This vegan cornbread dressing makes the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving dinner table. My homemade vegan cornbread is mixed with buttery vegetables, sage, thyme, parsley, and vegan sausage (which is optional).
Crispy on the outside, tender in the middle. This dressing can be made ahead of time, then you just pop it in the oven for the most amazing cornbread dressing ever! This savory and sweet dressing is so good, nobody will know it’s vegan.
Now I don't know about you, but when it comes to the holidays, my favorite part of the meal is the stuffing! I swear I could have just a plate of this vegan cornbread stuffing with some vegan gravy, and cranberry sauce and ooee would I be happy! But of course, this isn't really a main, this dressing makes the most epic side dish for your holiday feast. Just don't be surprised when it's the first thing to go!
In this recipe, I include an option to add tofu crumbles, sautéd mushrooms, or vegan sausage for a nice little meaty bite. But this is totally optional. The dressing will still be delicious without these add-ins. In these photos, I added my vegan chorizo crumbles, which I had ready to go in my freezer. So delish!
How to Make Vegan Cornbread Dressing:
Start by preparing my easy vegan cornbread recipe. This recipe is super easy to whip up and makes for the best cornbread dressing recipe ever!! No seriously. Next, you are going to need to dry out the cornbread and French bread. So cut the bread into cubes about 1-inch in size. Drying out the bread cubes is a must so that you avoid a mushy dressing!
Air-drying method (hands-off): Dry the cornbread and French bread cubes by spreading them out on a large baking tray and cover with a clean dishtowel. Let them sit at room temperature for 2 - 3 days to dry out.
Optional step: if you want to add some vegan meatiness to your cornbread dressing there are many delicious options! Your cornbread dressing will be delicious without any of these additions so do not feel the need to add them, but some cornbread dressing recipes include sausage so I wanted to make sure us vegans could have a sausage-y option as well.
You can optionally add one of the following: vegan chorizo crumbles, vegan tofu bacon bits, mushroom bacon, or just sautéd mushrooms, cooked and chopped setian sausage, or cooked and chopped store-bought vegan sausage of choice such as Beyond Meat, Yves, or Gardein.
Prepare the add-in following the directions and set aside. You can make these add-ins ahead of time and store them in the fridge in an air-tight container, so all you need to do is mix it into the cornbread dressing when ready.
When your bread cubes are dried and you have your optional add-ins ready, we are now ready to assemble the vegan cornbread dressing. Preheat your oven to 350F (180C).
Melt the vegan butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the celery, onion, and garlic and gently cook until the veggies soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme, and salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
Add the dried bread cubes to a 13" x 9" casserole dish (4.5 quarts). Such as this one. Add in all of the celery, herb, and butter mixture and mix. If you are using any of the optional add-ins, stir those in now. Spoon over the vegetable broth and mix well.
Bake uncovered until crispy on the top and tender in the center, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.
I hope you love this cornbread dressing! It's:
- Crispy
- Tender
- Buttery
- Sweet
- Savory
- Full of fresh herbs
- The perfect Thanksgiving side dish
What to serve with Vegan Cornbread Dressing:
This dressing is the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving or Christmas feast! Serve this with a main dish such as my stuffed butternut squash, my puff pastry lentil loaf, or my brown sugar and mustard glazed tofu, or a store-bought vegan roast. Some other side dishes that would pair well with this stuffing are my garlic green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and creamed corn. And of course, you can forget the gravy!!
For all of my favourite vegan Thanksgiving recipes be sure to check out The Ultimate Vegan Thanksgiving Guide.
More delicious vegan Thanksgiving sides:
Vegan Green Bean Casserole
Easy Vegan Stove-Top Stuffing
Cheesy Vegan Scalloped Potatoes
Grilled Butternut Squash with Chimichurri
Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallow
If you try this recipe let us know by leaving a comment, rating it, and don't forget to tag @itdoesnttastelikechicken on Instagram! I want to see your vegan Thanksgiving plate. 🙂
Bon appetegan!
Sam Turnbull.
Vegan Cornbread Dressing
My Notes:
Ingredients
For the Vegan Cornbred Dressing:
- 1 batch prepared Vegan Cornbread cut into 1-inch cubes, dried (see step 1)
- 4 - 5 slices french loaf (or similar bread) cut into 1-inch cubes (4 cups), dried (see step 1)
- ½ cup vegan butter
- 4 ribs celery chopped
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 ½ cups vegetable broth
Optional Add-ins (choose one if you like):
- 1 ½ cups vegan chorizo crumbles
- 1 ½ cups vegan tofu bacon bits
- 1 batch mushroom bacon (or sautéd mushrooms)
- 1 - 2 links setian sausages cooked and chopped
- 1 - 2 links store-bought vegan sausage of choice cooked and chopped
Instructions
To dry the bread cubes:
- Dry the cornbread and French bread cubes by spreading them out on a large baking tray and cover with a clean dishtowel. Let them sit at room temperature for 2 - 3 days to dry out.Alternatively, if you are in a rush, you can dry the bread out in the oven. Preheat your oven to 250F (130C). Spread the cubes over a large baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes, stirring as needed, until the bread is dried.
For the optional add-ins:
- If you are using one of the optional vegan meaty add-ins, prepare these and set it aside. These can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an air-tight container for a few days until needed.
To make the cornbread dressing:
- Preheat your oven to 350F (180C).
- Melt the vegan butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the celery, onion, and garlic and gently cook until the veggies soften and begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme, and salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.
- Add the dried bread cubes to a 13" x 9" casserole dish (4.5 quarts). Add in all of the celery, herb, and butter mixture and mix. If you are using any of the optional add-ins, stir those in now. Spoon over the vegetable broth and mix well.
- Bake uncovered until crispy on the top and tender in the center, about 30 minutes. Serve hot.
Cyn says
this is my grandmother's "famous" cornbread stuffing! Wonderful to see it veganised, been in the family for over a hundred years (she was born in 1891, and was cooking the stuffing from when she was a girl), thanks so much for the vegan option
Sam Turnbull says
So happy you enjoy it!
Karyn Seglin says
I’d like to make this recipe but using only bread. I have to make it gluten free and gluten free corn bread isn’t firm like traditional vegan cornbread so it would be difficult to cut it into cubes. How much cubed bread will I need?? Thanks! The recipe looks really good.
Sam Turnbull says
Hi Karyn, the cornbread would make roughly 8 cups. But I would recommend you use my recipe for stove top stuffing instead as it is intended to be a bread only recipe. Hope that helps!