Best Vegan Stuffing
This vegan stuffing is incredibly easy to make and only requires a handful of ingredients + seasoning. A classic Thanksgiving side dish turned vegan-friendly!
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Stuffing is my happy place. Bread and delicious fall flavors…it can’t get any better than that in terms of comfort food.
My mom always makes stuffing with sausage in it. I used to LOVE it. Of course, since going vegan, I’ve had to discover new ways to cook. And guys, you can totally make stuffing without any meat or dairy so easily and it’ll taste just as good (without the heartburn later.)
There are no nuts and no unique ingredients like apples or cranberries – just a basic simple stuffing recipe with celery, onion, and toasted bread to enjoy alongside your Thanksgiving feast.
Ingredients
Reminder: The full, printable recipe can be found in the recipe card below.
- Bread: You’ll need 8 cups of cubed bread or about 1-1.5 loaves. More info about the bread is in the next section.
- Vegan butter: For sautéing. You can also use oil.
- Onion and celery: Classic ingredients for stuffing.
- Garlic: Use fresh cloves for the most flavor.
- Sage and thyme: These traditional Thanksgiving spices are a must!
- Vegetable stock/broth: You can buy this in a carton or make your own using vegetable bouillon.
- Salt and pepper: To taste. The amount of salt added will depend on how salty the vegetable stock you used is.
How to Make
Toast bread cubes in the oven.
Prepare the celery and onion with seasonings.
Add celery and onion to the stuffing along with the vegetable broth.
Bake!
Best Bread for Stuffing
- A more firm bread works best – softer types of bread squish when you cube them and they also tend to be super mushy after baking the stuffing, and not in a good way. I like using French bread right from the bakery at the grocery store. If you use a sandwich-loaf-type bread, I recommend sticking it in the fridge for a couple of days so it firms up.
- Using two different types of bread adds some additional flavor and just feels more fancy. I like a simple wheat and white bread combination. My mom loves using potato bread.
While toasting your bread, sauté the celery and onion.
Adding the sage and thyme to your sauté pan helps those seasonings really bloom and shine through – don’t skip this step!
The amount of vegetable stock you mix in with your stuffing will vary depending on the bread type and just how toasty it got when toasting.
We don’t want the stuffing dripping wet in stock, and we definitely don’t want it to be too dry. You know you have added enough liquid when the bread pieces are no longer dry in the middle. Just pick up a couple of pieces and squish them using your fingers to assess the moisture level. Keep adding a little stock at a time, mixing, and tasting.
Bake until crunchy on top!
Make Stuffing Ahead of Time
The best way to make the stuffing ahead of time is to prepare the recipe all the way up until baking. Instead of baking, store the prepared stuffing in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to heat it, bake in a 375°F oven for 35-40 minutes, or until warm and crunchy on top.
Enjoy this stuffing as a side dish with Whole Roasted Cauliflower or this Vegan Holiday Tofu Roast.
FAQs
You can absolutely leave those ingredients out. If you don’t have an onion allergy, I do recommend substituting the fresh onions with about 1 teaspoon of onion powder. You can add it when you add the sage.
Of course! Sauté about a half pound of mushrooms (or more!) with the celery and onion.
Simply use your favorite GF bread. The remaining ingredients are naturally gluten-free.
For sure! Use your preferred brand. My favorite vegan sausage to add to stuffing is Field Roast Smoked Apple & Sage. It has the perfect seasonings. Cook the sausage according to the package instructions, crumble or chop up if needed, and mix in with the cubed bread before adding the veggie stock.
Did you enjoy this recipe? Please leave a comment and a ⭐ star review below!
Best Vegan Stuffing
Ingredients
- 8 cups cubed bread
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter or oil (see notes on sautéing with vegetable stock)
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 3 medium celery stalks chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2-3 cups vegetable stock
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Spread the bread cubes out on a baking sheet (or two if needed.) Toast for 15-20 minutes, stirring/flipping halfway, or until crunchy.8 cups cubed bread
- In the meantime, saute the celery and onion in the vegan butter until the onion is translucent. Add in the garlic, sage and thyme and saute for an additional 2 minutes.2 tablespoons vegan butter, 1 medium yellow onion, 3 medium celery stalks, 4 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon dried sage, ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- In a large dish, mix together the toasted bread and the celery mixture.
- Add the vegetable stock until the bread is re-moistened. Add a little at a time to avoid a mushy stuffing.2-3 cups vegetable stock
- Add salt and pepper to taste.salt and pepper to taste
- Bake at 375°F for 25-30 minutes or until the top is golden and crunchy. Serve warm!
Video
Notes
- 8 cups of cubed bread is about 1 loaf of bread.
- The best type of bread to use a crusty, firm bread like french bread.
- Prefer not to use vegan butter or oil? Here are some tips on no-oil sautéing.
I made this for Thanksgiving. Changed a little bit to make it more southern US…added more sage, replaced half the bread with cornbread. stuffing is my favorite thing about Thanksgiving dinner and this recipe did not disappoint. I’m making it again today bc everyone liked it and I didn’t get leftovers. Lol. Thanks for this, it was perfect.
Thoughts on making this without using thyme seasoning or an alternate if someone is allergic to that herb?
Hey I already purchased pre made dried bread crumbs (dressing bread) from bakery, will this work for this recipe? Thanks!
Yes, you can use those. You’ll likely need more of the broth/stock though.
can Imake it ahead and freeze it?
Probably not the best idea – the bread would get quite soggy.
What if you want to roll the stuffing into the “meat”? Do you still fry everything or do you just put it raw into the turkey and then steam and bake? I’m just a little confused.
I would still prepare this recipe as instructed in the recipe card for that use.
Made this for my family and I’m the one who was never able to cook and I BLEW them away with this incredibly easy recipe to follow. Now I’m required to make this at ever family holiday. This recipe is a life saver and SO good
This was tasty but ended up WAAAY too soggy. I used David’s Killer Bread as suggested, and started with 2 cups of veggie broth since the recipe says 2-3 cups. Sadly it was way too much. Next time I’ll start with 1 cup and slowly add from there.
Hi, Harmony! I suggest using a hearty bread like a french loaf next time.
Hi
Have you ever added mushrooms?
I haven’t as I’m allergic, but you absolutely could! Just saute some up along with the onions/celery.
Thank you for this recipe! It was perfect-simple to make & used ingredients I already had. I used up a few rolls I had in the freezer for awhile
How many loaves of daves bread did you use for 1 batch?
1 loaf.
I Will start but,Not at this very momment.Still on the fence about some things.How to cook vegan cooks.Making bake goods.Cause not a baker.So do have easy bake goods that,I can do.And the taste how make it taste good to my liking. Those are a few of my concerns for now thank you.
Do you chop the garlic?
Yes!
Hello! Which brand of bread do you use?
Thank you!
Some brands I have used for this stuffing are Dave’s Killer Bread, Simple Truth, and Private Selection.
What brand of veggie stock do you use?
Sometimes I buy the Simple Truth brand (I believe it’s a Kroger brand) but I also make it with veggie bouillon (Better Than Bouillon brand). More cost-efficient that way!
I’m confused about preparing the day before. I thought you were saying it could be made the day before, then REheated the next day. Then it seemed you said to wait and bake it the day of. Could you clarify? Thanx!
Sure! I changed my method this year, and found that it’s better to wait to bake the day of. Assemble it in the casserole dish the day before – but stop before adding the stock. Cover and put it in the fridge. The next day, add the stock and bake it. In other words, follow steps 1-3 the day before, then steps 4-6 the day you are ready to eat it.
Hi Karissa, if following steps 1-3 the day before, should the (toasted) bread also be stored in the fridge? Thanks!
Hi! This looks great, roughly how many people does it serve?
About 8.
This recipe is AMAZING! I make it a few times a year and it’s so good that if hardly makes it to the table before it is gone.
Hi Karissa,
Your recipe looks amazing – but question: we have someone coming to Thanksgiving who’s sensitive to garlic… do you think this recipe will work without the garlic? Or is there a substitute ingredient you’d recommend? Thank you!
Yes, it will absolutely work without the garlic! There will still be lots of flavor coming from the seasonings.
Peace and blessings! How many servings is this delicious looking recipe?
About 8 servings.
Hey there. This recipe sounds great, I was wondering how much in advance you could make this stuffing and what could be the methods of re-heating it? Thank you!
Hi, Becca! I always make it the day before and then reheat covered at 375 degrees for 30 mins, and then another 10 mins uncovered. Yours might need more or less time depending on the dish you use.
2018 UPDATE: I now recommend assembling the dish (follow steps 1-3) and stop before adding the stock. Then follow the remaining steps the day you are ready to eat.
Can’t wait to make this for Thanksgiving! If I prepare it in advance, should I bake it first or wait until the next day?
I now recommend baking it the day of. Don’t add the veggie stock until you are ready to bake, but you can do everything else the day before.