Vegan Stuffing
This easy vegan stuffing recipe is perfect served warm as a delicious side dish for your next amazing vegan dinner. Of course, you’ll want this recipe for your vegan Thanksgiving dinner as well!
Here’s my favorite vegan Thanksgiving: This vegan stuffing is served with vegan turkey, vegan gravy, vegan cranberry sauce, and some vegan garlic mashed potatoes for a perfect holiday meal or any special occasion!
What do you call this dish? Dressing? Or stuffing? I think I’ve used both. I love this article from Southern Living on the Debate about whether to call it dressing or stuffing.
My mom always made the best homemade stuffing for Thanksgiving. It was served in a huge casserole dish, so we’d have leftovers, at least for the next day.
My mom put a lot of work into that recipe. She’d make the cornbread from scratch, and she’d search far and wide for the best kind of sage to add as a seasoning.
I used to do that, too, especially after we adopted a vegan lifestyle. And then, one day, I discovered a way to make a simple vegan stuffing.
The good news? This recipe takes less than 30 minutes. Perfect!
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- The use of a cornbread stuffing mix makes this easy so easy to make
- The addition of vegan butter makes this taste like traditional stuffing, even though it’s vegan
- Baking the stuffing creates a crispy topping that makes every bite delicious
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Vegan butter — Use your favorite vegan butter or margarine here.
- Celery — You’ll need about 2 stalks or 1 cup of chopped celery.
- Onion — We’ll be using about 1 cup of chopped onion.
- Vegetable Broth — I recommend a high-quality vegetable broth like Better than Bouillon No-Chicken or Vegetarian broth.
- Stuffing Mix — I buy a seasoned stuffing mix. Just look at the container to make sure it’s dairy-free. See below for more info on options.
Marly’s Tips
If you place your onion in the freezer for about 30 minutes before chopping it, you’ll reduce the amount of eye irritation you feel. No more tears!
How to Make Vegan Stuffing
- Cook celery and onion with butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the vegetable broth into the pan and cook until it just begins to boil.
- Add the stuffing mix and stir to combine.
- Pour the stuffing into a prepared baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, until golden on the top.
I tried many ways to make the best vegan stuffing for you. And do you know what I decided was the best? Using a vegan-friendly package of ready-to-make stuffing combined with my homemade broth mixture. It was easy and delicious.
Easy and Delicious are my favorite ingredients!
Step One: Cook Celery and Onion
Add vegan butter to a saucepan over medium heat and cook until the butter is melted. Add chopped onion and 2 stalks chopped celery and cook for about 5 minutes until the onions are tender.
Step Two: Add Vegetable Broth
Add the vegetable broth and bring that to a boil.
Step Three: Add Stuffing Mix
Once the broth begins to boil, remove it from heat and stir in the stuffing mix. Take a taste here and add more seasoning if you want.
Step Four: Bake (optional)
At this point, you could serve it as a vegetarian stovetop stuffing straight from the pan. It’s pretty tasty as is. I just happen to like to bake it like a casserole. So, once it’s ready, pour it into a casserole dish and bake it for about 20 minutes until the top crust has some crispy, golden peaks.
You might want to make a double batch so you’ll still have some leftovers after your guests leave.
Storage Tips
Store the stuffing in the baking dish by covering it with foil and refrigerating it. Otherwise, transfer leftovers to an airtight container. They will keep in the fridge for up to 7 days. Or they can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Dairy-Free Meatless Stuffing
To make any stuffing dairy-free and meatless, do the following:
- Replace the turkey or chicken broth with vegetable broth
- Use vegan butter or olive oil in place of dairy butter
- Use a Vegan Cornbread recipe or purchase a dairy-free stuffing mix
- Don’t add any meat like sausage or turkey.
You’ll notice I didn’t mention eggs above. Some recipes will call for eggs in the stuffing to help create a more bread-like finished product. However, eggs are not necessary.
Marly’s Tips
- These are the traditional stuffing spices I use: rubbed sage, dried thyme, dried rosemary, salt, and pepper.
- Add a half cup or so of fresh cranberries before baking to add color and flavor
- You could also add a 1/2 cup of sliced apples
- Add 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms before you bake it to make this into a vegan stuffing with mushrooms
- Include some vegan sausage crumbles to give it a heartier flavor
- Drizzle some melted vegan butter over the top to make a crispier crust
- You can make it the day before and simply reheat before serving. The flavors of vegan stuffing just grow better over time, so you’ll be fine either way.
Vegan Stuffing Mix Options
When buying store-bought vegan stuffing mixes, be sure to read the label because sometimes manufacturers change their formulas. Currently, these are the stuffing mixes that are made without dairy, eggs, or lard (paid links):
- Pepperidge Farms Cornbread Stuffing Mix
- Arrowhead Mills Organic Stuffing Mix
- San Francisco Boudin Organic Sourdough Stuffing Mix
- Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix
- Stove Top Signature Stuffing Mix
I’m pleasantly surprised to see so many options available these days.
You can make your vegan cornbread stuffing from scratch, but this easy stuffing recipe is so tasty, I say keep it simple!
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Vegan Stuffing
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan butter half a stick
- 2 stalks celery about 1 cup, chopped
- 1 large onion about 1 cup, chopped
- 2 ½ cups Vegetable Broth
- 14 ounce Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Cornbread Stuffing
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 375°F/190°C. Spray the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking pan or casserole dish.
- Heat the vegan butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the chopped celery and onion. Cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the vegetable broth over cooked onions/celery and give it a good stir. Cook over medium heat until this just begins to boil.
- Pour in the stuffing and stir to combine. Remove from heat.
- Add more seasoning—like dried sage, salt, and pepper—to taste. Pour into your prepared baking dish.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until the stuffing is golden and crusty on the top.
(The products above contain sponsored links to products we use and recommend)
Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2019 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
How long and what temperature do you reheat this at?
Hi Shel! I cover the dish with foil and bake it at 350°F for up to 15 to 20 minutes. Happy Thanksgiving!
Can you be more specific about how much of each seasoning would be appropriate to add?
Hi Michelle. There’s no need to add seasonings to this recipe because the cornbread mix already comes with seasonings.
I made this for a Thanksgiving potluck and it was so easy!! It was gone in minutes and people were complimenting me on the “homemade” stuffing. So yummy!!
Hi Amanda! I’m so glad you like this vegan stuffing! I mean, I used to spend hours making it homemade (starting with homemade cornbread), but then this tastes just as good and is SO easy! This can be our secret.
I confess this does look better than my stuffing recipe and much easier.
Hi! trying to sign up for your newsletter but it keeps kicking me to an error page. any suggestions?
Hi Karen. Thanks for letting us know. I will send you an email directly to get this resolved. Thanks!! Marly