This Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing is a remake of the classic traditional sausage stuffing. Mushrooms and sage provide the savory umami flavor base that pops from tart cranberries compliment. Jump to Recipe
In my opinion, Thanksgiving is all about the stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce. And if you take out the turkey, most Thanksgiving meals are already mostly vegetarian. But unfortunately, the key must-have sides usually come with the turkey.
There’s a vegetarian coming to Thanksgiving this year and I want her to get all the good stuff too. I decided to remake my favorite stuffing recipe vegetarian style.
Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing
For as long as I can remember, a sausage, cranberry, and cornbread stuffing has been served every Thanksgiving. The year I was on the SCD/Paleo diet, I tried Danielle Walker’s stuffing. It was amazing, but I still missed the one I grew up with.
Something about doing a mix of cornbread and bread gives the best moist/crisp combo. You bite into pockets of stuffing that are steaming hot with moisture. But one or two bigger chunks of crisped bread or a large chunk of toasty cornbread is there too. The pops of cranberry are the icing on the cake.
I kept everything the same in the classic recipe except the sausage. To get that rich umami flavor, I turned to mushrooms and J. Kenji Lòpez-Alt’s The Best Vegan Stuffing Recipe. Giving mushrooms a couple of pulses in a food possessor and cooking them down with sage does a wonderful job of building meaty flavor.
I would be happy with just eating a bowl full of the stuffing covered in Vegetarian Mushroom Gravy, and a side of Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce with Apple Cider.
What are your must-have Thanksgiving dishes?
Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing
This Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing is a remake of the classic and traditional sausage stuffing, with mushrooms and sage providing the savory umami flavor base that pops from tart cranberries compliment.
Ingredients
Cornbread
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing
- 6 cups cornbread, crumbled
- 8 slices white bread (half a loaf), crusts removed and cut into 3/4 inch pieces
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 pound mushrooms (button, cremini, or shiitake), stems removed
- 1/2 cup sage leaves, minced (about two bundles of sage)
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme, minced
- 1 onion, diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, pressed
- 2 stalks celery finely chopped
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 6 ouces cranberries (1/2 a bag)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Cornbread (5 minutes prep + 25 minutes cook, can make on a separate day)
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
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Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
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Combine the wet ingredients in a small bowl until well mixed. Pour into the dry mixture and mix until just blended.
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Pour into the prepared pan and cook for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
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Let the cornbread cool till room temperature before cutting into squares. Start making the stuffing OR store in an airtight container at room temperature to use the next day.
Cornbread and Cranberry Vegetarian Stuffing (10 minutes prep + 1 hour 10 minutes cook)
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Preheat oven to 275 degrees and arrange the racks to the lower and upper-middle positions. Spread out the cornbread on baking sheets and the white bread pieces on a separate baking sheet. Arrange the trays in the oven and bake for 50 minutes, until completely dry, stirring and rotating the trays a couple times. Dry the cornbread 5 to 10 minutes longer.
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Remove and allow to cool. Turn up the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Add half of the mushrooms to a food processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Remove and then pulse the rest of the mushrooms.
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In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Once it’s shimmering, add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently until all the moisture has been released, about 8 to 10 minutes.
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Add the sage and continue to cook the mushrooms until they are well browned about 5 minutes.
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Toss in the rosemary, thyme, onion, garlic, and celery and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
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Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat. Gently stir in the cranberries, bread, egg, and butter until evenly mixed, adding salt and pepper to taste.
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Transfer to a greased 9x13 inch rectangular baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until crisp on top and golden. If you are going to freeze it though to serve later, go ahead and take it out. When reheating, you can crisp up the top.
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Serve immediately or let it cool completely to room temperature before wrapping it up tightly and freezing.
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The night before, let it unthaw in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before reheating. Pour some melted butter on top, cover with foil, and reheat in a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until its hot. Take the foil off and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until the top is crispy.
Recipe Notes
This recipe is based on J. Kenji Lòpez-Alt's The Best Vegan Stuffing Recipe
Depending on the heartiness of the white bread, it might become dry faster than 50 minutes.
Alright.. my husband is obsessed with stuffing, and I’ve never made it for him!!! I need to, and I should start with this- YUM!
Do it! Give in to the stuffing craze, it’s a tasty one 😋
I am loving this stuffing, especially because the cornbread is homemade. I’d love to try it … with the mushrooms and thyme, sage & rosemary I don’t think I will miss the sausage at all. Maybe go all corn bread. I bet the tartness the cranberries infuse is perfect against the sweetness of cornbread. Pinned!
Lovely vegetarian twist you gave to the stuffing! The flavor sounds warm and the the overall dish looks so vibrant!
True confession time – stuffing is my least favorite Thanksgiving side dish. I can’t put my finger on why, but I usually think it’s bland and unappetizing. Unless of course it’s made with White Castle Burgers (it’s a Midwestern thing) but that’s unhealthy.
YOUR stuffing recipe is making me rethink my approach to stuffing. I LOVE cornbread. And I love cranberries. I bet the “zing” from the cranberries takes this dish to another level. I’m going to have to try stuffing (your way) one more time 🙂
I grew up thinking all stuffing was amazing because I never tried any other recipe. But when I started going to Friendsgivings and got to sample other stuffings, I discovered I didn’t like them nearly as much. It’s definitely all in the cornbread and cranberry! And omg, now all I’m thinking of is a White Castle Burger stuffing!