This Vegan Cornbread Stuffing is a must-have side dish for Thanksgiving! Flavorful and moist with a crispy top. Gluten free and oil free options.
Are you looking for the perfect vegan stuffing recipe for your holiday meal? This vegan cornbread stuffing is absolutely delicious and is sure to impress!
BONUS: It’s seriously easy to make and can be prepped a day ahead.
For years I didn’t even attempt a vegan stuffing for Thanksgiving, and now I have no idea why! This is so simple, and will surely be on my holiday table for many years to come.
How to prepare the cornbread
The first step is to prepare the vegan cornbread, so go ahead and make a batch. Once it’s done, let it cool for at least an hour or better yet, overnight. I like to make this the day before the big day.
Once cooled, slice the cornbread into 1-2 inch cubes. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees, and place the cubes on a baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, so they can become a bit dry and toasty. This will help the stuffing not be so mushy.
Making the cornbread stuffing
The rest of the recipe is simple. In a skillet, melt the vegan butter over medium-high heat, then add the chopped onion and celery (1). Saute for 2-3 minutes, then add half of the parsley as well as the sage, thyme, salt and vegetable broth (2). Bring to a boil and stir, then remove from heat.
Spread the cornbread cubes in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish that has been lightly greased (3).
Now pour the vegetable/broth mixture over the cornbread, and stir a little bit(4). Bake at 375 degrees until toasty on top, about 30-35 minutes. Serve immediately with a little more parsley sprinkled on top.
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Special Tips & Instructions
- Make ahead option: You can make the cornbread a day or even 2 days in advance. Prepare the vegetable/broth mixture a day in advance as well, then store in the refrigerator. When ready to make, toast the cornbread cubes and continue with baking the stuffing, adding a few extra minutes if needed. I don’t recommend fully putting together the stuffing in advance, or it is likely to get mushy.
- Gluten Free: For gluten free, use a gluten free all purpose flour mix in the cornbread recipe.
- Oil Free: For oil free, replace the oil with applesauce in the cornbread, and use water instead of vegan butter to saute the vegetables in.
Looking for more vegan Thanksgiving side dishes?
- Vegan Green Bean Casserole
- Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole
- Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
- Vegan Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Vegan Gravy
- Festive Kale Salad
Vegan Cornbread Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 Recipe The Best Vegan Cornbread
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 small sweet onion, chopped
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
Instructions
Prepare the Cornbread
- Make the vegan cornbread, preferably a day in advance. Let it cool for at least an hour, or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Slice the cornbread into 1-2 inch cubes, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, so they can dry out and become a bit toasty. Remove from the oven and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
Make the Stuffing
- Increase the oven temperature to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.
- Heat the vegan butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and celery for 2-3 minutes, then add in 1/4 cup of the parsley, sage (1/2 tsp), thyme (1/2 tsp), salt (1/2 tsp) and the vegetable broth (2 1/2 cups). Bring to a boil and stir. Once boiling, remove from heat and set aside.
- Add the cornbread cubes to the casserole dish, evenly. Pour the broth/vegetable mixture over the cornbread cubes, and stir slightly. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until toasted on top. Sprinkle the rest of the parsley on top and serve immediately.
Notes
- Gluten free: Substitute a gluten free flour blend for the regular flour in the cornbread recipe to make the stuffing gluten free.
- Oil free: Substitute applesauce for the oil in the cornbread recipe, and use water instead of vegan butter to saute the onion/celery in.
- Make ahead option: Make the cornbread a day or two in advance. You can also prepare the vegetable/broth mixture a day ahead, and store it in a container in the refrigerator until ready to make the stuffing. When ready to serve, toast the cornbread in the oven, pour the vegetable/broth mixture over the cubes in a casserole dish, and bake until warm and toasty.
Have you ever made this where you just crumble the cornbread into the mixture instead of using the cubes? This would be more like traditional southern dressing if it works. Do you think that would be okay or would it change it too much? Thank you.
Yeah, I think that would work well.
Soooooo good! I think this is the 4th year I’m using this recipe! I use your cornbread recipe as well and it always comes out incredible
I made the cornbread 2 days before I made this recipe and then followed the recipe exactly and it was absolutely perfect! Will definitely make it again. I love all of your recipes, thank you so much!
Hi Kristen. I’m glad you are loving my recipes! How great the stuffing turned out perfect! I dearly love cornbread stuffing! Thanks for your wonderful feedback!
Hi Nora!
If I wanted to add a can of creamed corn (which I just found out is vegan) to this recipe, would I have to adjust the recipe at all?
Thanks!
I haven’t tried it but I think it would be fine. Thanks!
I hope this post is still active and that you can answer a question.
I just want to make sure this recipe is calling for 3 batches/pans of the vegan cornbread recipe you provide. Got a vegan daughter coming for Thanksgiving and this sounds perfect! Ty
Hi Cindy. You only need one batch of the cornbread recipe, which is made in one 8×8 pan (about 12 servings). If you want to make more stuffing, you can double or triple both of the recipes by clicking 2x or 3x on the recipe card. I hope this helps!
The BEST stuffing I’ve ever tasted! This was the show stopper at Christmas dinner. The flavor is fantastic and the texture, oh my! The perfect blend of a bit soft and a bit crisp. I doubled the spices and parsley and 1.5ed the onion & celery to ensure LOTS of flavor. Oh, and subbed coconut oil for vegan butter. IT TURNED OUT AWESOME! I won’t wait till the next holiday to make again. Thank you! 🙂
Your cornbread sounds delicious! Thank you for taking time to share your fantastic review and comments! I’m glad you loved the stuffing! Wishing you happy cooking!
You did it again, Nora. I made this for Thanksgiving and the feedback… “Sydney, you put your foot in this stuffing!” Nuff said <>.
Love! Love! Love it.❤
My mom used to put so much sage in her stuffing/dressing that it would be GREEN. I don’t go quite that far with the sage myself but I do use more than just half a teaspoon :). Most of my stuffing recipes get half a tablespoon of sage. If you like sage, this turns out pretty good with the greater amount!
Hi Nora, do you think I could add vegan sausage to this recipe? Do you think I would need to add more broth?
I think you could! Sounds delicious! As for the broth, it would depend on how moist the vegan sausage you are using is, and how moist you like your stuffing!
Hi Nora, I have made your cornbread recipe and it is fabulous. I’d like to make this stuffing for a potluck, but your instructions say to serve immediately. What would happen if it wasn’t served for an hour or so after baking?
It will be fine for a little bit after baking, but the sooner the better so the top doesn’t lose it’s crispiness. It will still be good though.
When making this cornbread for stuffing, should the sugar be reduced, and by how much?
I do not reduce it, but you can if you want to. You could probably reduce it by half.
I just made this cornbread stuffing (using your cornbread recipe). I’ll never buy cornbread stuffing from the grocery store again! It was easy to make and oh so delicious.
That’s great to hear!
enjoyed make ahead stuffing. wonderful idea. was looking for a no egg recipe. however this gave me enough info basics to proceed and adjust to my preference. thank you.
I made this for thanksgiving this year and it was a hit! Thank you Nora
You’re welcome!
I made this on Thanksgiving and it will be my go to stuffing recipe from now on. It is so simple but so delicious!
That’s so great to hear!
I normally love Nora Cooks recipes, but this one just didn’t work for me. I made a vegan cornbread stuffing a previous year that turned out much better.
I think my biggest issue was using Country Crock Plant Butter which is saltier than Earth Balance. The overall recipe came out way way way too salty. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the stuffing texture. I think stuffing recipes that call for some amount of time covered with foil and some amount of time uncovered work better, because you get a more moist stuffing combined with browning. My stuffing was dry but not very brown. I’ll be adding some wine and olive oil and putting back in the oven to see if I can improve things.
I’ve actually never used Country Crock so I can’t really comment on that, but if it is saltier than earth balance, I could see how that could make the whole thing too salty. Mine never comes out too dry at all, so I’m not sure what happened there, but sure you could put foil over the top for half the time if you want.
Thank you for sharing this recipe first year eating vegan I feel really good, definitely trying this!
Hi. Can I replace the flour with home made quinoa/almond flour?
For the cornbread? I’m not sure how that will work, almond flour won’t work well though. A gluten free flour mix works though.
Hi Nora,
Please know that I made a 75% ratio of quinoa flour to almond flour and this came out amazing. I just need your help to know how to best store the cornbread until I can make the stuffing on Thursday. Please abs THANK YOU
Hi Nora!! This is probably a silly question but is this stuffing sweet at all? Does the sweetness of the cornbread make for a balanced dish, or do you not really notice it? Would love to make this for Thanksgiving but trying to see what the flavor profile is, it looks delicious!
It’s a little sweet because my cornbread is sweet, but you could reduce the sugar in the cornbread by half or even further, if you don’t want the sweet flavor. Thanks!
Hi, would I be able to omit the onion for something else? My family is not a fan and I’d like them to try it.
Thanks!
You could just leave it out if you don’t like onions.
I made this for Friendsgiving and it was a hit!! I love the idea of having cornbread in stuffing, it tasted amazing!
I’m looking at using this recipe as the template for my stuffing. I’ll definitely add roasted mushrooms and a little garlic. Thanks!
Thank you!
I’m working on making a “grab & go” Thanksgiving for a hospital break room this year. So, I tested this recipe today as mini muffins. I found that it worked best if some of the cornbread (oh my gosh your cornbread is delicious), was finely mashed up to heavily coat the buttered (silicone) mini muffin molds. Then I add few small bread cubes, then filling to the top, then piled on more small cornbread cubes. I baked them for 35 minutes (placing a piece of foil on top about half way through so top didn’t burn). I let them sit for another 30 minutes before gently popping out of the mold. After 4 hours at room temp., they’re still holding their shape. Annnd, (most importantly) they taste amazing! Thank you so much, again!!
You’re welcome! Sounds like a fun idea!
Could I use a white bread for this recipe to make it more traditional?
You probably could, but I haven’t tried it. Thanks!
SO GOOD AND EASY! I made this for my family thanksgiving and everyone loved it. My family isn’t receptive to “vegan food” at all, but I had many ask for the recipe. Thanks so much 🙂
You’re welcome! I love comments like these. 🙂
Hey, Nora. I checked out your Vegan Cornbread recipe, and I’m wondering if you have tried it without the 2/3 cup sugar and using part or all whole-wheat flour in place of the all-purpose flour? I’m trying to stay away from sugar and to eat more whole grains, so that’s why I ask. Thanks!
-gloria
Hi there! I haven’t tried it with no sugar, but it would probably be ok just obviously not sweet at all. It’s not a problem to sub whole wheat flour! Thanks!
I’ve tried with half the sugar and it’s lovely, especially if you toast each piece in the oven again before eating… it’s crisps up all sides beautifully. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
You’re welcome!
I always make it with no sugar and it’s delicious! I’m from Oklahoma and my family never used sugar In our cornbread.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, thank you!