I’ve never been much of a stuffing fan, but I live with someone who loves the stuff, and let me tell you, homemade stuffing blows that bagged, just-add-water-and-microwave crap out of the water. Forget those creepily uniform, tan cubes of bread — this apple herb stuffing contains actual vegetables and comes as close to real, life-sustaining food as bread-soaked-in-broth can.
Besides, we dumpster-divers can never have too many ways to use up stale bread, can we? You even get a bonus if your bread’s already stale or dried out: though it’ll be harder to slice, you can forgo toasting the cubes altogether.
Sure, it takes a little time, but making your own stuffing is really pretty hard to screw up. If you’re used to stuffing from a bag, you’re probably not too picky anyway, but you can always increase or decrease the stock (or baking time) if you want your end-product to be drier or moister.
- 1 lb whole wheat or multi-grain bread, sliced into 1" cubes
- 3 Tbsp vegan butter
- 1.5 c diced onion
- 1.5 c diced celery
- 1.5 c diced apples
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- 1.5-2 c vegetable stock (use the greater amount for moister stuffing)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spread bread cubes in a single layer on one or two cookie sheets.
- Toast bread cubes for 5-8 minutes, flipping a couple of times to ensure even toasting.
- Remove from oven and set aside.
- Saute onions and celery in butter until celery turns bright green.
- Add apples and continue sauteing until onions are translucent.
- Stir in sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
- Transfer to a 2-qt lidded casserole dish.
- Add toasted bread cubes, drizzle with stock, and toss well.
- Cover dish and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove cover and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until top is nicely browned.
4 comments
Holly says:
Nov 19, 2012
This looks awesome! I’ll definitely be trying it out for Thanksgiving this year. Thank you!
claryn says:
Nov 24, 2012
Hope you liked it, Holly 🙂
Sharon says:
Jan 13, 2013
This blog is wonderful!! And such great photos too! And… I’m even happier than you mention ways to use dumpster-dived foods! Keep it up, I’ll be coming back for more great recipes and pretty pictures of scrumptious looking food : )
claryn says:
Jan 21, 2013
Aw, thank you Sharon! I don’t think many of my readers appreciate my dumpster-diving commentary, so it’s always nice to hear from someone who does 😉