I Veganised The Best Stuffing of My Life

and somehow it turned out even better

Sometimes, love for a certain food just happens. You can’t trace it to anything, one day you’re just obsessed with a very specific pasta sauce recipe/peanut butter brand/potato salad. But my love for this particular stuffing recipe is the opposite. I know exactly where it came from and I have developed a very close relationship with it over the last twenty years! And now, I pass it onto you - but veganised!

To set the scene, stuffing here in the UK isn’t exactly a thrilling experience. We eat it at Christmas and with a Sunday Roast. People usually use box mix sage and onion stuffing and (when they’re not literally putting it inside a bird’s body) form it into balls which are baked until crispy (read mushy).

So with this context/backdrop, imagine 18yr old me walking into my FIRST THANKSGIVING EVER at my new American friend Lauren’s University dorm. If you need any more help imagining, I had large, curly, asymmetrical hair (RIP my hairline) and was probably wearing a Vote For Pedro tshirt. Oh and I’m vegetarian at this point, so the side dishes were my safe space.

Then, like Indiana Jones opening the Ark of the Covenant, a golden glow illuminates the dorm kitchen as Lauren pulls out the CORNBREAD, APRICOT AND PECAN STUFFING from the oven. The smell is bonkers. Herby, nutty and sweet with gloriously toasted corn. Instantly I’m emotional. But then the flavour. Doused with gravy. Immediately I know this is getting filed under “core memory”.

And I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to repeat this exact moment. Lauren’s recipe was based on a Williams Sonoma recipe, so I got the vegetarian version down rather quickly. But the vegan version - that’s something else! My recipe is early and ad-free at the bottom of this newsletter, just in time for the holidays (see what I did there?). Oh and head’s up; you’ll need a batch of my Vegan Cornbread, ideally a few days old, so it has time to go a little stale.

If you want to upgrade to paid, you can do that here, and you’ll also get a printable PDF version of the recipe - because who wants to be scrolling through a recipe on thanksgiving?? But either way I want to say thanks for being here. You’re part of an elite group of “sprouts” (this is what I’m calling you substack readers now) and it’s amazing! It means so much that people actually read this, so thank you thank you! 🥰

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Some More Holiday Sides

Before we dive into the stuffing recipe, let’s have a peek at some other vegan sides you might want to serve alongside it.

Vegan Yorkshire Puddings

I worked on this one for absolutely ages. If you’re from another country and you’re confused as to why I’m serving pudding with a roast dinner, dont worry. These guys are more like puffed up crispy savoury pancakes, designed for catching gravy! They’re traditionally SUPER eggy, so this was a tricky veganisation process, but we did it folks!

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Another American Holiday classic to serve alongside your cornbread stuffing! With this one I chose to go down the “from-scratch” route. No canned mushroom soup! No Canned green beans! No pre-made crispy onions! Just a fresh, creamy casserole topped with delicious home-fried onions. I’ve been making this one weekly since the weather got cold, because it’s a bit magical.

Crispy Gochujang Potato Salad

OK, I’ve gone non-traditional with this one, just to keep things fresh! Instead of your normal roast potatoes, why not serve this crispy warm crushed potato salad, topped with a smoky, sweet, spicy gochujang dressing. It’ll blow Nanna’s socks off, in a good way!

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The Recipe: Vegan Apricot, Pecan and Cornbread Stuffing

Ingredients

• 600 g vegan cornbread, cut into small cubes (about 5 cups) – ideally a few days old

• 120 g pecan halves (1 cup)

• 185 g dried apricots, roughly diced (1 cup)

• 80 ml water (1/3 cup)

• 110 g vegan butter (1 cup)

• 2 onions, finely chopped

• 2 stalks celery, finely cubed

• 3 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped

• 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

• 600 ml vegetable stock or vegan chicken stock, boiling hot (2 1/2 cups)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C (325°F).

2. Spread the pecan halves on a baking sheet and toast them in the oven for 10 minutes. Once toasted, set them aside to cool.

3. In a small saucepan, simmer the diced apricots in 80 ml of water over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Set the apricots aside.

4. In a large skillet, melt the vegan butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, celery, and half of the fresh sage. Cook for about 5–7 minutes, until the onions and celery are soft and fragrant.

5. In a large mixing bowl, gently stir together the toasted pecans, softened apricots, cooked onion mixture, cubed vegan cornbread, remaining fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, parsley), black pepper, and salt.

6. Pour the mixture into a large baking dish, spreading it out evenly.

   Carefully pour the boiling hot vegetable stock evenly over the cornbread mixture, making sure everything is moistened.

7. Place the baking dish in the oven and bake at 165°C for 35 minutes, until the top is golden and slightly crisp.

8. Remove the stuffing from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before serving.

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