I asked over on Snapchat a while back, what holiday recipes people wanted help with. There was an abundance of requests for stuffing recipes for Thanksgiving. Particularly grain-free stuffing recipes.
I have several other stuffing recipes here in the archives if you are looking for other renditions:
Roasted Butternut Squash, Apple and Leek Bread Stuffing with Collard Greens
Gluten-free Mushroom Stuffing
Single Serve Gluten-Free Classic Sausage and Bread Stuffing
This particular recipe is a holiday classic, the perfect stuffing – moist in the middle and crisp on the top. For me, this is exactly the stuffing I grew up eating, but rather than white bread so many of us can’t have or even the overly process gluten-free stuff, this is made with a super quick, homemade (nut-free) grain-free bread, that you can throw together ahead of time.
Don’t get too excited about the bread. The grain-free, nut-free bread recipe I’ve created for my homemade paleo stuffings is hardly a bread that I would recommend making and using for sandwiches, in fact, it literally was created solely for the purpose of making stuffing bread crouton cubes and it serves it’s purpose very very well and it comes together in about 5 minutes! BONUS. I always make the bread several days ahead to leave it out to dry out and almost get a little stale. Shhhh stale bread makes the best stuffing.
With local pasture-raised, ground pork breakfast sausage (poultry breakfast sausage would also be great here, too), tons of fresh herbs, chicken broth, eggs for binding and fluff, onions, celery and leeks this dressing is simple to throw together and you’ll never know you weren’t eating the classic Thanksgiving side dish you grew up with. The bonus, you can prepare this stuffing a day or two in advance, then just let it come to room temperature before baking, day of the big event!
Paleo Sausage and Herb Bread Stuffing
Ingredients
Grain-free Stuffing Bread:
- ¾ cup coconut flour, sifted
- 6 pasture-raised eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup olive or coconut oil or melted butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons psyllium husk powder
Paleo Sausage and Herb Bread Stuffing:
- 5 cups cubed grain-free bread, see above (or other bread of your choice)
- 1 ½ to 2 cups low sodium chicken broth or stock
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- ½ cup thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only (optional)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 pasture-raised eggs, lightly beaten
- 12 ounces loose pork or poultry breakfast sausage, be sure this is gluten-free
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
Optional Add-ins:
- toasted chestnuts
- dried cranberries
- diced apples
- mushrooms
Instructions
- Make the stuffing bread a few days ahead. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a loaf pan.
- Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and mix by hand or with a mixer until well combined and there are no lumps. Pour into the prepped loaf pan, be sure to even the dough out with your hands or a spatula. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Cut into slices and then into 1-inch cubes. Arrange in a single layer on a baking pan and leave in a cooled oven overnight or up to 2 days to dry out.
- Make the Stuffing. Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a medium-sized casserole dish or glass baking pan. Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet and toast in the oven 20-25 minutes, tossing once or twice, bake until lightly browned and crisp.
- In a large bowl, add the toasted bread cubes and 1 cup of stock, until the bread is evenly moistened (adding more as necessary). You want the bread soft, but not soggy. Let the bread sit and absorb the stock while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. To the bread add the onion, celery, leeks, garlic and fresh herbs, the lightly beaten eggs and sausage. Add another 1/2 cup of the broth. Toss until everything is well combined. Crumbling up the sausage to evenly distribute. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
- Add the stuffing mixture to the prepared dish.
- Bake the stuffing in the center of the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until it is heated through and the top is browned and crisp. Cover the stuffing with foil at any point if it's browning more than you'd like. (we like ours very browned and toasty). Serve warm.
Notes