation!

It took me a few tries to make cornbread stuffing well. I wanted a vegetarian cornbread stuffing that accommodated multiple diets at the holiday table, something simple and classic yet still special and delicious.

My biggest problem was sogginess. It turns out that it is really easy to make a soggy cornbread stuffing, and less difficult to make one that is crisp on the top and still cornbread-y when you get to the bottom.

But! I cracked the code on cornbread dressing! I found that you absolutely have to do the following three things for perfect homemade stuffing with cornbread:

1. Dry your cornbread cubes in the oven beforehand.
2. Make a fairly thin layer of stuffing – no more than three cubes deep or so. It might be called “stuffing,” but don’t try to stuff it into a smaller pan!
3. The exact right amount of broth. You do NOT want bunch of broth in your cornbread stuffing situation. Too much broth = soggy.

Why You’ll Love This Cornbread Stuffing

This homemade stuffing with cornbread is vegetarian and easily vegan, yet pleases the carnivores, too. It’s a great flexible side dish that so many at the table can enjoy.

It’s herby, savory, goodness! This cornbread stuffing has a simple list of ingredients, but it’s so good!

And lastly, it’s really easy to make, with a short list of ingredients.

Ingredients

• Cornbread – I have yet to come up with the perfect classic cornbread recipe, so until that happens, I go with a store-bought mix. Note that if you’re a vegetarian and you make your cornbread from a box mix, you’ll want to check the list of ingredients. Some cornbreads (like Jiffy) are made with lard. I like to make a chili like my vegetarian three-bean chili a couple of days before it’s cornbread stuffing time, and I can cut out a couple of squares of cornbread to serve with my chili and use the rest for stuffing. Win!
• Butter – For sauteeing the veggies. If you’re vegan or dairy-free, feel free to use a vegan brand of butter or olive oil.
• Onion, celery, & garlic – Just two simple veggies and aromatic garlic add classic stuffing flavor to this cornbread dressing.
• Rosemary & sage – I love an herb stuffing situation, and fresh rosemary and sage bring those amazing stuffing flavors to the table.
• Vegetable broth – Grab a low-sodium broth at the store or make your own homemade vegetable broth.

Adaptations/Variations

• Dairy-free/vegan cornbread stuffing – This cornbread dressing is almost there already … all you need to do is make sure you have a vegan cornbread (this recipe looks great if you’re looking for homemade) – and swap out the butter for dairy-free butter or olive oil.
• Add more veggies – Sauté mushrooms or carrots and add them to the stuffing equation. Some roasted butternut squash would be amazing, too.

How to Make Cornbread Stuffing

First, you’ll dry out your cornbread cubes. You can leave them out on the counter for a few days, but I find the most reliable and fastest method is to spread them on a large baking sheet and bake them at a low temp for 30-40 minutes.

Next, you’ll sauté your veggies and garlic in the butter. Add a bit of the veggie broth to deglaze.

Place the cornbread cubes in a bowl along with the veggie mix, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper.

Mix it together gently, then add the broth about 1/2 cup at a time JUST until the cornbread has soaked it up but there’s not a large pool of broth on the bottom of the bowl. A little is okay, a lot will give you soggy cornbread.

Spread it in your baking dish and bake until golden brown on top and heated through.

Beautiful!

Tips for Success

• Dry your cornbread well – You want the cornbread cubes to be borderline crunchy.
• Use the larger pan – You want a thin layer of cornbread stuffing or you risk the bottom of the stuffing turning soggy. So don’t do what I did and think, “oh, an 8×8 pan will totally work!” Because nope! It doesn’t.
• Don’t use too much broth – That results in soggy cornbread.

I hope you love this cornbread stuffing recipe as much as we do! This is going to be a staple for us for this Thanksgiving and all the others, until the end of time.

Make-Ahead Tips

I still need to test freezing this recipe, and I’ll update this post as soon as I do. You can likely make this cornbread stuffing up to the point of baking it, seal it well and freeze, then thaw overnight in the fridge before baking it. However, I don’t want to say it is a for-sure homerun because I’m not sure if that extended time sitting before baking will make your cornbread dressing soggy.

What I *do* know will work well is to dry the cornbread cubes up to 5 days before making the stuffing. Sauté the veggies and herbs and place that mix in an airtight container in the fridge up to 3 days in advance. Then, when you’re ready to make your stuffing, mix it all together in a bowl, place it in your baking dish, and bake. It’ll be fast and easy.

More Stuffing Recipes

• Vegan Buttery Herb Stuffing
• Wild Rice & Quinoa Gluten-Free Stuffing
• Crock Pot Sourdough Herb Stuffing
• Chanterelle & Caramelized Onion Mushroom Stuffing

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Cornbread Stuffing Recipe

A simple and easy recipe for vegetarian cornbread stuffing that will be universally loved! Customize however you like and make it your own.

Keyword cornbread dressing, cornbread stuffing, homemade stuffing with cornbread, vegetarian cornbread dressing, vegetarian cornbread stuffing

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 12

Calories 537kcal

Author Kare

Equipment

• 1 9"x13" baking dish or pan

Ingredients

• 8 cups cornbread cubes approx. 3/4-inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 medium yellow onion diced; 1 cup
• 2 cups celery diced; about 5 medium stalks
• 3 garlic cloves medium in size; minced
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon fresh sage leaves chopped fine; can sub 1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped fine; can sub 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• First, dry your cornbread cubes. Spread them in a single layer on a large baking sheet (or separate between two baking sheets if you have smaller ones). Place them in a 275°F oven for 30-40 minutes until dry and crisp around the edges. Remove from the oven and place the cubes in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a 9×13 baking dish or spray it with nonstick spray. Set aside.
• Place a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Melt the butter. Add the onion and celery and sauté until translucent, 7-8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for one more minute. Pour in 1/2 cup vegetable broth and stir to loosen up any bits stuck to the pan.
• Pour the veggie and broth mixture over the cornbread cubes. Add 1 more cup of broth then stir gently to distribute the broth. Drizzle in the remaining broth a couple of tablespoons or so at a time, stirring in between, just until a pool of broth begins to form on the bottom of the bowl. Don't add any more broth once that happens or you'll end up with soggy cornbread dressing!
• Pour the cornbread and veggie mix into your baking dish and spread evenly without pushing it down. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes uncovered then about 10 minutes uncovered, until the cornbread hunks on top are light golden-brown on the edges.
• Add fresh herbs for garnish, if desired, and serve.

Notes

Cooking time includes time to dry out the cornbread cubes in the oven. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 537kcal | Carbohydrates: 88g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 1104mg | Potassium: 265mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 26g | Vitamin A: 367IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 224mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Cornbread Stuffing Recipe appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

If you have vegetarians and vegans coming to the table this holiday season, this stuffing recipe should have a place on your menu. Trust me!

Table of Contents

• The Story Behind the Recipe
• Creating This Vegan Stuffing Recipe
• Ingredients
• Adaptations/Variations
• How to Make Vegan Stuffing
• Tips for Success
• More Stuffing Recipes

• Jump to the Full, Printable Recipe
• Read Comments & Reviews

The Story Behind the Recipe

Welcome to my new series, “Food Blogger Creates and Posts Thanksgiving Recipes at the Last Possible Minute!” Gosh, that name rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?!

Yeah, I’m a bit slow this year BUT I made it under the wire with this Vegan Buttery Herb Stuffing recipe that I cannot WAIT to share with you.

Creating This Vegan Stuffing Recipe

This stuffing recipe is inspired by How Sweet Eats who adapted from Bon Appetit. It’s a simple stuffing recipe with bread (of course!), onion, celery, loads of butter and herbs, and a couple of eggs.

Obviously a vegan version can’t have eggs. And butter is iffy. But there are some incredible vegan butters out there, and while eggs do add richness and make the stuffing hold together more, I find they’re really not necessary.

So for this buttery herb vegan stuffing, I sub in vegan butter, leave out the eggs, and use vegetable broth (I love this homemade recipe using veggie scraps and the Crock Pot).

The result is golden, buttery, full of flavor, crisp around the edges and soft in the middle. Everything a stuffing should be, vegan or not!

Ingredients

• Bread – I like Italian bread or sourdough. You’ll want about a pound of bread, the better part of a medium-size loaf, cut into cubes and either toasted in the oven or left out for a day or two until nice and stale.
• Vegan butter – I really like Miyokos butter in this dairy-free stuffing recipe.
• Onion & celery – Classic stuffing veggies.
• Garlic – I like a lot of garlic in this stuffing so I call for four cloves. You can reduce that if you like – or increase it!
• Salt & pepper
• Fresh sage, rosemary, and parsley – Fresh herbs make all the difference! But if you can’t get your hands on some of these fresh, just use 1/2 the amount of dried.
• Vegetable broth – Grab your favorite low-sodium brand at the store, or make your own vegetable broth (I have both a veggie broth from scraps recipe and a Crock Pot vegetable broth recipe!)

Adaptations/Variations

• Vegan Sausage & Apple – Add small chunks of tart apple and some pre-cooked vegan sausage.
• Vegan Mushroom Stuffing – Sauté button, cremini, chanterelle, or another favorite mushroom with the veggies.

How to Make Vegan Stuffing

First, you’ll want to grease an 8″x8″ pan with some of your vegan butter.

Next, prep the bread cubes. Either make sure you’ve cut it into cubes and it sat out overnight, or toast them in a 350-degree oven for a few minutes until stale and golden around the edges. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and get to sauteeing your veggies.

Melt some of the butter in the skillet and add the onion, celery, and a pinch of salt. Saute until softened, then add the garlic and herbs.

Pour a cup of the broth into the veggie herb mix and stir to loosen up any flavorful bits. And then pour it all into the bowl over the bread cubes.

Sprinkle the rest of the salt and the pepper over the top, and add the remaining broth a little at the time just until the bread is moist.

Spread the vegan stuffing into your pan and bake until golden!

Melt the rest of the butter and brush it over the top of the stuffing, and sprinkle the top with parsley for a buttery, herby, delicious-y presentation.

Tips for Success

• Use day-old or otherwise stale bread! Don’t even attempt stuffing with fresh bread. It’ll disintegrate into a pool of sogginess. Super sad!
• Don’t add too much broth. Just add a little more at a time until a little pool starts to form at the bottom of the bowl. That’s when you know the bread can’t soak up any more.

I hope this buttery herb vegan stuffing is a homerun for you and your holiday table! We love the classic stuffing taste and how it brings stuffing to the table for multiple diets.

I hope you love this vegan stuffing recipe as much as I do, and don’t forget the mashed potatoes and vegan gravy! Happy holidays!

More Stuffing Recipes

• Cornbread Stuffing
• Slow Cooker Sourdough Herb Stuffing – set it and forget it!
• Herbed While Rice & Quinoa Stuffing – perfect for your gluten-free guests
• Vegetarian Caramelized Onion & Chanterelle Mushroom Stuffing – sooo good
• Wild Rice & Lentil Stuffed Delicate Squash – not stuffing but stuffed squash and SO GOOD so I had to share!

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Vegan Buttery Herb Stuffing

Everything you love about stuffing. The satisfying golden buttery crunch gives way to a perfectly soft interior – and best of all, it's 100% vegan (and 100% delicious!)

Course Side Dish

Keyword dairy free stuffing, stuffing without eggs, vegan stuffing

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 8 people

Calories 288kcal

Author Kare

Equipment

• 1 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan

Ingredients

• 9-10 cups stale or toasted bread cubes About 1 pound of bread; cut or torn into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch cubes; I like Italian bread and/or sourdough in this stuffing*
• 4 ounces + 2 tablespoons vegan butter divided; I like Miyokos unsalted cultured vegan butter for this recipe; 4 ounces is half the block
• 1 medium yellow onion diced; about 2 cups
• 2 large celery stalks diced, about 1 cup
• 1/8 + 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt divided
• 4 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh sage leaves chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary minced
• 2 + 1 tablespoons fresh parsley minced; reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

Instructions

Prepare the pan and preheat the oven

• Grease an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan with one of the tablespoons of vegan butter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare the bread cubes

• I like to cut the bread into cubes the day before and let it sit out over night until stale. Another option is to toast the bread in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes until lightly golden.
• Place bread cubes into a large bowl and set aside.

Saute the veggies

• Place a large skillet over medium-low heat. Melt 4 ounces of the butter in the skillet and add the onion and celery along with 1/8 teaspoon salt (a generous pinch). Gently saute until softened but not golden, about 8 minutes.
• Add the garlic, sage, rosemary, 2 tablespoons parsley, and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is soft and fragrant, 1-2 minutes.
• Pour one cup of the broth into the veggies and stir. Remove from heat

Assemble the stuffing

• Pour the sautéed veggies and broth over bread cubes and sprinkle remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper over the top. Stir until evenly moist. Add remaining broth a couple tablespoons at a time just until the bread is moist but there is no broth pooling at the bottom of the bowl.
• Taste stuffing and add more salt and pepper if desired.
• Pour stuffing into the baking pan and spread evenly.

Bake the stuffing

• Bake until golden, 20-25 minutes.

Garnish

• Melt remaining 1 tablespoon vegan butter and brush it over the top of the stuffing with a pastry brush. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley to garnish. And serve!

Notes

* More about bread varieties: This stuffing recipe is very forgiving and is delicious with all kinds of breads! I love a mix of Italian and sourdough but I’ll often throw in a few crusts I’ve saved in the freezer from my daughter’s sandwiches which are just straight-up white bread. Stale French bread is also delicious!

Inspired by How Sweet Eats’ gorgeous stuffing; adapted from bon appetit 

Nutrition

Calories: 288kcal | Carbohydrates: 33g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 2g | Sodium: 575mg | Potassium: 136mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 140IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 98mg | Iron: 3mg

The post Buttery Herb Vegan Stuffing appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

Table of Contents

• The Story Behind the Recipe
• Creating the Recipe
• Herbed Quinoa & Wild Rice Stuffing Ingredients
• How to Make It
• Tips for Success
• More Stuffing Recipes

• Jump to the Full, Printable Recipe
• Read Comments & Reviews

The Story Behind the Recipe

This totally delicious wild rice quinoa stuffing recipe is a completely vegan AND gluten-free stuffing. Perfect for when you have vegans, vegetarians, and gluten-freers at the table, but you want to serve food that EVERYONE will love. This one fits the bill!

I first shared this wild rice stuffing here five years ago and it’s been one of my top-viewed Thanksgiving recipes ever since.

Stuffing is indeed one of my favorite things about Thanksgiving. Buttery, crunchy chunks of bread – what’s not to love? But sometimes it’s nice to shake things up a bit.

So I thought I’d create a rice-based, gluten-free stuffing with all of the traditional stuffing flavors we love. Something that’s a little more dense and hearty – a vegetarian (and vegan!) stuffing that’s naturally gluten-free, too.

Why not cover all of the dietary bases while also making something everyone will no doubt clamor for? That was my goal here.

Creating the Recipe

We have a wild rice blend – I used a half-and-half blend of wild rice and brown rice. And quinoa – a nice bit of hearty protein added to the mix so that this stuffing can also double as a main dish for those that prefer to skip the turkey.

The rice and quinoa simmer with tart apples, vegetables, veggie broth, and a splash of wine on the stovetop until tender. Then in go a few handfuls of herbs, dried cranberries, and crunchy pecans.

I have to give a shout-out to Michelle, here. She is my hairstylist and friend, and I told her I wasn’t quite happy enough with this recipe. She suggested dried cranberries for texture and another touch of sweet flavor, and it totally did the trick.

So after stirring in those bits of deliciousness, you scoop it all into a casserole dish and bake. The flavors meld and bits of rice on the tops and edges get all irresistibly crunchy. Just like a good stuffing should.

Herbed Quinoa & Wild Rice Stuffing Ingredients

• Olive oil – For greasing the baking dish and for sautéing all of those delicious veggies and other ingredients.
• Onion – I use a standard yellow onion.
• Celery – In my opinion, celery is nearly as essential as sage in a good stuffing recipe. But if you hate celery, it’s okay to leave it out.
• Apples – Go with a tart apple that will keep its shape like Granny Smith.
• Garlic – Adds so much flavor (don’t skip it!)
• Thyme – I like to use fresh thyme, but if you don’t have it, you can use half the quantity of dried thyme.
• Salt – asdf
• Wine – A dry white wine adds immense flavor. Grab one you’ll want to drink, too. I like Sauvignon Blanc or dry Chardonnay here.
• Vegetable broth – Grab a box from the store or make your own vegetable broth.
• Wild rice blend – Go with whatever mix you can find. I try to find a 50% brown rice and 50% wild rice blend, but I know that exact mix may be hard to find. And if you’re needing a 100% gluten-free stuffing, pay careful attention to the ingredients here, because sometimes wild rice blends contain pasta.
• Quinoa – Don’t forget to rinse it off before using it! Quinoa is coated with a substance known as saponins. They can lend bitter flavor if not rinsed off.
• Dried cranberries
• Pecans
• Parsley – Both for flavor inside the wild rice stuffing and for garnish to make it look extra pretty!
• Fresh sage – I call for 1/4 cup of fresh sage leaves. I did have one reader who thought this was too much; if you’re not sure, you can start with half that quantity which will still add lots of lovely sage flavor.

How to Make It

1. First, you’ll saute the veggies then cook the wild rice and quinoa in a pot. Add the cranberries, pecans, and herbs.
2. Pile the mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish, leveling it out but not mashing it down.
3. Bake until warmed through and golden brown. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle with chopped parsley. That’s it!

Tips for Success

• When transferring the wild rice stuffing from the pot to baking dish, lightly pile it – don’t smash it down! This helps maintain a light and fluffy texture.
• Make ahead: Prep this herbed quinoa and wild rice stuffing up to 3 days ahead of time by assembling it up to the point of baking. Cover and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake, then proceed with the recipe.

I hope this Herbed Quinoa & Wild Rice stuffing is a huge hit at your holiday table (or anytime!) It’s one that we’ve made time and again around here – definitely a beloved vegan + gluten free stuffing option.

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Herbed Quinoa & Wild Rice Stuffing Recipe

Specked with fresh herbs, apples, cranberries, and pecans, everyone will love this flavor-filled stuffing – and nobody will guess its little secret: it's vegetarian, vegan, AND gluten-free! Plus, the addition of protein-rich quinoa gives this hearty stuffing main-dish cred – perfect for those that prefer to skip the turkey.

Course Side Dish

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword gluten free stuffing, quinoa dressing, quinoa stuffing, rice dressing, rice stuffing, vegan stuffing, wild rice dressing, wild rice stuffing

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Calories 461kcal

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil + more for greasing the baking dish + more for drizzling over the top
• 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery chopped [about 1/2 cup]
• 2 medium Granny Smith apples peeled and diced
• 2 medium cloves garlic peeled and finely minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves minced
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt + more to taste
• 1/2 cup dry-ish white wine I like Sauv Blanc for both cooking and drinking; Chardonnay would work well too
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups uncooked wild rice blend* I prefer a blend of 50% wild rice and 50% brown rice
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa rinsed well
• 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
• 1 cup raw pecans chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley + 1/4 cup more for topping after baking
• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves minced

Instructions

• Place a large pot over medium heat. Add the oil. When hot, add the onions and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the apples, garlic, thyme, and salt. Cook, stirring frequently, for one more minute. Stir in wine, then add broth. Bring to a boil. Stir in the wild rice blend and reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer, covered, until the rice is tender, about 35 minutes. Stir in the quinoa and cover again. Cook until the quinoa is tender, about 15 more minutes. Stir in the cranberries, pecans, 1/2 cup parsley, and sage. Taste and add additional salt if desired. Remove from heat.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Rub a large (9-inch x 13-inch is best) casserole dish with a little olive oil. Lightly scoop the rice mixture into the casserole dish, lightly mounding it instead of mashing it down.
• Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Drizzle with a little more olive oil and sprinkle with remaining chopped parsley. Serve.

Notes

Wild Rice/Gluten-Free Note

Some wild rice blends contain pasta, so if you need a 100% gluten free stuffing, please be careful about the blend you choose!

Nutrition

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 461kcal | Carbohydrates: 75g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Sodium: 301mg | Potassium: 471mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 24g | Vitamin A: 446IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 3mg

More Stuffing Recipes

• Cornbread Stuffing
• Vegan Buttery Herb Stuffing
• Mushroom & Caramelized Onion Stuffing
• Sourdough Herb Stuffing

Originally posted Nov. 3, 2015

The post Herbed Quinoa & Wild Rice Stuffing appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

Two weeks ago, I had a full line-up of Thanksgiving recipe ideas ready to create and share. Two weeks ago, our oven went haywire. The good: it now preheats in 2 minutes flat! The bad: it only runs at one temperature – 550 degrees!

Our research revealed that the circuit board went out, and would only cost a mere $500 to replace. So down the rabbit hole of acquiring new appliances we went. We had planned to replace the range at some point to accommodate our future kitchen remodel, after all … just, you know. Not quite yet.

We’re about one more week away from our new range installation (fingers crossed). So this span of ovenless time has had me scrambling a bit. I’d planned on developing a ton of Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes, but sure enough, most of them made use of the oven.

I decided to embrace the challenge, though. After all, aren’t our ovens already overloaded at Thanksgiving time?! Wouldn’t it be nice to make things on our stove tops or, better yet, our slow cookers?

Yup, it was finally time to try my hand at a Crock Pot stuffing recipe. It was something that had been on my mind for awhile. My mom’s been doing it for a couple of years now; Serious Eats sealed the deal.

Now, most stuffing recipes make use of copious amounts of butter, and darn if they aren’t delicious because of it. But because of my new dairy-free ways, I wanted to create a dairy-free stuffing recipe – but one that is tasty enough for everyone to enjoy. I thought about omitting the egg to make it a full-on vegan deal, but ultimately decided to leave the egg in. Next year, perhaps, I’ll tackle that one.

So instead of butter, we’ve got onions and a little celery, sauteed in olive oil. And then. And then! We have piles of fresh herbs. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme (thank you, Simon and Garfunkel! Excellent thinking.)

Then we have sourdough bread, mostly … mixed in with some mild-mannered French.

This is a simple, straightforward, and pretty classic stuffing recipe. No fancy stuff, just great Artisan bread, veggie broth, fresh herbs, and a good stint in the Crock Pot.

Who needs ovens?!! Okay, we do. Desperately. But not for our stuffing!

A few tips for cooking stuffing in the Crock Pot

• Crock Pot stuffing cooks a little differently than oven-baked stuffing. It gets crisper around the edges (yum), and moister in the middle. You want to take care to not add too much broth, or things might end up too much on the soggy side.
• Watch it carefully toward the end of the cooking time – depending on your individual slow cooker, the edges could go from deliciously crunchy to burnt.
• I like to use my large, oval, 6-quart slow cooker for stuffing. More coveted stuffing edge to go around!

More Stuffing Recipes

• Vegan Buttery Herb Stuffing
• Wild Rice & Quinoa Gluten-Free Stuffing
• Cornbread Stuffing
• Vegan Herb Stuffing Recipe
• Chanterelle & Caramelized Onion Mushroom Stuffing

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Slow Cooker Sourdough & Fresh Herb Stuffing

This simple Crock Pot stuffing recipe stays moist in the middle and gets golden-crisp around the edges. Holiday perfection – plus, it’s vegetarian and dairy-free!

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 6 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 6 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 10 cups sourdough bread cubes about 1 loaf bread (I like 3/4-inch cubes)
• 4 cups French bread cubes about 1/3 load bread
• 2 tablespoons olive oil + more for greasing the slow cooker
• 2 cups chopped yellow onion about 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery about 1 stalk
• 1 medium clove garlic minced
• 2 1/2 – 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• More fresh herbs for topping if desired

Equipment:

• 4- quart or larger slow cooker

Instructions

• Grease the bottom and sides of the Crock Pot with olive oil.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread bread cubes onto two rimmed cooking sheets and bake, stirring once, until crisp, about 10 minutes. You can also dry the bread cubes out without using the oven. Just cut the bread into chunks and let it sit at room temperature for 24-48 hours, until hard. Add the bread cubes to the slow cooker.
• Set a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the olive oil, then the onion and celery. Saute until tender and lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add the broth, stirring to scrap up any remaining brown bits of onion.
• Let the broth mixture cool to room temperature. Add the parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and egg. Beat with a whisk until blended.
• Pour the broth and veggie mixture over the bread crumbs. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to gently stir until evenly distributed. Add additional broth, 1/4 cup at a time, until the bread is almost entirely soaked and is no longer crunchy, but not so much that there is broth pooled at the bottom of the slow cooker. The bottom of the slow cooker should still be relatively dry.
• Cook on low for 4-6 hours, until the edges are golden brown.
• Top with fresh herbs before serving, if desired.

Notes

Dairy option:

Sub butter for the olive oil, if desired.

The post Slow Cooker Sourdough Herb Stuffing appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.

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I’m going to tell you a little vegetarian secret. Chicken broth is the absolute bane of the vegetarian’s existence. Chicken broth and anchovies. Man, it’s like butternut squash soup and pasta puttanesca and traditional Thanksgiving stuffing are their Trojan horse. The dishes look vegetarian, but nuh uh – gotcha!

I get that these vegetarian-unfriendly ingredients add flavor to a dish. But luckily for us non-meat-seeking missiles, so does a flavorful homemade vegetable broth. And a little Parmesan Reggiano. And fresh-picked herbs. And just having really really good ingredients to begin with.

Often when I serve a big holiday meal at my place, I keep stealth meat out of the sides, and leave the meat to the, you know, actual meat dish. That way, vegetarians (okay, me) get plenty to choose from, and the carnivores are content, too.

For Thanksgiving this year, we brined our turkey in peppercorns, sage, brown sugar, and salt, then my guy deep-fried it to a perfect golden brown. While our guests oohed and ahhed over my guy’s triumph, I don’t think they missed that the stuffing didn’t have chicken broth.

Or maybe they were just polite.

Well, I think it’s delicious – and I’d be willing to bet you will, too.

More Stuffing Recipes

• Vegan Buttery Herb Stuffing
• Cornbread Stuffing
• Wild Rice & Quinoa Gluten-Free Stuffing
• Crock Pot Sourdough Herb Stuffing

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Vegetarian Caramelized Onion & Chanterelle Mushroom Stuffing

This simple vegetarian stuffing recipe is made special with a handful of sourdough bread thrown into the mix, caramelized onions, and delicately-delicious chanterelle mushrooms.

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 10 -12

Author Kare

Ingredients

• 12 cups french bread cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 4 cups sourdough bread cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for buttering baking pan
• 2 large onions cut in half and sliced thinly (about 5-6 cups raw)
• 1 teaspoon salt + more to taste
• A few grinds of black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups about 1/3 pound chopped chanterelle mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped sage or 1 teaspoon dried
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 egg

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and butter a 9×13 inch baking pan.
• Spread bread cubes on two rimmed cookie sheets and bake for about 10-12 minutes, stirring once, until they begin to turn golden brown and are fairly dry and crisp. Remove from oven and set aside.
• In a large saute pan over medium heat, melt butter.
• Add onions, 1 teaspoon salt and a couple grounds of fresh ground pepper. Cook on medium-low for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and well-browned (caramelized).
• Increase heat to medium and add the celery and mushrooms to the pan. Stirring frequently, saute until tender, about four minutes.
• Add sage, thyme, and parsley, and stir for another minute.
• Add a cup of the broth, gently stirring until much of the bits of onion have come off of bottom of the pan.
• Set aside and let onion and broth mixture cool to room temperature.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg.
• Stir in the onion/broth mixture and the rest of the broth.
• Add the bread, and toss to coat evenly.
• Pour into the prepared baking pan and press the top gently.
• Bake uncovered for 40 – 50 minutes or until browned and crisp on top.

The post Vegetarian Caramelized Onion & Chanterelle Mushroom Stuffing appeared first on Kitchen Treaty.