Vegan Sourdough Stuffing with Spinach, Fennel and Vegan Italian Sausage

This a flavorful and savory homemade vegan sourdough stuffing recipe with vegan Italian sausage, spinach, fennel, and sourdough bread cubes. It’s perfect for fall, winter, Thanksgiving, holiday celebrations or any time you want really good vegan stuffing.  

When my family gets together, I always ask, “What dish do you want me to make?” And the reply is generally, “That stuffing.” If they’re in love with it, then there’s something great happening here.

For this particular recipe, I like to use a brand new loaf of crusty sourdough bread, and use a bread knife to cut it into cubes for the stuffing.  The crustier, the better. My bread cubes tend to be on the larger side, but it gives the dish a “rustic” feel.

I also have a squirrel-like tendency to save up all my bread heels in a bag in the freezer. I don’t like to make sandwiches from bread heels, but they do make excellent bread cubes, croutons, and breadcrumbs. When I want to make this vegan sourdough stuffing recipe, I grab that bag of frozen bread heels from the freezer and cut them into cubes.

Bottom line, you can’t lose with fresh bread cubes, whether you buy a new crusty loaf or you squirrel away bread heels. They create a vegan sourdough stuffing that’s moist, flavorful, and absolutely delicious.

Please enjoy! And discover more tasty UVK recipes, like Vegan Wild Rice Stuffing with Cranberries, Apples and Walnuts, Fennel and White Bean Salad, Vegan Green Bean Casserole, or Roasted Fennel and Beets.

Sourdough Stuffing with Spinach, Fennel and Vegan Italian Sausage

6 cups crusty sourdough bread cubes (see note above)

1 cup chopped red onion

1 cup vegan Italian sausage, crumbled (I used Field Roast Italian Sausage)

5 Tbsp vegan butter

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 fennel bulb, chopped

1 sprig of fresh thyme (OR ½ tsp dried thyme)

2 ½ cups broth (fake chicken or vegetable)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley

10 ounce bag of frozen spinach, thawed and water squeezed out

2 Tbsp flax seed meal

½ cup water

Salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Grease an 8″ X 11″ baking pan. Set aside.  

2. Next,sauté the vegan Italian sausage and veggies for the sourdough stuffing. In a large skillet, add red onions, crumbled Italian sausage and 2 Tbsp vegan butter and sauté over medium-low heat for ~5 minutes.  Add fennel bulb and celery, and sauté for 3 more minutes or until they soften.

3. Add broth, thyme, and 3 Tbsp vegan butter.  Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

4. As the broth simmers, mix the sourdough bread cubes, spinach, parsley and flax seed meal in a large mixing bowl.  

5. When the broth is done simmering, remove the thyme sprig (if you used fresh thyme), and stir in the lemon juice.  Pour the broth mixture over the sourdough bread cubes mixture.  Taste the vegan sourdough stuffing, and adjust seasonings (salt? black pepper?).

6. Spoon the vegan sourdough stuffing mixture into the greased 8″ X 11″ pan.  Drizzle a ½ cup water over the top of the mix.  Cover with aluminum foil, and bake at 400 F for 40 minutes.  Remove the foil, and bake for 5-7 minutes more.  Remove from oven, and serve.