Growing up stuffing was always a major part of any Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey dinners and was pretty much a mandatory side dish. My Mom made the best stuffing and always cooked it inside the bird. I have been doing my stuffing outside the bird for a while now, and I have found that at pretty much at every holiday gathering that involves turkey that you are always going to have a vegetarian or two. So I found a need to create a Vegetarian Stuffing that makes everyone happy.
This Vegetarian Stuffing uses a great blend of mushrooms, celery, onions and traditional spices, and baked as a casserole alongside the bird. This stuffing has a very savoury flavour and I think is a great vegetarian version of a classic side dish.
One of the keys to this is using stale bread and of course – the butter. For those of you who want to make this vegan – you can definitely use vegan margarine, olive oil, or vegan butter.
I like to make this the day of the turkey so it served hot right out of the oven while it is still crispy on top. It takes about 45 minutes to bake so you can put it in close to the turkey finishing. This recipe makes about 8 cups of stuffing.
Vegetarian Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 large white onion diced
- 2 stalks chopped celery
- 1/2 cup butter if making a vegan version substitute for vegan margarine or butter
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper or to taste
- 3 tsp fresh chopped parsley
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 loaf French stick large chopped into cubes 1 or 2 days old for best results
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add in a couple of tablespoons of butter to a large pot and melt on medium heat. Once melted add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are no longer moist and have a nice caramelized tone.
- Then add in the chopped onion and cook until translucent for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add in the remaining butter and then add the chopped celery and parsley. Mix well and cook until the celery is softened but not browned. About 3 to 4 minutes.
- Season the vegetable mixture with salt, a couple of cracks of fresh pepper to taste, poultry seasoning and then stir to blend.
- Next, you will add in your chopped bread cubes. Stir the cubes gently with the veg mixture ensuring the bread gets nicely coated with the butter and spice mixture.
- Once nicely blended pour the vegetable broth about 1/2 cup at a time and blending after each addition. You just want to make sure the broth is evenly distributed. Continue until all the broth has been added.
- Prepare a large casserole dish by spraying with a non-stick spray. Pour the stuffing mixture into the dish pressing down to ensure it is evenly packed. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and let it cook for about 10 or 15 minutes more until is nicely browned on the top.
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