Traditional Potato and Bread Stuffing (with a Sweet Potato Option)

Traditional potato and bread stuffing is a holiday staple to serve as a side dish or to use as a filling for seasonal vegetables. Serve at the Thanksgiving table or as an everyday side dish, especially if you have odds and ends of bread to use up. Make sure to see the sweet potato variation.

Carb-rich and so comforting, this stuffing takes the dish back to its roots. However, we won’t be stuffing it into anything that was once living, of course. So in essence, this is what’s less commonly referred to as “dressing.”

Tips for a great potato and bread stuffing

• Various ways to make it and bake it: Bake it in a casserole, or use it to stuff pre-baked butternut, honeynut, acorn, or other winter squash. You can also use it to stuff bell peppers; or even stuff into the original potato shells (leave a sturdy shell of about 1/4 inch), if using good-sized potatoes. 
• What kind of bread to use? I recommend using a sturdy whole-grain bread or sourdough. It’s a great way to use up bread that’s less than perfectly fresh.
• Any kind of potato, or potato/sweet potato combo: Most any kind of potato works — golden, red-skinned, russet, etc.. See the variation calling for swapping in  a sweet potato or two.

Are you looking for more plant-based Thanksgiving recipes? You’ll find this site’s recipes in 4 Epic Roundups = 75+ Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes.

Adapted from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook by Nava Atlas. Photos by Hannah Kaminsky, BittersweetBlog.com. 

Explore more …

• Vegan Walnut-Apple Stuffing (with a pecan variation)
• Potato, Apple, and Sauerkraut Stuffing
• Wild Rice and Butternut Squash Stuffing

Continue to Content

Yield: 6 to 8

Traditional Potato and Bread Stuffing

Print

One of the most basic of this type of recipe, traditional potato and bread stuffing is a holiday staple to serve as a side dish or to use as a filling for seasonal vegetables.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 medium potatoes (golden, red-skinned, and russet all work)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion (red or yellow), finely chopped
• 3 large or 4 medium celery stalks, diced
• 5 medium or 4 larger slices whole-grain or sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 1 cup unsweetened plant-based milk
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt-free seasoning (like Mrs. Dash Table Blend)
• 1 to 3 teaspoons fresh seasonal herb (like sliced sage leaves, or whole rosemary or thyme leaves), optional
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Bake or microwave the potatoes until fairly soft. This can be done ahead of time. 
2. Preheat the oven to 375º F.
3. Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion and sauté until translucent. Add the celery and continue to sauté until both are golden.
4. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel, and cut into approximately 1-inch chunks. In a large mixing bowl, mash half of them coarsely with a potato masher or large fork. Add the rest of the potatoes to the bowl.
5. Add the onion and celery mixture, bread cubes, plant-based milk, parsley, seasoning, optional fresh herb. Stir together well. Season with salt and pepper and stir again. 
6. Transfer to a lightly oiled 1-quart casserole dish. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden and beginning to turn crusty.
7. To serve, scoop portions out of the casserole dish.

Notes

Variations 

• Swap in 1 or 2 large sweet potatoes (also pre-baked or microwaved) for 2 to 3 of the potatoes. 
• Use this to stuff pre-baked butternut, acorn, or other winter squash; bell peppers; or back into the potato shells (leave a sturdy shell of about 1/4 inch) if using good-sized potatoes. Bake as recommended.

If you like this plant-based stuffing, here are lots more …

16+ Vegan Stuffings for Thanksgiving & Beyond

See lots more plant-based holiday roundups.