Stuffing seems to be the popular favorite among holiday side dishes. I’ve gone many-a-Thanksgiving without stuffing though, because while it’s easy to make vegan a meal out of lots of Thanksgiving sides, stuffing is usually cooked in the turkey. So I set out to create a killer vegan stuffing — one that would be my favorite side dish and everyone else’s too! One that would have all the non-vegans at the table ditching their turkey-fied stuffing in favor of the plant-based stuff. Well, I did it! As a testament to how good this stuffing was, I’ll tell you that I was totally ready to make an entire meal of it. My husband talked some sense into me and we ended up eating it with salad and Field Roast sausages.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Bread. You’ll need a decent-sized loaf of crusty bread that’s preferably a day or two old. Vegan sourdough stuffing is my favorite way to go, but you could use just about any variety of bread — French, Italian, multigrain, rye…whatever you’re into! Vegan butter. You should be able to find this near the regular butter at the supermarket. Look for brands like Miyoko’s and Earth Balance.Celery.Onion.Garlic.White wine. Use a dry variety such as chardonnay or pinot grigio, and make sure you run your brand through Barnivore to ensure it’s vegan. If you prefer to cook without alcohol, just omit the wine.Fresh herbs. We’re using rosemary, sage and thyme. You can substitute with dried herbs if needed, but cut the amounts by about two-thirds.Vegetable broth. I used Better Than Bouillon in seasoned vegetable flavor. If you have your own favorite, feel free to go with that.Cold water.Cornstarch. This is our binder! Cornstarch makes a great egg substitute in vegan baked goods. Turns out it’s great for making an eggless stuffing as well!Salt & pepper.
How to Make Vegan Stuffing
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d prefer to skip right to the recipe!
Cut or tear your bread into small pieces or cutting it into cubes — about 1-inch in size. You’ll want your bread cubes to be a bit dried out, so either cut them a day in advance, or, once cut, place your bread cubes in a warm oven to dry out.
Melt some vegan butter in a skillet. Once the butter begins to sizzle, add diced celery and onion. Sweat the veggies until they soften and just begin to brown, for about 10 minutes, then add some garlic and cook everything for about a minute more.Add your wine and herbs, then bring the wine to a simmer and let it cook for a few minutes to evaporate the alcohol.
Once the liquid has reduced, add your broth. Bring that to a simmer and let it cook for a few minutes.Stir some cornstarch and cold water together in a small bowl or container. Make sure to completely dissolve the cornstarch.Pour the cornstarch mixture into the skillet, give it a stir, and bring the mixture back to a simmer. It should thicken up pretty quickly.
Remove the skillet from the burner. It’s time to add the broth mixture to the bread. If your skillet is oven-safe, you can add the bread right to it, and then cook the stuffing right in your skillet. Otherwise, transfer the bread and the broth mixture to a separate baking dish. Stir it up, mix it with your hands, or do whatever you need to do to get a nice even coating of the broth mixture on the bread. Try to avoid saturating any of the bread pieces — you want a nice even coating on the exterior of each one.
Cover the stuffing and bake it for 20 minutes, then uncover it and bake it for another 20.Sprinkle your stuffing with fresh parsley if you like. And if you’re the kind of person who likes to douse their stuffing in gravy (hi friend!), I highly recommend my super simple vegan gravy.
Make-Ahead Option
Assemble the stuffing (up to step 18 of the recipe) up to a day in advance, cover, seal, and refrigerate. Bake the stuffing according to the recipe on the day of serving.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan stuffing will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 3 days, or in the freezer for about 3 months.
More Vegan Holiday Side Dishes
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