Sourdough Stuffing with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms

This wholesome, Sourdough Stuffing recipe is loaded with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and celery for wealthy taste, baked till golden on high and tender inside. A healthful, lighter Thanksgiving aspect!

Stuffing with Caramelized Onions and Mushrooms

If you happen to’re making stuffing this vacation season, attempt it with sourdough bread for a more healthy twist! I bake it nearly each week, however this was my first time utilizing it in stuffing, and I beloved it! To boost the flavour with out including meat, I loaded the stuffing with candy caramelized onions and earthy mushrooms, which make each chunk wealthy and savory while not having a ton of butter. Since sourdough is of course fermented, it’s simpler to digest, has a decrease glycemic index than common bread, and offers the stuffing a hearty texture with out making it too heavy.

Why This Sourdough Stuffing Works

Stuffing is my favourite Thanksgiving aspect dish, particularly with cranberry sauce, turkey, and gravy. I’ve shared lighter takes earlier than, like my Stuffing Muffins and Stuffing with Sausage, however this sourdough model is rustic, hearty, and surprisingly good for you. Plus, it may be prepped a day forward—at all times a lifesaver on Thanksgiving.

• Healthful base: Sourdough is fermented, making it simpler to digest and extra nutrient-dense than plain white bread.
• Taste-packed veggies: Caramelized onions + mushrooms add depth with out extra fats.
• Excellent texture: Crisp golden high with a young, moist inside.
• Make-ahead pleasant: Assemble the day earlier than with out the broth and egg, then bake when prepared.
• Customizable: Add sausage, apples, or herbs on your personal spin.
• Dietary Restrictions: Weight Watchers-friendly, vegetarian, gluten-free (if utilizing GF bread), dairy-free

Tips on how to Make Sourdough Stuffing

If you happen to’re not making do-it-yourself sourdough bread, purchase a good-quality loaf from a neighborhood bakery. And if it’s your first time baking it, try all my sourdough necessities to get began. See the recipe card on the backside for printable instructions.

1. Toast the bread cubes at 350°F for quarter-hour.
2. Caramelize the onions in a big skillet over medium warmth. After 8 minutes, scale back the warmth to medium-low and prepare dinner, stirring often, till they’re golden brown and caramelized. Switch to a plate.
3. Cook dinner the mushrooms and celery in the identical skillet over medium warmth for 8 minutes. Stir within the thyme and sage and prepare dinner for an additional minute.
4. Combine the whole lot collectively. Place the bread cubes, onions, mushrooms, celery, and parsley in a big bowl. Pour in just a little of the broth, then stir. Hold including extra till the stuffing is moist however not soggy. It’s okay should you don’t use all 2 cups! Then, combine within the crushed egg.
5. Bake the sourdough stuffing: Place the combination in an oiled 9×13-inch baking dish, cowl with foil, and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes. Take away the foil and bake for an extra quarter-hour, till golden.

Variations

• Change up the bread: Substitute French bread or a baguette. If you happen to’re gluten-free, use your favourite gluten-free bread.
• Taste: Add the pan drippings from the turkey on the finish.
• Add meat: Cook dinner turkey or hen candy Italian sausage, pancetta, or bacon with the mushrooms and celery.
• Don’t like mushrooms? Go away them out and use a bit much less broth.
• Onion Choices: Use pink onions or shallots.
• Broth Swaps: Be at liberty to make use of hen broth and even bone broth for a protein increase.
• Add a contact of sweetness. Sauté diced apples with the celery and mushrooms. Use any sort of apple you want. Honeycrisp or Gala present extra sweetness, or select Granny Smith for a little bit of tartness.
• No recent herbs? I’d suggest utilizing at the very least one recent herb, like sage, for the most effective taste, however dried herbs will work.
• Allergic to eggs? You’ll be able to skip the egg if wanted, or make my hen sausage stuffing recipe with out eggs.

Can I make sourdough stuffing forward of time?

There are just a few methods to make sourdough stuffing upfront, so that you don’t need to do the whole lot on Thanksgiving.

• Make your sourdough. If you happen to’re making the sourdough from scratch, bake it as much as a month early. Let it cool, then reduce it into cubes and freeze them in a ziplock bag. Thaw the bread within the fridge two days earlier than Thanksgiving. You’ll be able to toast the bread a day upfront and preserve it in an hermetic container on the counter.
• Prep the whole lot early. You’ll be able to prepare dinner the veggies and blend the dry components a day forward, however wait so as to add the broth and egg. The USDA cautions that stuffing can harbor micro organism if refrigerated unbaked, so it’s most secure to mix the moist components proper earlier than baking. On Thanksgiving, simply stir them in and bake as directed.
• Freeze raw stuffing. If you happen to get pleasure from checking issues off your to-do checklist early, you may freeze raw stuffing for as much as a month earlier than serving. Proper after mixing the whole lot, place the combination in an ovenproof shallow dish and freeze it. If you happen to don’t have a shallow container with an hermetic lid, cowl it with plastic wrap after which foil. 
  • Cook dinner the frozen stuffing on Thanksgiving Day till it reaches 165°F when examined with an instant-read thermometer within the middle. Cooking instances could fluctuate, however I like to recommend baking it coated for 1 hour, then uncovered for 15 to half-hour till it’s heated via.

Storage

• Refrigerate leftover stuffing for as much as 4 days.
• Freeze it in small hermetic containers for as much as 3 months.
• Reheat within the microwave or oven till heat.

Extra Stuffing Recipes You’ll Love

For extra Thanksgiving aspect dish concepts, try these 5 scrumptious stuffing recipes to encourage your subsequent vacation meal!