Recipe Healthy Mix-and-Match Sprouted Bread Stuffing
How to mix-and-match ingredients to make the perfect one-of-a-kind Sprouted Bread Stuffing—without a recipe!
October 02, 2024
Our versatile Healthy Mix-and-Match Sprouted Bread Stuffing is part how-to, part recipe, and 100% scrumptious—and has everything you need create a one-of-a-kind dish that will have your family coming back for seconds!
And you don’t need a secret recipe or chefs’ training to do it.
With simple steps and endless combinations of sprouted breads, fruits, veggies, proteins, herbs and spices, our Mix-and-Match Sprouted Bread Stuffing gives any home cook the power to make an easy and memorable holiday meal—perfect for any fall or winter feast!
Not sure what flavours go together? Check out our companion article, Satisfying Meals: Flavour, Texture, Nutrition & Good Company to learn how to create harmony between tastes, textures and aromas and make a wholesome stuffing that serves up sensory satisfaction (and more!).
The Elements of Stuffing
From bread and add-ins to flavourings and seasonings, use the sections of this list to choose the ingredients for each element of your Mix-and-Match Stuffing (feel free to mix and match within each category!):
Sprouted Bread (for the stuffing base)
Nutrient-Dense Add-ins
(for texture, flavour, colour, and nutrition)
Liquids (for moisture and flavour)
*choose low-sodium varieties or reduce salt when seasoning to taste
**up to a 50/50 blend with another liquid
Binders (for cohesion)
*mix and allow to gel for at least 5 minutes before adding
Flavourings and Seasonings (for taste)
*rehydrate first! (see tip))
How to Put it All Together:
Three Sprouted Bread Stuffing Combos to Inspire
If you’re not used to cooking without a recipe that includes specific measurements for each ingredient, don’t fret! We’ve created three tasty combos to show what you can do with our Healthy Mix-and-Match Sprouted Bread Stuffing approach or use them as a starting point for your own combinations!
For each combo, follow the instructions for Mix-and-Match Sprouted Bread Stuffing below.
Combo 1:
Apricot, Pear and Pecan with Rainbow Chard and Plant-based Sausage
- 8 – 10 slices Silver Hills Sprouted Bakery Little Big Bread
- 1 large pear (or 2 medium/small),
cored and diced - 1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
- 2 – 3 stalks celery, sliced
- 1 bunch rainbow chard (or Swiss chard),
stems and leaves sliced and separated - 2 – 4 plant-based sausages,
crumbled or sliced - 1 cup dried apricots, sliced or diced
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
1 flax or chia egg
(flax egg: 1 Tbsp ground flax + 3 Tbsp water;
chia egg: 1 Tbsp chia seeds + 2 ½ Tbsp water) - 1 cup vegetable broth
2 – 3 tsp fresh thyme (or 1 – 2 tsp dried) - 2 – 3 tsp fresh ginger (about a 1-inch knob), grated (or 1 – 2 tsp dried)
- To taste salt and pepper
Combo 2:
Butternut Squash, Mushroom, Kale and Cranberry
Swap in 6 – 8 slices Silver Hills Sprouted Bakery Squirrelly bread. Trade the onion for 2 shallots and switch the chard to kale.
Skip the plant-based sausage and use 2 cups of two kinds of mushrooms instead.
Throw in 1 – 2 cups of diced butternut squash.
Replace the apricots and pecans with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. And pick fresh sage and rosemary for your herbs!
Combo 3:
Fig, Fennel, and Apple with
Kale and Plant-based Sausage
Try 6 – 8 slices Silver Hills Bakery organic Multigrain or The Big 16 with apple, onion, sliced fresh fennel, plant-based sausage, cremini mushrooms, kale, dried figs, slivered almonds, orange zest and juice, fresh thyme, and fennel fronds!
Ingredients
- Choose your sprouted bread
- Choose your fruit (one or a combination of two or more fresh or dried fruits)
- Choose your vegetables and/or greens (one vegetable plus one green, or a combination of two or more vegetables)
- Choose your plant-based protein (one or a combination of two or more nuts, seeds, and/or meat alternatives)
- Choose your healthy fat
- Choose your liquid
- Choose your binder
- Choose your aromatics (at least one allium, plus one or a combination of two or more from the list)
- Choose your flavourings (one or a combination of two or more herbs, spices, and/or zests)
- Choose your umami ingredient (one or a combination of two or more mushrooms, and/or another on the list (optional if choosing a plant-based sausage))
- Choose your salt
Featured Product Multigrain
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place sprouted bread on a cookie sheet, and toast in the oven for 15 – 20 minutes, or until dry and lightly golden, flipping halfway. Allow to cool and cut into bite-sized cubes (roughly 1-inch). Add to a large mixing bowl.
If using flax or chia egg as your binder, mix flax or chia with warm water in a small bowl and set aside to gel while your bread cubes bake. (See binders section for volumes). - Slice, dice, or chop ingredients that need to be pre-cooked into bite-sized pieces: vegetables and greens, aromatics (onions, shallots, garlic, leeks), meat alternatives like plant-based sausage (crumble or slice), and umami ingredients (mushrooms) and set aside.
If using carrots and celery as aromatics instead of vegetables, chop into small dice (½-inch or less). If using hard vegetables like squash, sweet potato, parsnips, or carrots, you may wish to pre-steam to soften them slightly first. - In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, sauté your chosen aromatics (onion, shallot, celery, etc.) with a drizzle of your chosen healthy fat. When aromatics are tender and starting to brown, add them to the bowl with the bread cubes.
If using garlic as one of your aromatics, save it for step 4 if not also using mushrooms, or add it at step 6 with the mushrooms. If garlic is your only aromatic, skip this step and add it at step 4 or 6. - Add a little more oil or plant-based butter if needed. In order of hardest to softest (with dark leafy greens last), sauté vegetables until tender and season with salt to taste, and add to the bowl. (For mushrooms, see step 6)
If using chard as a green, sauté the stalks for a few minutes before wilting the leaves briefly. If using garlic but not mushrooms, add it to the pan just before your greens. - If using plant-based sausage, tempeh, or seitan crumbles, cook in the pan to your preference and add to the bowl.
- If using fresh mushrooms as one of your umami ingredients, add remaining oil or melt remaining plant-based butter in the pan. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender and their moisture has been released, then add to the bowl.
If using garlic but not greens, sauté the garlic with your mushrooms. If using fresh thyme, rosemary, sage, and/or fresh ginger, sauté these with your mushrooms, too. (If not, add fresh herbs and remaining healthy fat to the pan with the vegetables in step 4). - Add all remaining mix-and-match sprouted bread stuffing ingredients—fruit, nuts or seeds, liquid, binder, flavourings, and any umami ingredients that didn’t need to be pre-cooked to the bowl. With a large sturdy spoon (or your hands) mix everything together until well combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Lightly grease a baking dish that will fit your sprouted bread stuffing with plant-based butter or oil. Transfer stuffing to baking dish/dishes and cover tightly with foil (or a lid if your baking dish has one).
**Your stuffing volume may vary depending on the mix-and-match ingredients you chose—if you don’t have one baking dish that will fit, divide stuffing between two smaller ones.** - Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil or lid and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes, or until the top of the stuffing is golden and lightly crisp.
- Serve hot and enjoy! Refrigerate leftovers for 3 – 4 days in an airtight container or freeze for up to a month. (See To Freeze and To Reheat tips below).
Try these handy tips!
- Using dried figs, raisins, or currants as one of your fruit ingredients, or dried mushrooms or sun-dried tomatoes as one of your umami ingredients? Rehydrate them before adding to your stuffing! How? Put them in a small bowl or glass measuring cup then add just enough hot (or boiling) water to cover them. Let them sit and plump up while you prepare the other ingredients. Drain off and save any water not absorbed—you can use it as part of your 1 cup of liquid for extra flavour! With larger rehydrated ingredients like whole figs, whole sun-dried tomatoes, or whole or large slices of mushrooms, slice or chop into bite-sized pieces before adding to the bowl with the bread cubes in step 7.
- If using dried poultry seasoning, treat it like salt. Start light with 1 teaspoon, taste, then add more in small increments if needed—it can overpower other flavours in a stuffing fast!
