Vegan Wild Rice Stuffing

Serving up a bowl of wild rice mushroom stuffing

This Wild Rice Mushroom Stuffing is a traditional recipe from my Minnesotan family that has been veganized. It is the perfect balance of savory, sweet, chewy, moist, and decadent

Print Recipe

CourseVegan Recipes

CuisineMinnesotan

Prep Time35

Cook Time45

Servings servings

Calories651kcal

Ingredients

8-10 Cups Chopped/Crumbled Mixed Bread*
2 Cups Wild Rice Fully Cooked
2 Cups Maitake Mushroom Chopped Finely
2 Cups Vegetable Broth*
1 Medium Diced Apple
1 Medium Yellow Onion Finely Chopped
3 Cloves Garlic Crushed and Chopped
2 Stocks Celery
2 TBS Fresh Sage Leaves Chopped, about 10 leaves
2 tbs Fresh Rosemary about 2 large sprigs
1 Tbs Thyme
3/4 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Chickpea Flour *or egg replacer of choice, see notes
1/2 Cup Melted Butter

Instructions

To Do For All Versions First

Once your bread is chopped, cubed, and crumbled put onto a baking sheet and bake at 250 for 30 minutes, or until dried
*You can also use premade stuffing breadcrumbs like this to skip this step!*
In a pan sauté your onions, garlic, celery, and mushrooms in a large, oiled pan for 3-5 minutes on medium heat
Now add your cooked wild rice, apples, and herbs, then sauté another 2 minutes
In a large bowl add your toasted bread crumbs, pour over the sautéed veggies, and the veggie broth. Mix well
In a small bowl whisk the chickpea flour with the water together, then pour over the stuffing mix

To Make Dressing

Pour your bread mix into a casserole dish. Drizzle melted butter over the top
Cover and bake at 350F for 35 minutes
Remove lid and bake for another 10-15 minutes for the top to crisp *Be careful to not let it dry out! Shallow baking dishes need 8-10 minutes, very deep baking dishes need 12-18 minutes. Use your judgment how long it needs for your pans depth.

Stuffed Roasted Pumpkins

Take a small pumpkin (no larger than 6 inches in diameter), wash it, scoop out the seeds and stringy bits
Coat the outside of the pumpkin with oil, and stuff it with your stuffing
Fully stuff it to prevent empty pockets
Put on a baking pan and roast in the oven at 350 for 35-45 minutes. The time will depend on the size of your pumpkin. Extra small ones only 3 inches in diameter will be done at 32-35 minutes. Large ones at 6 inches across will take 40-50 minutes. You'll know its done when the pumpkin flesh is soft to the touch. If you touch it it should leave an imprint.
Serve whole, or cut it in half for it to cool faster.

Roasted Stuffed Apples

To hollow out your apple cut a square large enough to fit a spoon at the top. Chisel it out with your knife. Once you have a hole at the top of your apple get a spoon and carefully scoop it out. Reserve the apple bits you are scooping out for another recipe- or add it to your existing stuffing to add extra sweetness. (Do add some spice for balance if you try this)
Continue to hollow out your apple, trying not to break the skin, but keep the thickness of the hollowed apple around 1 centimeter. If you leave the apple thicker than that it will take ages for it to get soft enough while roasting.
Coat your apple in oil (unrefined coconut oil has the best flavor for this) and stuff it!
Roast in the oven at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes in the oven. You want that apple to soften up, if your hollowed out apple is too thick this can take longer. Conversely, a very thin apple will take less time.
Serve with a savory sage gravy and enjoy!

Notes

As I mentioned in the article above, this stuffing is the best with multiple kinds of bread. Use as many different kinds as possible. This adds depth to the flavor, enhances the texture, and really makes your stuffing stand out.
Try using whole sourdough, multigrain, whole wheat, brioche, focaccia, etc.
Do not use a wild rice blend!
The other rice mixed with the wild rice can get soggy and will ruin the texture
To make wild rice - add 1 cup dried to 1 1/4 cup water to an instant pot and cook on high pressure for 28 minutes
Maitake or hen of the woods is recommended for this stuffing. Oyster mushrooms, chanterelles, and hedgehog mushrooms are all solid choices for this stuffing. In a pinch you can use shitake mushrooms, or cremeli mushrooms.
Egg Replacer: The chickpea flour works as a binder in this recipe. You can use a vegan egg replacer like Just Egg, just add 1 cup of it.
A quality vegetable broth can really transform this stuffing.
I like to make my own veggie broth so I have more control over the sodium and overall flavor.
I make a veggie scrap broth with onion and garlic peels, herb stems, mushroom stems, and potato skins. I'll add extra onion and garlic, a bay leaf, black peppercorns, and black salt. I do a 1:1 ratio of water to veggies in my instapot for 40 minutes to make it. Then I compost the scraps when I'm done! No veggie scraps or broth at home?
Here is how to make a quick zero waste veggie broth
3 cups aquafaba
2 cups water
2-3 tsp truffle salt
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp miso
1 bay leaf

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