Vegan stuffing with chestnuts for the holidays

At the holidays, when just one carbohydrate dense dish won’t do, add vegan stuffing to the mix.

It’s great with vegan turkey gravy, mashed potatoes, orange cranberry sauce, and the holiday main dish of your choice.

This stuffing is loaded with celery, onions, and carrots. The vegetables give it variety and a pop of color amongst the beige.

(Feel like something different? With a couple of tweaks, this stuffing also works beautifully as stuffing muffins.)

Along with savory spices and vegetable broth, it has loads of flavor and nary an animal product in the mix.

I also like to add roasted and peeled chestnuts to the stuffing for added bite.

In this post:

Despite how popular Christmas music makes the pastime seem, many folks have never roasted chestnuts.

It’s a fun holiday tradition at my house. But when you’re using a lot of chestnuts for a recipe, vacuum-packed cooked & peeled chestnuts are easier.

(Want to do it yourself? Check out this post on how to roast chestnuts in the oven.)

At the holidays, Trader Joe’s sells roasted and peeled chestnuts in the refrigerated section in vacuum packaging. (They show up in mid-November usually.) And I’ve seen them elsewhere sold in jars. I’d recommend either of those options for this recipe.

Oil: This is used to sauté the veggies & oil the baking dish. Any neutral-flavored cooking oil works here. Avocado oil is my go-to.

Produce: Onions, carrots, celery, and garlic.

Chestnuts: For the sake of ease, I recommend using cooked & peeled chestnuts. I buy them vacuum-packed at Trader Joe’s around the holidays.

You can also find them elsewhere sold in jars or pouches.

Dried bread cubes: Look for them at the bakery of your natural grocery store. Or you can find them on grocery store shelves in boxes.

Or make your own by baking bread cubes in a single layer on a baking pan for 10 to 15 minutes at 300 degrees, stopping once or twice to stir. Let them cool before using.

Vegetable broth: Use your favorite vegetable broth. Or make a flavorful broth with water + Better Than Bouillon no chicken base.

Seasonings: Rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sauté onions, garlic, celery, and carrots in a skillet until translucent and fragrant.

Add chopped chestnuts to the skillet and cook for a couple minutes more.

Turn the heat off and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine a pound of dried bread cubes with mixture from skillet.

Then slowly pour vegetable broth and spices over the bread cubes. Occasionally stir the bread cubes, so that the cubes get evenly coated.

You want the cubes to be moistened, but not wet or mushy. There shouldn’t be any liquid at the bottom of the bowl.

So if it looks like the bread cubes are getting overly wet, stop there. However, if the cubes look too dry after all of the liquid has been poured, add a few more splashes of water or broth.

Pour the bread cubes into an oiled baking dish and spread them evenly across it.

Cover the dish in aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes.

Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes more uncovered, so that the cubes can get a crispiness to the top.

If you can’t find chestnuts or they are out of season at the time you’re making this vegan stuffing, no worries. You can simply omit them or add some chopped walnuts instead.

(You may not want the same amount of walnuts, since walnuts have a stronger flavor than chestnuts and are a bit more dense. I’d recommend starting by doing half and working up from there, depending on your preferences.)

Or you can make vegan sausage stuffing instead by replacing the chestnuts with an equal amount of browned plant-based sausage. Brown 6.5 ounces of bite-sized pieces of seitan sausage in a skillet. Then add it to your sautéed onions, celery, and carrots.

Yes!

This recipe can also be made in a Dutch oven instead of a skillet/casserole dish.

That’s even easier, because you can sauté on the stovetop, and then move it to the oven to bake.

Sauté onions, garlic, celery, and carrots in the Dutch oven until translucent and fragrant.

Add chopped chestnuts and cook for a couple minutes more. Turn the heat off and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine a pound of dried bread cubes with mixture from skillet.

(My Dutch oven is 4 quarts. So it’s not large enough to easily combine the bread cubes in the pot itself, until it has shrunk from the broth. If yours is larger, you may be able to skip the mixing bowl.)

Slowly pour vegetable broth and spices over the bread cubes. Occasionally stir the bread cubes, so that the cubes get evenly coated.

Pour the bread cube mixture back into the Dutch oven.

Cover with a lid, and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Remove lid and bake for 10 minutes more uncovered.

Absolutely!

Even if you’re just making Thanksgiving for two, I highly recommend making a full batch, because stuffing freezes so well.

Put leftover stuffing into an airtight, freezer-proof container. Freeze for up to three months.

(I like to freeze it in several smaller portions, so that I can just reheat what I need at any one time.)

When you’re ready to enjoy it, thaw it in the refrigerator. Then reheat in the microwave until warm. Or reheat in a 325 degree oven for about 15 minutes. (Times will vary a little, depending on how much you’re reheating.)

If it seems too dry, add a splash of broth or gravy to rehydrate it.