The Best Savory Vegan Stuffing

This is the Best Savory Vegan Stuffing recipe and no one will know it's vegan. It is the perfect side dish to serve on your holiday table.

There are so many delicious recipes at Thanksgiving dinner but stuffing (or dressing) has to be my favorite one. There are so many kinds of stuffing - cornbread, sausage and apple, or mushroom. But my favorite is the traditional stuffing with onions, celery, and fresh herbs.

While I refer to this as stuffing, technically it's vegan dressing since it isn't being stuffed inside a turkey or anything else.

Why You'll Love This Stuffing

• Buttery goodness: It just isn't Thanksgiving with buttery stuffing. This recipe uses vegan butter.
• Fresh herbs: The fresh herbs absolutely make this dish. I don't always cook with fresh herbs, but they make this stuffing taste amazing. And your house will smell amazing too!
• Holiday perfection: It isn't a holiday without stuffing. This recipe is has traditional flavors.

Vegan Stuffing Ingredients

Fresh herbs are the secret to this amazing stuffing recipe! To make it, you'll need:

• Bread - You can use any type of bread you want or a combination of 2 breads. I often use both white bread and wheat bread in my stuffing.
• Onions - I prefer using regular yellow onions.
• Celery
• Vegan butter - My favorite brand to use is Earth Balance.
• Vegetable broth - Homemade or from a carton
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - It is really important to use fresh instead of dried herbs in this recipe. It gives way better flavor!

How To Make Vegan Stuffing

1. To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly butter a 9x13 casserole dish. You can also use a nonstick oil spray. Set aside the prepared dish.

3. Next, prepare the bread by cutting it into 1" cubes. Spread the cubes onto a baking sheet making sure the bread is in a single layer. You may need to use two.

4. Bake for 10-15 minutes until it's dried out and a little toasty. Stale bread needs a little less time than fresh bread.

5. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the vegan butter. Once the butter is melted, add the chopped onions and celery. Cook for about 12 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften, stirring occasionally.

6. Prepare the fresh herbs by finely chopping them. While most of the time I think it's fine to use dried herbs, for this recipe you need fresh ones.

7. Once the bread cubes have dried out in the oven, put them in a very large bowl. Add the vegetable mixture, fresh herbs, salt and black pepper.

8. Carefully pour in about 1 cup of vegetable stock and slowly stir up the mixture.

9. Continue to stir up the mixture, adding more veggie broth to the very dry areas until you've added all 2 cups worth. Continue stirring until it's the consistency you like.

I like to have some crunchy pieces but others like very soft, uniform stuffing. You might want to add a little more broth if needed.

10. Pour the stuffing mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.

11. Take the cover off and give it a quick stir. Leaving the foil off, bake for an additional 30 minutes.

12. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Expert Tips

• Use fresh herbs. It makes a big difference to the flavor using fresh over dried.
• Use whatever bread you like the most.  I usually mix more than one kind of bread, using both white and whole wheat.
• My favorite kind of vegan butter to use in stuffing is Earth Balance.
• Make sure you chop up the celery fairly small. You don't want a big piece of celery and it might not soften completely if it's too large.
• Make sure the vegetable broth is well distributed. You don't want to have some areas very soggy while other sections very dry.

Storage Tips

Refrigerator

Store the cooled, leftover stuffing in an airtight container in the fridge. This will keep for up to 5 days.

Reheat

Reheat individual portions in the microwave for about 1 minute. You can also heat portions in the oven at 350 for about 7-10 minutes.

Prepping Ahead of Time

This recipe can be made ahead of time which is a great time saver on the big day. Just make the stuffing according to the recipe but don't bake it in the oven. Put it in the prepared casserole dish, cover with foil, and put in the refrigerator.

The next day, add enough broth to make sure there aren't any very dry areas before baking it. It might be slightly dryer after spending the day in the fridge.

Let it sit out on the counter for 20 minutes to get closer to room temperature. I also recommend cooking it for 40 instead of 30 minutes.

My Thanksgiving Menu

I've been cooking a traditional Thanksgiving meal for a long time...since I was in my mid-twenties. I've made some changes along the way but now the menu is pretty much the same year to year and caters to both vegans and non-vegans.

While some might think hosting a Thanksgiving for both vegans and nonvegans is difficult, it's actually not anymore challenging than a regular one. The best part of the meal is the delicious side dishes and most are easy to veganize. Here's the menu.

• Roasted Turkey (for the non-vegans)
• Vegan Roast (I like Trader Joe's one.)
• Mashed Potatoes
• Vegan Green Bean Casserole Using Canned Green Beans
• The Best Savory Vegan Stuffing
• Easy Vegan Cornbread Casserole With Jiffy Mix
• Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
• Another Vegetable - either roasted asparagus or collard greens
• Cranberry Sauce (both homemade and from a can)
• Gravy (traditional and mushroom gravy)
• Dinner Rolls

Recipe FAQs

Did you know that rating and commenting on recipes is one of the best ways to support your favorite food bloggers? If you try the recipe, please click the star rating on the recipe card and add a comment below. Thanks!