What would Thanksgiving be without good old-fashioned dressing?
But it's usually made with STICKS of butter.....right? And even though we could use VEGAN butter.....that's still a LOT of fat! So I made my own Holiday Vegan Dressing this year, without any oil, butter, or fat.
And let me tell you....this.... stuff.....kicks..... butt.
It's everything I remember in a Holiday Dressing....without all the fat that makes it so bad for us.
Yes, I know Vegan Butter is - well - Vegan. But it's STILL fat folks... as in 100% of its calories come from fat, and yes I realize that even as Vegans we do need fat - but trust me, not this kind.
The secret then, as explained by one of my readers, was to pretty much double up on the seasoning and broth.
And THAT combination seemed to work very well, as this Vegan Dressing is absolutely FULL of yummy Thanksgiving flavor.
Not too dry, not too moist, but just......right.!
I should also mention that this is a traditional Holiday Dressing. So nothing fancy here, no nuts, or apples, or cranberries.....just veggies, broth, and bread.
Speaking of Bread....
Since the bread is the STAR of our Holiday Dressing - you have a choice..... you can either buy one of those bags/boxes of Dressing Mix in the store (fast & convenient but just watch those labels for hidden ingredients you may not want)
OR you can prepare your own, and it's not that hard.
Use can use day-old, stale, white bread, like a loaf or baguette of French bread. Or ...you can use whole wheat, or even crumbled up cornbread. Some people may even like a mixture
Some of you will want oil-free bread too - so look for an oil-free bread like Ezekiel Bread.
Whichever kind you choose, just make sure it's DRY first!
Cut the bread into ½- to 1-inch cubes. Spread the cubes out on a baking sheet and dry, uncovered, overnight. Or dry them in the oven at a low temperature (about 200 degrees) for about an hour.
- Dry bread soaks up moisture and makes a moist but not mushy stuffing.
- You can dry the bread a day ahead and store it in a plastic bag.
- Generally, a 1-pound loaf of bread will yield about 10 to 12 cups of bread cubes.
Ok now, let's go make some DRESSING!
Holiday Vegan Dressing
Finely chop a medium onion (white or yellow), 3-4 ribs of Celery, and about 4oz of Portabella Mushrooms. You'll need about 1 cup of each. I like Bell Pepper so I also added ½ of a Green Bell Pepper too.
In a large pot, sauté the veggies in a splash of water/veg broth, and let them soften. Then stir in ½ teaspoon Onion Powder, ½ teaspoon Marjoram, ½ teaspoon Oregano, ½ teaspoon Thyme, ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper, and 2 Tbs of Rubbed Sage.
Stir that all together and give the spices a minute to become fragrant, then remove the pan from the heat.
We're going to use 3 cups of Low Sodium Vegetable Broth and about 12 cups of bread cubes (or one 12oz package of stuffing mix.
Add some bread cubes to the veggies, and then a little broth and stir. Add a little more bread, a little more broth, and keep stirring. If the veggies are cool enough to handle without burning your fingers, you can use your hands to mix as well.
The key here is to make sure all of the bread is moistened...we don't want crunchy pieces anywhere, nor do we want wet sloshy dressing either.
Right before we turn this into our pan to cook, mix in about ¼ cup of chopped Italian Parsley.
Line a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with parchment paper, and then spoon your dressing into the pan. It's ok to smush it down to get it all to fit.
Now we want to cover this before we put it in the oven, but I don't like aluminum foil touching my food - so lay a sheet of parchment paper on top first, THEN cover with foil. We want to keep all that moisture in while it's baking.
Bake in a 350° F Oven for 30 minutes.
Then remove the foil and parchment paper and continue to bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. The top should brown nicely and form a little crunchy crust.
I really like this dressing, so be sure and leave those comments and tag me on Instagram too, letting me know how it went. I love to see your pictures! #brandnewvegan
Have a wonderful Holiday Season this year!
Holiday Vegan Dressing
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Holiday, Side Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American, Vegan
Description
The perfect Vegan Dressing for your Holiday Table......and without any oil, butter, or fat. Delicious & moist....it tastes just like Thanksgiving!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Onion
- 1 cup Celery
- 1 cup Portabella Mushrooms
- ½ Green Bell Pepper
- ½ tsp Onion Powder
- ½ tsp Marjoram
- ½ tsp Oregano
- ½ tsp Thyme
- ¼ tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Tbs Rubbed Sage
- 3 cups Low Sodium Veg Broth
- 1 pkg Dressing Mix (12 oz) OR
- 12 cups Stale, Day-Old, Bread Cubes
- ¼ cup Italian Parsley
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F.
- Dice onion, celery, mushrooms, and pepper and add to a large pot. Saute in a small amount of water/broth until softened.
- Add onion powder, marjoram, oregano, thyme, pepper, and sage and stir until fragrant - about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add a small amount of bread cubes/stuffing mix and broth at a time, mixing well. Alternate bread/broth until all of the cubes and broth have been incorporated and there are no dry pieces of bread anywhere. Use just enough broth to moisten.
- Stir in chopped Parsley and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper.
- Spoon dressing into pan and smash down as necessary to get it all to fit. Cover with additional parchment paper if desired, and aluminum foil to retain the moisture.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil/parchment and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes.
Notes
Douglas
Is there a substitute for the mushrooms? I am deathly allergic.
Chuck Underwood
Just leave them out.
Jenny Brown
Hi, My husband is highly allergic to mushrooms - can you suggest a substitution, or should I just leave them out? Thanks!
Lynne
What type/brand of bread do you like to use?
Chuck Underwood
Any kind really. We used gluten-free stuffing mix this year. My favorite bread is City Sour from Portland French Bakery. Jut make sure it's super dry.
Cheryl OBrien
Oh my gosh Chuck, you did it again! Thanks for making my mom's dressing! It brings back so many memories, and just topped off my holiday. I have been looking for a good recipe for years, and this is just perfect!
Diane E Valentine
I love baking my stuffing in a pumpkin. It keeps it moist and flavors the pumpkin as well.I serve a wedgeof pumpkin with the stuffing. It makes a nice centerpiece too.
Robin Plett
Absolutely love this idea! What size pumpkin? Any other tips? I know your post is three years old, but I'm hoping you might still answer!
Dorie
I am rating this before I've even made it!! Going to use my homemade sourdough bread and homemade veggie broth. Love that technique of addind broth a little at a time and using your hands. Dressing definitely needs a perfect balance of dry and moist. I may play around with vegan sausage. I only use them for special occasions being as they are processed. But then again Thanksgiving is a special occasion!!
Amelia
Wondering if this could work with other kinds of mushrooms?
Brenda Schnell
This is baking in my oven right now to take to an Omni dinner at my daughter's tomorrow (I will do the last bit in her oven then). But tasting it before it went in OMG I could have eaten the whole thing! I did add a grated apple and some chopped almonds as I used to but them in my dressing in the "bad old days" also a few drops of liquid smoke to replace the bacon I used to put in. Can't wait to eat it tomorrow, along with your sweet potato casserole and brown gravy! My daughter is mostly vegan but the others are not.
Kathy Plyter
This is the best dressing/stuffing recipe ever!!!!! Used my own home made GF, oil-free bread. The combination of spices is superb!
Thank you Chuck!!! Happy Thanksgiving. 2019 Kathy
Charmaine
How about making dressing muffins by making them in muffin pans for individual servings with some crispness all round?
Gail Pickens-Barger
Frozen? Can this be frozen and then reheated for later?
Erin Bethea
Despite the other reviews, this was the driest and most flavorless dressing I’ve ever had. Thank goodness for gravy, but now I have an entire pan of food that will go to waste.
Elaine Brainard
I don't usually write reviews, Chuck, but I had to make an exception for this dressing. Absolutely delicious. I will be making this over and over again. Thank you.
Barbara
I made this last year and will be making it again and again. Thanks, Chuck!
Linda
Chuck: How many does this serve? Someone else asked this same question and I didn’t see a response. Perhaps I missed it?
thanks
Chuck Underwood
I'm thinking 4 big servings - or more like 6-8 avg size servings.
Phyllis
Whole Foods has a vegan stuffing mix. The instructions say to use oil, but I just increase the water. I add onion and celery and just microwave them with the water. Then I mix in the contents of the package. We love this and eat it often.
nelda
I am new and have seen recipes on different sites that call for chocolate chips and I would like to buy some for a recipe but don't know how to get oil free...love, love , love your web site and appreciate your work
Chris
Love all the herbs! This was excellent tonight. I placed it over baked squash. Folks scarfed it down and no one could believe it had no added fat, Thanks Chuck!
Marie Dearaway
I keep checking the Stove Top mixes, but they always appear to have meat ingredients. I have made a grilled stuffed portobello with Stickling’s Gluten Free Reich Bread Crumbs (veg broth, poultry seasoning) and it was really good! ?
djm
I can’t wait to try this, but I want to put that gravy on it, too! It looks so yummy! Which recipe is it?
Chuck Underwood
My vegan brown gravy
djm
Thanks! ?
Pamela L Chamberlynn, MSW, NBC-HWC
I put vegan brown gravy in your search and it doesn't come up. I tried just gravy and several gravies come up and other recipes but not your brown gravy. Please and thank you.
Julie A. Spears
I'm going to try this recipe, but I'm going to try making it in my Instant Pot rather than baking. I'm doing the Pot-in-pot method. Hope it works out.
Voice12345
Chuck, about how many servings would you say this is? (Did I miss it?). Can't wait to try this. I'll use my homemade veggie stock. Organic veggie trimmings into the crock pot overnight and boom! Veggie stock extraordinaire!
Amy Harley
I’d love to try this recipe without the mushrooms and bell peppers. Should I just leave them out or replace with more onion and celery? Thanks!
Tammy
Well...Dave's killer bread makes many different varieties and the ones I've checked are made with oil. Same thing with no-chicken broths, I can't find one that does not include oil. Can anyone suggest a Dave's bread and no-chick broth that are oil-free?
Chuck Underwood
Good catch with the NoChicken Broth.....I honestly had no idea because it said 0 calories from fat. (I know....I should have known better and looked at the ingredients.) WHY? Why is there OIL in a veggie flavored broth??? Oh well.....use Low Sodium Veg Broth instead. And for the bread you can use Ezekiel Bread. There may be other oil-free brands as well.... Thanks for the catch, I updated the recipe.
Amy Harley
Dave’s Killer Bread with the green label is oil free. But I used that kind in a different stuffing recipe and I didn’t like it. The bread was too sweet tasting for me. Most low sodium veggie broths I find are oil free. Trader Joe’s and Pacific brands are definitely oil free.
Danielle
Trader Joe’s low sodium vegetable broth has olive oil in it.
Pamela L Chamberlynn, MSW, NBC-HWC
I agree that Dave's Breads are too sweet. I had to quit using them. BTW, they were oil free but when Dave sold the company to Flowers Bakery, Flowers added oil. We should all inundated Flowers Bakeries with requests they go back to the original recipe and do not add oil. They have no idea how many of us are out there! A good time to also tell them their breads are too sweet.
Patty Low
Hi Pamela,
As of Nov 7, 2022, Dave's Killer Bread (21 Whole Grains and Seeds)has no oil.
Patty
Monique Connealy
I made Chuck's cornbread and cubed it up tonight to let it dry. I'm mixing it half and half with Ezekiel bread.
Maureen
How did it turn out with Chuck’s cornbread recipe? I’m thinking of doing that too!
Pat
Thank you for this recipe!
Gloria
Great idea, because I am a southern girl who LOVES cornbread dressing!
Sarah
I know this is old but for future viewers that may also wonder, Dave’s killer power seed (red label) is also oil free and is sweetened with juice not sugar. I prefer Ezekiel sprouted grain bread though.