Normally, I emphasize the foods that are naturally gluten-free. Why always long for bread when gluten-free bread will never taste as good as an artisan loaf made at the best bakery? There are three thousand meals out there that need never involve gluten.
However, on Thanksgiving day, I do like stuffing. Growing up, those morsels were always my favorite bites of the meal. Roasted turkey? Oh, of course. And, I always stole long strips of crispy skin off the golden-brown turkey as it was resting in the pan. Cranberries? I love their tangy tartness, all the goodness of the autumn earth. Pumpkin pie? Sure. My brother loves to cut the pie in quarters and take one-quarter of it for himself. Mashed potatoes? Oh yes. That was about my favorite part, almost, particularly when I would mound them up, add another dab of butter on the top, let it melt down to make a little volcano of molten butter, then run my fork down the sides and let it spill it out. Ever since I saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind, when I was eleven, I have always made my mashed potatoes look like Devil’s Tower, then looked up and said to my brother, “This means something.” We still laugh.
But stuffing? Oh, the crusty bread, softened by the stock and covered in pepper. Some families love walnuts and sausage, cranberries and apricots, pistachios and red pepper. Whatever. I don’t mean that flippantly — whatever you usually make, this recipe will probably adapt to it. But in our house — and now, the Chef is part of our house, and will be forever — this is how we will be making stuffing this year.
Gluten-free. Gorgeous. Oh, the stuffing.
THE GLUTEN-FREE STUFFING THE CHEF AND I WILL BE MAKING FOR THANKSGIVING
2 loaves gluten-free bread, diced into one-inch cubes, toasted and cooled
2 large ribs celery, medium diced
1 large yellow onion, medium diced
2 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Sautee the onion and celery in olive oil on medium-low heat until they are translucent. You will be able to smell the onions cooking at this point. (Take a deep whiff. That’s a beautiful smell.) Add the garlic, as well as the rosemary, sage, and thyme. Stir these in and cook until you can smell the herbs, about one to two minutes. Remove from heat.
Bring the chicken stock to boil on high heat. Place the egg yolk in a medium-sized bowl and carefully ladle two to three ounces of the chicken stock to the egg yolk, slowly, while whisking the mixture. Add the rest of the chicken stock to the egg mixture at this point. (Ladling a small portion of the stock into the egg first, and blending it, will prevent you from having scrambled eggs.)
Add the cooled celery, onion, and herbs mixture into the stock and egg mixture. Toss the bread cubes into this mixture and stir it all around with your hands (or a spoon), to coat the bread. Add the salt and pepper and toss the bread again. Place all of this into a greased casserole dish (big enough to hold three quarts) and cover it with aluminum foil. Bake for twenty minutes at 425°, then remove the foil and bake for another ten minutes. Take a toothpick and stick it into the stuffing. If it comes out clean, the stuffing is done. If not, bake until the toothpick comes out clean.
Serves six to eight people, depending on their appetite for stuffing.
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{ 77 comments… read them below or add one }
I come from dressing people, not stuffing people. Cornbread dressing, which in my family we make with 2/3 cornbread and 1/3 regular bread. (This year I’ll be using the NYT no-knead bread that’s been making the rounds of the gluten-eating food blogosphere.) Cornbread dressing and sweet potatoes (we gave up the marshmallows years ago in favor of orange zest and nutmeg) are my two favorite dishes for Thanksgiving. Yum.
you are beautiful! I was in the old scurvy dog whole foods today and they had a surplus of their $5 (!!) gf sandwich bread and I bought a couple of loaves, thinking, “oh oh oh I could make stuffing! but how?” and then here you are!
what a treat! happy thanksgiving, pancake!
Elodie
Sounds yummy! Any suggestions on bread? Although I have found a few acceptable brands, I have yet to find a truely good bread, because, as you said, it will never taste like wheat-based loaves.
My family likes Gluten Free Pantry brand’s Favorite Sandwich Bread. You will have to bake it yourself, but it not too much trouble at all. It has helped us transition to the gluten free lifestyle. Sometimes you just really want a sandwich.
Hands on down, I love Rudi’s G-F bread; I like it much better than Udi’s. I keep the house stocked with their whole-grain and their Cinnamon-Raisin at all times.
Thank you for the recipe! I hope it all goes well for you! You are lucky to have such an understanding family. My son is not only a celiac but a diabetic. They have made great strides in the diabetes treatments since he was diagnosed and in all actuality since he was diagnosed with celiacs they have come a long way! Keep up the great work you do letting others know!
LSMWA@yahoo.com
That sounds so yummy. This is my first gf Thanksgiving and I just made some wild rice stuffing that looks great, but can’t possibly be as good as this. Did you make or buy the bread? I have yet to find a bread that I would use even in stuffing.
– Sharon (who is also a scorpio but is not your friend mentioned in the last post. Though I did wear a very similar shirt in 1976…)
Happy Thanksgiving to you and The Chef – I am sure everything will be amazing.
I have a request: at some point, could you address the POMEGRANATE ? I am not even sure that I know how to spell that. It looks wrong to me.
I am fascinated by them in the grocery store, but don’t really know what to do with one. I bought one today, it was just so pretty. It’s also mysterious and intimidating, and I am sure that you could come up with some great ideas on how to enjoy one !!
Thanks for all your great posts. I love checking in on this blog each day.
Kristin in Santa Barbara
Hi,
I live in Kent, WA and was just diagnosed with cd. Your stuffing sounds wonderful and I am going to attempt it for Christmas.
Where can I find gf bread that doesn’t taste and act like sawdust! I have tried all the natural food stores, but when they eliminate the gluten, they also eliminate fat and eggs etc.
I need help finding good bread.
thanks,
I made GF stuffing last year that was so bad even the dog wouldn’t eat it! I hope you can save us with your wonderful recipe (no pressure.)
As to bread, we have had the best luck with tapioca bread, toasted. Wonderbread it ain’t, but it is better than the others.
I’m celiac too… thanks for posting recipes. The thanksgiving stuffing sounds good, maybe we’ll try that this year.
Thank you! This is baking as I type. We are using Pamela’s brand bread mix with some added Italian seasoning. It smells WONDERFUL. Thank you for helping us in our first Gluten Free Thanksgiving.
I love Pamela’s mixes as well – they have the best g-f pancake mix, I think.
Hi Shauna,
I must say you are a life saver. I came accross your page a few months ago and have been addicted to reading every post you put up. I was diagnosed with CD in May of this year and it really has been a hard transition for me. I was diagnosed with CD while I’m still young, I’m 24, and that’s been one of the hardest things. My husband and I love going to restaurants with friends and family. The first time we went to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, I cried while going over the menu. I felt like I was all alone in this Gluten free world. No one around me had even heard of Celiac Disease nor had they even heard of Gluten. After that restaurant experience I decided to do some research. I’ve been on just about every “Gluten Free” website I could find and even joined the Celiac Disease Foundation. I came across your page and have been hooked! I’m so thankful I found you! I bought your book and absolutely LOVE reading it. You saved me this Thanskgiving! My mom and I made your Gluten Free Stuffing and let me tell you, it turned out amazing!! I don’t know what I would have done without you and your blogs!!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! You are a huge inspiration!!
I made this stuffing on Thanksgiving for my 1st GF Thanksgiving. It was literally the best stuffing I have ever had. It makes a lot of stuffing for 5 people! We had plenty for 2 days aferwards. I had to adapt the recipe some though. I used 2 loaves of Gluten Free Pantry’s White Sandwich bread. First time using/tasting it and it is yummy! However, the 1 cup of chicken stock wasn’t near enough to soak up all that much bread. I ended up using 6 cans of chicken stock (roasted garlic flavor)in order to soak it but it wasn’t too mushy!!! Other than that all the ingredient amounts were correct. Personally, I’d add a little more celery next time since I like it so much. Maybe even carrots. I am sold on this recipe! Thanks so much!
I made my first gluten-free Thanksgiving as my sister was newly diagnosed with Celiac. This was a great recipe but passing along – I did add some fennel and it was delish. Even my picky eating husband enjoyed it which speaks volumes!
I’ve been gluten free for just over 18 months and lamented the lack of bread for too long. Then I found Gluten Free Pantry. It’s not perfect but it is a reasonable substitute. To dress it up a little I use oil perfumed with garlic cloves or toast it with butter flavored cooking spray and different seasonings. I can have pizza, sandwiches, and yes even holiday stuffing again! Good luck!
Thank you for making eating easier and better for celiacs. My dad, now 86, was diagnosed while in his early 60′s. Dad has not been so good at watching out for himself (can’t read the fine print on labels) so I do what I can. Three years ago, I decided just to make the entire traditional Thanksgiving dinner gluten free so he wouldn’t have to ask “Can I eat this?” I found the white bread from Gluten Free Creations in Phoenix to be a good base. Cut into cubes, it makes wonderful sage stuffing. I make it exactly as I did white wheat bread stuffing and guests don’t even realize it’s different. It’s basically bread cubes, celery and onions cooked in butter, lots of sage and fresh ground black pepper. Moistened a bit with water, it is then stuffed into the turkey and that’s that! By the time it’s covered in cornstarch thickened gravy, I can’t tell the difference either. I imagine that by cooking it in the turkey, it gets lots of flavor from that. I’m trying the Whole Foods GF pie crusts this year which I’m sure will be great. Also thinking of grinding up GF Ginger Snaps to make a crumb/butter crust for one of the pumpkin pies. We’ll be in Tucson as well; enjoy the sunshine!
Nancy in Arizona
To be honest I have made this stuffing numerous times and have used many different GF breads. Really you cannot tell the difference. The texture and consistency when you are mixing the broth with the bread is kind of … weird, but it all turns out tasting wonderful and fluffy, just like the non GF stuffing, in fact my husband could not tell the difference. This year my whole family will experience an ALL GF thanksgiving, and I believe they will not even know the difference. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Jenn Whaley – Kentland Indiana
I want to thank you so much for posting the gf stuffing recipe. My husband was recently diagnosed and it has been a challenge for him to feel satisfied after eating. I’m sure this will help him truly enjoy his favorite meal of the year.
Any suggestions for descent gluten free bread to use for this recipe? It sounds great!
This is my 5th GF Thanksgiving. Not only can't I eat Gluten, but I have a Preservative allergy as well…so no turkey! But I have to say that I can do without the turkey, it's the stuffing I can't live without. It just makes the holiday for me! I just googled GF Stuffing and got you and your recipe…and I can't wait to get the ingredients. It sounds absolutely delicious! Thanks so much! Thanksgiving is back! Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Am fascinated with trying the gluten free dressing and as you might guess, my family will be apprehensive. Do you recommend a particular type of bread and if so how large a loaf?
Ok, so that picture of the loaf of bread at the beginning of this recipe posting…..what is it and how do I make it??? Looking for an all purpose recipe for a good bread, for sandwiches, stuffing, etc. PLEASE HELP!
For Anonymous in Kent, Washington- Please go to Haley's Corner bakery in Kent. You have a great GF bakery in your own backyard. Hurry!
I'm very excited to try this stuffing recipe, it sounds wonderful! I just want to tell everyone who is looking for a great bread to use with it that my 12 year old son (who has cd) found a bread while visiting Colarado over the summer that he loves and he will not eat any other gf bread. I have it shipped to us in PA (I buy 8 loaves at a time and freeze them). The company is Udi's and their website is http://www.udisfood.com/ I have been trying to get our local Wegmans grocery store to carry it and I've heard through the grapevine that they may have it soon, but until then, it's worth every penny to give my son good bread that looks, feels and tastes like "real" bread. They have white and whole grain as well as muffins and some other gf baked goods, check them out, you'll be glad you did. And no, I don't work for them nor am I related to anyone who does, I'm just a mom who is thrilled to be able to give her celiac son good bread.
Shauna, what kind of GF bread to you recommend? Thanks.
Is it ok to post a link to a recipe?
This is the bread I just made. And it rocks (if I do say so myself):
http://iamhealed.net/2009/11/21/truly-awesome-gluten-free-bread/
It will be stuffin' soon.
My girlfriend is coming over for Thanksgiving and can't have gluten. She gave me Barley bread from one of our awesome bakeries in Boulder to use in the stuffing. I can't wait to make this for her. It even sounds tasty to my hubby! Thanks!
Even though I have a favorite GF stuffing recipe, I was curious what the Chef came up with, and was suprised to see it is rather similar to mine! That makes me feel so gourmet. Anyway, I just wanted to let other readers know that we like to use the GF sour dough bread from Whole Foods for the stuffing. EVERYONE loves it.
Thank you for the stuffing recipe – it looks wonderful. I have two questions about it 1) will the Whole Foods sandwich bread work well with it? and 2) Can I put it together a day or two ahead, and bake it later? I'm traveling for Thanksgiving, and I'd like to have the preparation done in advance.
for those of you asking about a good GF bread- my son loves the Gluten Free pantry everyday sandwich bread- it really tastes like regular bread- i make it in a bread machine with a GF setting- it is easy to make and truly tastes like any homemade bread. I think it will work well in this stuffing and i am going to try it!
wow, this stuffing was amzing, i swithced around alot of things but I went off of ur general idea, your doing somthing very good here by showing people fun yummy recipies!
THANK YOU!
This is the third year I've made this now (Thank you Shauna) The tapioca blend breads work better than the pure rice flour ones, in m opinion. And I add an extra egg.
Well I made the stuffing and it was delicious! I use heaping tablespoons of the herbs and instead of making my own bread cubes, bought GF bread cubes from Whole foods in the freezer section. There were several people walking around the store on Tues evening with several containers of this. I used 2 8 oz packages for this recipe and it worked well. Next time I would break up the cube more that I did this time. Maybe put them in a ziplock and hammer them.
Yummm!
PS The GF cubes were expensive $5.99 per 8 oz pack but a real time saver. Most GF breads are in that price range anyway.
I made this stuffing and it tasted good but was dry even after pouring more broth over it. Maybe it would be helpful if you put how many cups of bread in the recipe instead of how many loaves? Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for the recipe for stuffing/dressing! I made it using half GF cornbread and one loaf of purchased GF bread. It was FABULOUS! I made it for everyone and didn't mention that it was GF, nobody asked. I agree with some who mentioned it was a bit dry, I added more broth than you call for but that's easy enough. And, I made mine in my crockpot thanks to Stephanie O'Dea and it worked great. This is the way I'll do it from now on! Thank you, thank you for all you do for the GF community!
Thanks for posting all of these great recipies! I am having all of my in-laws for Christmas this year and some of them can't have gluton while others can't have dairy so I am learning all kinds of new tricks.
I have 2 questions about this stuffing…1) Can I put it in the turkey? 2) What's the egg for?
Thanks so much!
Heather
Yes you can put it in the turkey. The recipe does not call for enough liquid. Add until you feel the stuffing is moist enough. The egg would help hold everything together, Eggs are not considered dairy, but could be another allergy. Check with your inlaws to be sure.
Also I went heavy on the seasonings. Heaping instead of level.
I can't have egg yolk. Do you have any substitution ideas?
Thanks so much for the great recipes!
So far the only bread I have been able to find acceptable is Udi bread. It comes frozen. I have made french toast with it for the entire family and they had no idea it was gluten free. I'm going to try this out before Thanksgiving!
Thanks
Thank you for this recipe. I am going to use it for the first time this Thanksgiving 2010. My husband and I have found that Udi's breads and bakery goods are the best GF products so far. They even have a website and coupons. So, I will be using Udi's bread for the stuffing.
Barbara Portland, Oregon
I've been gluten-free, milk-free, and soy-free for 5 years due to allergies. Udi's gluten free sandwich bread is the BEST GF bread I've ever found. (It's soft, you can actually eat it without toasting it, and it has a normal texture!) I'm going to use it to make this stuffing for Thanksgiving and I think it'll be great.
I agree, Udi's has great bread. I used a pre-made cornbread mix and that came out great as well.
I just made some Gluten Free Pantry favorite sandwich in my machine on the GF setting. It is the tallest, softest tastiest GF bread I have made, and I've tried quite a few.
Made some croutons with it for a Green Bean Casserole. Yum.
Udi's Gluten Free bread is fabulous. They also have a recipe for stuffing on their website, under recipes: dinner. I haven't tried the recipe yet, but bought the bread today to try it out for Thanksgiving.
I'm a gluten-free girl too, but I also happen to be a lactose intolerant lady. It would be a sweet treat if you could please keep us gf & lf folk in mind when you're in that recipe-creating mood. Thanks!
I'm going to use a GF Irish soda bread recipe I found on allrecipes.com for the bread. I can't wait to make this stuffing! Thank you for posting it!
My husband and I are having thanksgiving with another couple and the woman has celiac. I don't want to leave her out so I decided to make gf stuffing and I appreciate all the comments with bread suggestions! I've never had gf bread myself and would have no idea how to choose! Thanks so much & Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I haven't eaten stuffing in years and every year I smell it and wish for it. You've made my wish come true. I used Udi's bread for mine. One loaf of the white and one loaf of the grain. I thought it was absolutely delicious!
Thanks for the great recipe!!! We used Udi's bread and it came out amazing! We also made Mrs. Cubbinson's stuffing for the gluten eaters at dinner and almost everyone preferred the gluten free stuff!
Thank you for this recipe! It was really easy and turned out really delicious! My mom, who never eats stuffing, kept asking for more and our three Siberian huskies really loved it too – when I accidentally dropped a few bread cubes on the floor.
I like udis bread, but for stuffing try the udi bagels! Even better than the bread. Stays firm nev soggy… Lovely…
Hi there. I just saw your info in the Arizona Daily Star,dated Jan.12th,2011.I have “Hand Dermatitis”. I have Dr. Joel Wallach’s book called,”Lets Play Doctor”. In this book it states that what I have is caused from food allergies to wheat(gluten).I have been under the care of a super doctor here in Tucson. After reading alot of info on the net,I found what does not have Gluten in it and what does. I decided to stop eating anything and everything with gluten in it! Within about a month or two I lost 16lbs. of body weight. By stopping the eating of wheat products and not drinking Milk, the weight came off fast. I’m 56 years old and had been trying and wanting to lost this weight. I will be getting your book. Gluten’s got to go. I also feel great.
I recommend Dr. Schar’s gluten-free white sandwich bread and also I would like to try Udi’s gluten-free breads, I heard they’re great. I have a breadmaker that I really need to put to use to make my own.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
This sounds great! Right up to the egg bit. Is it critical? This is my first GF Thanksgiving… but because i’m so sick i’m also soy, egg, nut, yeast and corn free i’m hosting to make sure i can eat safely. It’s a little stressful but kind of an adventure too (at least, that’s the way i’m trying to view it lol). Because of the corn & yeast thing a lot of premade breads won’t work for me. That’s fine. Mostly, with this recipe, I’m concerned about the egg. Is it absolutely necessary?
I’m new to the gluten free diet plan and am hosting thanksgiving this year. I’m wondering if this stuffing/dressing can be put inside the organic turkey, and if so what would I need to change with regards to cooking time?
can i make this a day ahead? Leave in fridge before cooking?
I had such high hopes for this recipe. My husband is a gluten intolerant and we have been experimenting with all different foods to see what we can adapt. Stuffing is not one of them. Because of the different texture that you get with GF breads, it just does not work for me in a stuffing. It does not hold together well and the texture thing is just not palatable. Wish it could have been one of our new favorites.
Laura, since the stuffing relies so entirely on the bread, you might just want to switch the kind of bread you use! We have several on the site from the last two years that always work well for us, and we’re picky about stuffing.
What is the best gluten, soy and dairy free bread to use for the stuffing? There are two of us that needs the gluten, soy and diary free and the other 12 can eat anything. So I don’t want to ruin the Thanksgiving dinner for the rest of those who wait all year to have the stuffing.
Thanks.
My husband discovered your gluten-free stuffing today. We are very excited. The only drawback is that I am a vegetarian. No one else is. Could I substitute for the chicken stock? Or, I could make two dishes. Thank you. We are going gluten-free for our daughter.
Imagine makes a “NO CHICkEN” stock in quart containers that is so flavorful, it works perfectly as a chicken stock substitute…. I’m going to try this recipe with that, and with UDI’s bread for this Thanksgiving…
Oh, this does sound wonderful and not at all complicated. You have saved us this Thanksgiving!!!!
I have just started eatting gluten-free recently. My family has no other allergies and loves meat…I have a couple of questions. 1. how about adding sausage for more flavor? 2. Alot of people are recommending adding more broth…should I add more egg yolks, as the binder? If I increase the broth to say, 3cups…should I add 3 egg yolks?
This website was a Godsend to my family.
Last year I was able to use these recipes for Thanksgiving and when my daughter(who has celiac disease) asked me what she could eat..I was able to tell her she could it everything…She was so happy… and I finally felt like I succeeded.
As we cope and grow we have enjoyed so many wonderful recipes on this site.
My favorite was the graham crackers, which we used to make s’mores.
For my 12 year old daughter we have learned to keep her life on track.
There are no words…Thank you is a poor substitute for our appreciation.
I use Udi’s frozen GF bread for sandwiches and everything else – I bet it would make great stuffing because it’s not nearly as dense as many other GF breads.
Hey GF Girl — I’m trying to cut this recipe in half. Can you give me an estimate of how many cups of “cubes” your recipes uses so I can adjust accordingly? Thanks!
Beautiful recipe! I discovered today even GF mixes need a little more love in the moisture department, added more broth to the recipe than required. I will be using your recipe for Christmas! Thank you for sharing
Making this stuffing again this year! It is so good! Thank you!!
I haven’t finished cooking the stuffing yet but I gotta say that halfway it sure tasted wonderful! I made it with a big loaf of your bread recipe. And like someone pointed out, if you like some mushy bits you are going to want to add some more chicken stock, and I also did add a little more celery just ‘cos I like it.
Thank you Shauna for this recipe. And thank you world for giving us what for me is got to be one of the most amazing inventions: stuffing!!!
This is a great web site! Thank you for taking the time to make it and keep it updated. My boyfriend and I recently decided to try a wheat free lifestyle and didn’t remember that Thanksgiving was coming up. We thought about quitting and starting again after T-day, but we’d already been on the wheat-free diet for a month, but lucky for us we found your site a week before Thanksgiving!
We were mostly interested in making a wheat free stuffing. The turkey and other sides were no sweat, but the stuffing…mmm…Unfortunately, something went wrong when we tried to make our own.
I’m hoping you or someone reading this thread can offer some ideas of where we possible went wrong.
Having never made wheat free bread before, I decided to make it easy on myself and bought a box of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free bread mix. It made one 9″ loaf. I followed your recipe exactly and didn’t bother with reducing the ingredients to half.
Everything seemed fine until I added the yolk/broth mixture and noticed the bread was too dry. I decided to add another cup of broth with egg yolk, but it didn’t make much difference.
After baking, it was the same dry consistency and not as flavorful as I had hoped. Especially since I doubled the broth and herbs.
Did I choose the wrong bread mix? Are there other bread mixes you can recommend? I’m not ready to make my own from scratch yet.
Thanks for your web site and for you help!
I tried this stuffing recipe and holy crow it was the worst recipe ever. I use Udi’s sandwich bread and costs 5.99 per loaf….after taking it out of the oven, not only was it too dry it cost me a lot of money to make and it got thrown away. It was not edible. I even added a tiny can of mushrooms and I was so disappointed. It took a long time to make. There wasn’t enough egg in the receipe either.
Kathy, I’m very surprised to hear this, as everyone has reported great success with the recipe. Let’s talk about what happened so we can figure it out.
I was diagnosed almost 2 years ago with a wheat allergy and the one thing I always wished I could have on Thanksgiving was stuffing. I found your recipe and this is the best stuffing I’ve ever had! Thank you!
Did you put the dressing inside the turkey or chicken?
Regards
Pattsy
I may have missed it, but no one has mentioned putting the GF dressing inside the turkey. Is this a problem for GF people? I don’t use gluten products on the turkey when I roast it.
Regards
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