Meet Alex Caspero
Alex Caspero is a Registered Dietitian, New York Times Bestselling Plant-Based Chef and mom of two. She aims to cut through the nutrition noise by providing real-life, nourishing tips for body and mind. Learn more about Alex.
The BEST Vegan Stuffing! Made with homemade tempeh sausage, sautéed vegetables and sourdough bread. This stuffing is a must make for Thanksgiving and the holidays.
If you call something the best, it has gotta be the best, right?
Well, this is the best vegan stuffing out there. Maybe the best stuffing ever? I don’t know. You be the judge.
I’ve basically taken my mom’s stuffing recipe and swapped in homemade tempeh sausage crumbles for Italian sausage. Promise me you will try these sausage crumbles, even if it’s not in this stuffing.
The secret in making the best vegan stuffing is using homemade tempeh sausage crumbles. These crumbles completely make the stuffing, so don’t skip them.
Isa first taught my how to make them and I’ve been adding them to countless recipes ever since: pizza, pasta, egg bakes, tofu breakfast tacos– you get the drift. Adding in fennel seeds and sage make this plant-based sausage taste more like Italian sausage and less like tempeh.
In addition to tempeh, you’ll need:
Trust me that once you learn how to make these sausage crumbles, you’ll want to put them in everything. First, you’ll steam tempeh crumbles with a little water in a skillet, then add in the spices and fresh garlic cloves.
Next, add in the soy sauce, maple syrup and oil and let cook for 5-8 minutes until browned and crispy.
Once you make the tempeh sausage crumbles, you’ll need traditional stuffing ingredients like:
First, begin by sautéing the holy trinity of carrots, onion and celery in glorious butter. Well, vegan butter. I’m obsessed with Earth Balance and use it in just about everything, but any butter will work. I prefer EB because it’s a dairy-free, non-hydrogenated margarine which means you get the non-dairy factor without any added trans-fats. Please use butter or vegan butter here; coconut oil or olive oil just doesn’t have the same taste.
Then, we fold in the tempeh sausage crumbles and lots of toasted sourdough bread. Day-old bread isn’t enough, the bread should be very dry and crouton like. To ensure that each piece is toasted enough, cube it and then bake in the oven until dried.
Next, fresh herbs are a must, so I included a heavy hand of sage, thyme and parsley. Don’t substitute dried as it won’t work the same way. Plus, it’s Thanksgiving and I think it’s OK to spend a few dollars on yummy fresh herbs; use any extras in cocktails, pasta or freeze for later.
Lastly, add the vegetable broth and let sit to ensure that the bread soaks up everything before baking. Start slowly, you can always add more if needed. I like to begin with two cups of broth, then add a tablespoon or two at a time until perfect. The bread should be lightly moist, but not wet. If it’s too wet, it will bake into a soupy mess. It’ll still be delicious, but stuffing should be moist, not wet.
Finally, add everything into a lightly greased casserole dish, cover with foil and bake for40 minutes. To finish, remove the foil and bake uncovered for 20 minutes until golden brown and crispy on top.
I prefer either a sourdough loaf of french bread for this vegan stuffing recipe. You can also use a whole grain bread if you prefer. The type of bread doesn’t matter as much as making sure the bread is dried out enough to soak up the filling. If your bread is too soft, then texture of this stuffing won’t be the same.
To make this recipe gluten-free, substitute tamari or coconut aminos for the soy sauce in the tempeh sausage crumbles recipe and use a good gluten-free bread. Most gluten-free bread doesn’t get as crusty as regular bread, but it will still work.
Hope you love this vegan stuffing recipe as much as we do! Since we typically do a mostly plant-based Thanksgiving, I find that classic side dishes like stuffing are so easy to make vegan. With a little vegan butter, good vegetable broth, crispy tempeh sausage and lots of fresh herbs, I promise this stuffing recipe will become a must-make in your house every year.
If you’re looking for more vegan thanksgiving recipes, consider my
Looking for the best vegan stuffing? This is it! Homemade tempeh sausage crumbles folded into a classic stuffing with sourdough bread, carrots, celery, onion, thyme and sage. Vegan.
Tempeh Sausage
Sourdough Stuffing
You can make this ahead of time for easy prep. Make as directed the day before, then cover with foil and chill in the fridge until ready to bake.
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(52 comments) leave a comment
I made this for vegan Thanksgiving a couple years ago, and now I get asked to make it for omnivores every holiday. It is seriously just the BEST stuffing. (That tempeh sausage is unreal good.)
★★★★★
Fantastic stuffing used packed tempeh bacon and worked fine
★★★★★
So glad you liked it! Thanks!
I’ve made this a few years in a row and it is always the BEST. All my friends and family are in love with it and request it from me. Thank you so much!! 🙂
★★★★★
Amazing! I am not a vegan, but made it for Thanksgiving for my sister in law who is vegan and it’s better than any other stuffing I’ve had! I did not have to add any salt at the end as it was salty enough without.
So glad to hear, thanks Olivia!
Hi Alex,
I’m going to sub my homemade GF sourdough to make this Gfree, but I suspect the GF sourdough is denser and heavier than regular sourdough. How much is 1lb of regular sourdough? Is it about 1 normal sized loaf? (I’m so excited for this stuffing! It’s my first fully plant-based Thanksgiving)
Thanks!
Allie
Hi Allie, yes it’s one “normal” size loaf. As long as your loaf is a similar size, it should work!
This stuffing recipe is THE BOMB! I made it for my first vegan thanksgiving and my guests couldn’t get enough of it! My store was out of tempeh so I ended up using some other random vegan meat and it still turned out amazing. I was truly pleasantly surprised when my good friend kept raving about this stuffing because she always tells it how it is and if she doesn’t like something, you bet she’s making it known! Super happy this didn’t disappoint, thanks for the great recipe 🙂
★★★★★
So glad to hear, thanks Jessi!
Hi! Just wondering how I should heat up after putting it in the fridge the night before?
Hi Dylan– heat exactly as directed in the recipe. Pull it out of the fridge with foil, then cook for ~35-40 minutes at 400F. Remove foil, increase temperature to 425 degrees F. and bake another 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top.
Where can I find the nutrition information on this recipe?
Make vegan cornbread and add to the stuffing along with dried cranberries and chopped toasted pecans. So yummy
I made this recipe for a Friendsgiving this past weekend. It was my first time making homemade stuffing and was worth the effort. Great flavor and perfectly moist without being mushy! This will be the only recipe I’ll use from now on. Animal products weren’t missed in the slightest.
★★★★★
So glad to hear, thank you!