Stuffing, dressing, whatever you call it, this dish is a must for your Thanksgiving feast!
The secret to making this dish gluten free is easy: Udi’s Bread!
Truthfully, you can use whatever GF bread is your favorite! When I first went gluten free, I tried every available brand of bread out there. Udi’s was always my favorite, but the texture was still a little… off. I would always recommend that people toast the bread just a bit before eating it. (It helped me at least!)
But this newest wave of Udi’s? Oh man! It is so good; no toasting necessary! That stuff you can truly enjoy like you would Regular Wonder Bread! Except, it’s gluten free! They have actually achieved greatness here. Why make things harder on yourself? Go buy yourself a loaf (even walmart carries the big loaf for about $7) and we can get started!
For my gluten free Stuffing, you will need:
Udi's bread (about 2/3 of a bag) kitchen scissors Parsley Sage Rosemary Thyme Garlic salt (check labels to make sure spices are all Gluten Free) Gluten Free Chicken Broth (1/3 cup to simmer, 1/3 cup to mix and bake)
onion (you'll only use half) celery (about 4 stalks of one bunch)
Some people actually Stuff the “stuffing” inside of their turkeys. I am not one of those people. I am a “bake it on the side” type of girl. (the less I have to handle that raw naked bird, the better!) *shudders*
Your first stuffing step is going to be to chop up that bread. I actually get out the kitchen scissors and cut it into strips and then cubes.
Spread your “bread cubes” evenly across a cookie sheet.
Sprinkle the parsley (about a tablespoon, shown above), the sage (a teaspoon), the thyme (a teaspoon and a half) and the rosemary (just a pinch or two). Then sprinkle some garlic salt (about a teaspoon)
Try not to sing that Simon and Garfunkel song all day… “Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme!” (easy ingredients to remember at least, but that song can Really get stuck in your head!)
Mix them well. I use my hands for this part:
Once the bread “cubes” are well mixed, smooth them out into one layer across the cookie sheet.
Turn the oven on Broil. If you have a hi and low broiler, choose the hi setting.
Broil your bread for 2 minutes. There should be a golden brown crust starting to form. (Don’t walk away from that oven!)
You might even wanna mix the cubes around a bit, spread them out again and broil for another minute (but just one ok? Your really don’t wanna scorch that bread).
Pull the bread out and allow it to cool down completely.
If you are prepping the stuffing the night before, you can place the cubes in ziplock bags. Be sure to let them cool completely, or they will get soggy! If you have other dishes to work on, this is a great pausing point.
When you’re ready to move your stuffing to the next level, cut your onion and celery into very small pieces. For this particular batch of stuffing shown (to fill a 9×9 inch baking dish), I used 1/2 a large onion and about 3 stalks of my celery bunch.
Add 2/3 cup of chicken broth to a pan. Throw in your onion and celery and let it cook there. Cook it on medium for 5-7 min and then turn it down to simmer or low.
This is a “back-burner” task. I can set the onion and celery on the back burner and let it simmer for 30 min! That’s a necessity on Thanksgiving with so many dishes cooking!
When you are ready to actually bake the stuffing, set your oven to 350 F.
Combine the onion and celery with the bread in a baking dish. Once you add the wet ingredients to the toasted bread cubes, time is of the essence! Once everything is combined, you need to bake it right away so the bread doesn’t break down and become soggy or gummy (the way GF bread tends to)
Stir it in and combine it evenly.
Next, add about 2/3 cup of chicken broth (yes, more chicken broth!) to the bread/onion/celery mixture. Mix it in well.
Bake your stuffing for 25 minutes at 350! annnnnndddd your done!
Recap:
Cut bread slices into cubes.
Sprinkle with parsley, sage, rosemary & thyme, plus a little garlic too!
Broil for 2 min.
Cut 1/2 an onion and a couple celery stalks into tiny bits.
Cook those on the stove in chicken broth: 10min on medium
Then simmer for 30.
When ready to bake, combine all ingredients well.
Add more chicken broth, mix, and bake for 25 min at 350 F!
We have a house with one oven. I believe most people do as well! For that reason, on Thanksgiving, I am a big fan of sharing oven space! 3 out of 4 of these side dishes have the same cooking instructions: 25 min at 350!
Epilogue: Alternative ingredient *Occasionally, I want Sausage in my stuffing! If you like it that way as well, I recommend Jimmy Dean Mild sausage. Brown the sausage in the frying pan. When you are ready to add the onion and celery, add the sausage at the same time.*
I cannot wait to hear how your own GF stuffing turns out! Just smelling those spices makes me think ….”THANKSGIVING!!!” Leave me a comment to tell me if you liked this recipe!
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