Last year we were on a road trip to Santa Barbara and we didn’t get a chance to cook a Thanksgiving meal at home. This time, it a was an all day cookout with vegan stuffing, roasted vegetables (also vegan), turkey for the omnivores, vegan mashed potatoes with chives, home-made apple cider and a special pumpkin pie made by my kids along with their cousins. My first time attempting to do vegan stuffing and it turned out to be a fairly simple thing to make. The key is to get the bread completely dry (french baguette works great) before it goes in the oven with the rest of the herbs. And fresh herbs make this way more aromatic than dried ones.
Vegan Stuffing Recipe
We left a french baguette out for a couple of days until it was rock hard and mostly dry. The inside still had a bit of moisture in it. I wasn’t sure if the quantify was enough so I tossed in a few pieces of Petite Pain Pauline from Trader Joe’s which is just 100% whole wheat bread.
- 1 loaf of french baguette
- 2 tbsp of Earth Balance vegan butter
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 medium sized leek, trimmed, washed and chopped
- 2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1 tbsp sage
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 2 ½ cups of vegan broth
Start out by pinching the bread into bite sized pieces (irregular shapes gives it more character) and lay them out flat on a baking pan. Melt the vegan butter and drizzle over it, toss gently and leave in the oven at 250°F for about an hour. Meanwhile, toss in the onions, leek and celery into a well-oiled pan and cook for 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add in the herbs and the garlic and cook for another 5. Salt and pepper to taste. Make 2 1/2 cups of vegan broth by dissolving 1 cube of Rapunzel Bouillon in boiling water and set aside.
When the bread is fully dried up (after about an hour), add in the vegetable mix into the baking pan along with the vegan broth and mix the ingredients thoroughly. Bake in the oven again at 400°F for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has been fully absorbed. If it takes longer in your oven, you might want to check 15 minutes in and toss the bread around so it cooks evenly.