Everyone gets excited about stuffing. What’s not to like? It’s delicious, festive comfort food. Unless you have a gluten intolerance like my son’s girlfriend, in which case stuffing just got a lot less appealing. I thought about trying stuffing with gluten-free bread substitutes, but then I figured what the heck, I may as well go all the way and create a completely low-carb stuffing recipe.
So here it is, folks. A bread free, gluten free stuffing recipe that generates just as much stuffing-related excitement as the “real thing.”
My friends and family have given me advice on what to say to entice you into trying this recipe (not that anyone should need much enticing – it is STUFFING after all). “Tell them that it really tastes like stuffing even though it has no bread in it,” or “You should say that the herbs really make this just as delicious as normal stuffing,” and my personal favorite: “Just tell them to try it and they’ll be happy.”
So I’m telling you. The herbs, vegetables, and chicken-apple sausage make this stuffing authentic-tasting and totally satisfying, not just a wanna-be vegetable dish. And you’ve got the added benefit that, unlike traditional stuffing, this recipe is off the chart good for you.
Pair this with my gluten-free gravy (coming soon to a computer near you!)
- 4 tablespoons butter or chicken or bacon fat for paleo
- 2 large onions, chopped, about 4 cups
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 1/2 lbs kale leaves (any type), stems removed and discarded
- 3 fully cooked chicken apple sausage, finely chopped in the food processor (I use Aidell's, available at Costco among other places )
- 3/4 cup (packed, not fluffy) chopped fresh sage leaves, buy about 3 ounces sage with stems
- 1/2 cup (packed) chopped Italian parsley leaves, buy about 1/4 pound parsley with stems
- 3/4- 1 pound cooked, peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped (available in bags or jars)
- salt and pepper to taste
- Heat butter or other cooking fat in a large pan on medium high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring from time to time, until softened, about 7-8 minutes. Add celery and continue cooking until celery is also softened and onions are lightly brown, about 15-20 minutes more.
- While onions and celery are cooking, steam kale until tender. When cool enough to handle, use your hands and squeeze out the moisture from the kale in batches. Finely chop kale. I pulse it in the food processor. Put chopped kale into a large bowl.
- Add chopped sausage to the pan with the cooked onions and celery and continue cooking, stirring from time to time until sausage is a little browned, about 8 minutes.
- Transfer mixture to the bowl with the kale. Add sage, parsley, and chestnuts. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Grease a baking dish large enough to hold the stuffing, with butter or oil. Spread stuffing in dish. May be prepared up to this point 24 hours ahead of time, covered and refrigerated.
- Prior to serving, preheat oven to 350°. Cover dish tightly with foil and bake until heated through - 30 minutes if stuffing is at room temperature, 45 minutes if just removed from the fridge and cold. Serve immediately.
Hi Lisa! Clay and I are going to try the stuffing recipe – but we’re going to attempt to add cubes of the sourdough bread from the farmer’s market (so, no longer low carb but oh well). 🙂 When would you add the cubes of sourdough? Or would you just add a top layer and toast at the very end? Thank you! Megan
Hi Megan,
The kale in the recipe is meant to take the place of the bread. So, if using bread, you can eliminate the kale.
You toast the sourdough cubes in the oven on a baking sheet at 325°. Turn them from time to time and cook until lightly brown. Then add them to the stuffing recipe above. Put the stuffing in a greased baking pan. You can make it up to this point ahead of time and keep in the fridge.
30-45 minutes before serving (Or when the turkey is cooked and resting on the counter), add turkey or chicken broth to the stuffing mixture in the baking pan and stir in. Add enough broth to moisten the mixture without making it soupy. The idea is, that when heated, the bread will be soft and yummy but not soggy. In place of broth, I like to use the juice from the turkey.
Heat the stuffing at 350-375° for 30 to 45 minutes.
Happy Thanksgiving!