The Best Vegan Stuffing recipe and soon to be your new favorite side dish. Deliciously savory, made with simple ingredients, and can be made ahead. This stuffing is as flavorful as the classic stuffing you know and love, but it's healthier and packs in plant-based protein. Gluten-free option.
Rich in umami flavor from the mushrooms, savory and slightly sweet from the onion, celery, and sweet potato, and hearty and nutty from the crunchy bread and chickpeas. This vegan stuffing recipe is satisfying enough to be a main dish or side. It's a great vegetarian option for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and beyond.
This recipe was inspired by my Warm Quinoa Salad and by this 20-minute grain-free Harvest Bowl on my site.
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👩🏼🌾 Ingredients
- Sweet potato
- Chickpeas
- Mushrooms
- Onion
- Celery
- Bread or gluten-free bread
- Poultry seasoning
- Garlic
- Vegetable broth
- Olive oil and or vegan butter
- Balsamic Vinegar (optional)
See the recipe card for quantities.
🍠 Substitutions
- Olive oil - instead of olive oil, use vegan butter, or a combination of both, for even more richness of flavor
- Bread -use gluten-free, sourdough, wholegrain, or a bread of your choice
- Mushrooms - use cremini (baby bella), or white button mushrooms
- Fresh herbs - Add two fresh thyme sprigs and/or one rosemary sprig to the sweet potato. Once baked, use your hands to brush off any remaining leaves onto the potato and remove the twigs.
For more protein-rich recipes with chickpeas, visit my Vegan Chickpeas Recipes page.
📖 How to Make Vegan Stuffing
Measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Tip: Save time and dry the bread beforehand. Transfer the cubes of bread to a large baking sheet and leave it out overnight, or bake the bread at 300ºF for 15 minutes, tossing halfway.
Step 1. Dry the bread: Transfer the bread cubes to a large baking sheet. Bake them for about 10 minutes, or until dried, tossing them after 5 minutes.
Step 2. Roast sweet potato: Increase the oven temperature to 400ºF. Transfer the sweet potato to a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until just tender. Set aside.
Step 3. Cook the veggies: Meanwhile, cook the onion, mushrooms, celery, and garlic for about 5 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently, and adding a splash of water as needed to prevent sticking.
Step 4. Chop veggies: Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor and pulse until chopped. Transfer the mixture to a medium-large casserole dish.
Chop chickpeas: Dry the chickpeas with a clean dish towel. Transfer them to the same food processor. Pulse until chopped.
Step 5. Combine and bake: Add the sweet potato, dried bread, parsley, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Add the vegetable broth. Mix to combine. Bake for about 20 minutes, tossing the stuffing after 10 minutes. Add more broth if the mixture is too dry.
Step 6. Serve vegan stuffing with pickled red onion or shallots for even more deliciousness.
Store: Refrigerate any remaining vegan stuffing for up to one week in an airtight container.
💡 Expert Tips
- Dry the bread beforehand to save time. Leave the cubes out the night before on a large baking sheet.
- Roast the sweet potato in a single layer so it cooks evenly.
- Do not over-pulse the cooked vegetables and chickpeas or they will become mushy. They should be finely chopped.
- For richer-tasting vegan stuffing, cook the veggies in olive oil plus 1 tablespoon of vegan butter.
- Storage: Refrigerate any remaining Vegan Stuffing in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
🙋🏽♀️ Recipe FAQs
Leave the cubed bread out overnight to dry out. Roast the sweet potato, cook the mushroom mixture, pulse the chickpeas, and transfer the ingredients to the casserole dish up to one day beforehand.
Refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving. Bake at 400ºF for about 30 minutes, or until heated through. Toss the stuffing every 10 minutes, adding more broth as needed, two tablespoons at a time, if the mixture is too dry.
Not all stuffing recipes require eggs. Traditional stuffing recipes often include eggs as a binding agent to help hold the stuffing together. This recipe uses veggie stock to bind together the onions, celery, and dried-out bread. If you're looking for an egg-free option, this vegan stuffing recipe is perfect.
Vegan gravy - This easy 6-ingredient Vegan Gravy takes 5 minutes to make, and is gluten-free.
Vegan turkey - Try my Easy Tofu Turkey or my Easy Vegan Turkey (high-protein) recipes.
Roasted Vegetable Salad - This healthy vegan Roasted Vegetable Salad features a harmonious blend of curried roasted cabbage and sweet potato, protein-rich quinoa, nutrient-packed kale, and crunchy curried cashews.
Quick Pickled Onions - These keto-friendly pickled red onions add a delicious zing and crunch to almost any savory recipe.
🍽 Related Recipes
👩🏽🍳 Made This Recipe
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📖 Recipe
Best Vegan Stuffing
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Ingredients
- 1 small-medium sweet potato peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces (2 cups, about 8 ounces)
- Drizzle of olive oil
- Salt to taste
- 4 slices bread cut into ½-inch cubes
- ½ medium yellow onion chopped (about ½ cup)
- 4 ounces cremini mushrooms or baby bella or white button mushrooms, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
- 1 large or 2 medium ribs celery sliced (about ½ cup)
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas drained and rinsed (3 cups cooked)
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- 1 ½ teaspoons poultry seasoning
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ¼ cup vegetable broth plus more as needed
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (optional)
Optional for serving:
- Pickled onion or pickled shallots, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300ºF.
- Dry the bread: Transfer the bread cubes to a large baking sheet. Spread them out in a single layer. Bake them for about 10 minutes, or until dried out, tossing them after 5 minutes. (Alternatively, let the bread stay out overnight to dry out.)
- Bake sweet potato: Increase the oven temperature to 400ºF. Transfer the sweet potato to a large baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt to taste. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until just tender. Set aside.
- Cook the veggies: Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, mushrooms, celery, and garlic for about 5 minutes, or until tender, stirring frequently, and adding a splash of water as needed to prevent sticking.
- Chop veggies: Transfer the mushroom mixture to a food processor and pulse until chopped. Transfer the mixture to a medium-large casserole dish.
- Chop chickpeas: Dry the chickpeas with a clean dish towel. Transfer them to the same food processor (unwashed). Pulse until chopped. Transfer to the casserole dish with the mushroom mixture.
- Combine and bake: Add the sweet potato, dried bread, parsley, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Add the balsamic vinegar ¼ cup vegetable broth. Mix to combine. Bake at 400ºF for about 20 minutes, or until heated through, tossing the stuffing after 10 minutes. Add more broth, two tablespoons at a time, if the mixture is too dry.
- Serve with pickled onions as desired.
Notes
- Dry the bread beforehand to save time.
- Roast the sweet potato in a single layer so it cooks evenly.
- Do not pulse the cooked vegetables and chickpeas too much. They should be finely chopped, but not mushy.
- For richer-tasting stuffing, cook the veggies in olive oil plus 1 tablespoon of vegan butter.
- Storage: Refrigerate any remaining Vegan Stuffing in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
This information is provided as a courtesy and is an ESTIMATE only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe.
Neena Chandiramani says
Great recipe to have, always comes in useful!
Nisha Melvani, RDN says
Thank you. It's truly tasty!