Healthy Mix-and-Match Sprouted Bread Stuffing

With simple steps and endless combinations of sprouted breads, fruits, veggies, proteins, herbs and spices, our Healthy 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!

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Plant-based

Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword Holiday, Entertaining, Stuffing

Season Fall, Winter

Difficulty Easy

Author Silver Hills Bakery

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

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).

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!

To Freeze

Mix-and-match stuffing is more art than science—and it’s much easier to make stuffing for four or more than for one or two. If you find yourself with an alarming volume of stuffing, don’t worry! We’ve got two suggestions:

1. Bake it all now. Refrigerate only what you can eat in a few days. If you still have leftovers and aren’t planning another feast soon, don’t freeze them as a large mass you have defrost all at once—freeze in meal-sized containers.

2. Portion what you won’t use for this meal into lightly greased muffin cups. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes at 350°F until browned and holding together, allow to cool, remove from muffin cups, then freeze in an airtight container or zip top bag to reheat as a pre-portioned side for future dinners. Bonus: because muffin cups are small, this method makes defrosting fast—and you can reheat as little or as much as you need! Pair with reheating option 2 for the speediest weeknight stuffing side!

To Reheat

Although the microwave can be a time-saving tool, frozen mix-and-match sprouted bread stuffing is better reheated one of two ways (defrost to room temperature first for both options):

1. In the oven at 350°F. For large portions, bake covered for 25 – 30 minutes in an oven-safe dish, then uncovered for 10 – 15 minutes more to re-crisp. For small portions (e.g., frozen in muffin cups), reduce covered baking time to 15 – 20 minutes, then bake uncovered until tops are crisp.

2. In a frying pan on the stovetop over medium heat. When hot, add a little plant-based butter or olive oil plus ¼ - ½ cup vegetable broth to the pan, then add the stuffing and stir. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 3 – 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until heated through.

If your stuffing looks dry after defrosting, add ¼ - ½ cup vegetable broth to the baking dish or frying pan before covering to reheat. Less is more—don’t overcorrect and make dry-ish stuffing soggy! Adjust broth volume based on how much stuffing you’re reheating. For a two-person portion, use ¼ cup or less; use up to ½ cup if reheating portions in 8-inch × 8-inch casserole dishes or larger. For stuffing frozen in muffin cups, use no more than 1 teaspoon of broth per muffin cup portion.