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Apple Chestnut Stuffing Loaf

A vegan healthy twist on the traditional thanksgiving stuffing recipe with fresh herbs, chestnut pieces and apple.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Servings: 8
Author: Nikole Goncalves

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 loaf of bread I used Ezekiel bread
  • 2 cups vegan chicken broth
  • 1 cup of chestnuts you can use walnuts too
  • 1 apple chopped gala or Macintosh works well
  • 1 shallot finely sliced
  • 1- cup leek finely sliced
  • 2 stalks celery finely sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tbsp. vegan butter
  • 1 tsp. rosemary finely chopped
  • 1/2 tbsp. thyme finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp. sage finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp. celery salt
  • 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Instructions

Directions

  • Night before: Start by cutting your loaf of bread into cubes and lay out on cookie trays to dry out overnight.
  • To prepare your chestnuts, start by creating slits at the top of your chestnuts kind of like a clam. Boil them for 30 min, drain, rinse and peel off shell. Roughly chop and set aside.
  • Pre-heat oven to 350 C.
  • In a large pan on medium heat, melt the butter and add in the garlic, shallots, celery and leek and cook for 3 min.
  • Next, add in the fresh herbs, apple chunks, chopped chestnuts and 1 cup of broth. Stir and cook on low-med heat for 5-6 min and set aside.
  • In an extra large bowl, add in your dry bread cubes and dry spices and toss until evenly coated.
  • Add in your wet stuffing mixture and combine with a spatula. Once evenly mixed you can start to use your hands and knead the bread mixture well while adding in the remaining broth. Depending on they type of bread you may need more or less broth. Using your hands allows you to feel out the mixture so you don’t end up with soggy stuffing. You want it just wet enough so the bread isn’t dry and easily clumps together when pressed.
  • Spoon stuffing into a greased loaf pan while pressing firmly with a spatula. Create a mound on top using your hands and double wrap your loaf with foil creating a cocoon so the moisture and heat stays in.
  • Bake in the oven for 35 min. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 min until top is golden brown.
  • Remove stuffing loaf from oven and transfer to a cooling rack for 15-20 min before serving.

Notes

You can slice and scoop your stuffing right out of the loaf pan and serve it with a side of mushroom gravy and roasted cauliflower.