Easy Thanksgiving Side Dishes : Delicious Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe

I can’t believe it’s time to be thinking about Thanksgiving menus already!  Do you host at your house, or do you usually go somewhere else?  This year we’ll be heading to my aunt’s house in San Diego and I can’t wait!  She has the most amazing property…her own farmhouse and gorgeous oak trees lining the property.  We’ll be doing a Thanksgiving dinner under the trees and it’s going to be amazing!! I’m excited to share one of my favorite, easy Thanksgiving side dishes and this year I added a little twist…it’s a delicious gluten free stuffing recipe.  Even better you can make it in the slow cooker to save time and precious oven space.  I don’t know about you guys, but in our house, oven space is a hot commodity the whole week of Thanksgiving.  I definitely have to plan out the timing of when I’ll be baking what so that I can make sure to have oven space when I need it. Any time I can find an alternative method of cooking something I’ll take it!

Gluten free stuffing recipe

While we don’t have any gluten sensitivities in my immediate family, one of our cute cousins does and so when I saw this great gluten-free stuffing mix at Trader Joes, I decided to use the gluten free croutons out of it and doctor it up to be just like my homemade stuffing.  I’m all about using the pre-made, dry bread croutons when it comes to making homemade stuffing.  It saves time and that is a win for me!  This stuffing recipe can be made either gluten free, or not…really what matters is just making a few tweaks and watching for a few ingredients that might have gluten in them when you are shopping. 

Gluten Free Stuffing Ingredients

  • 1 cup of butter
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  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • large granny smith apples diced
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (Ocean Spray dried cranberries are gluten free according to their packaging)
  • 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
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Melt your butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add your onion, celery, apples, cranberries, mushrooms, poultry seasoning, and your fresh herbs. Cook over medium-low until tender, for about 10-12 minutes. You don’t want to brown anything, just get these fresh ingredients softened. 

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Remove your fresh, whole sage, thyme and rosemary from the pan and using a large bowl, combine your dry breadcrumbs and your onion, apple etc. mixture.

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Stir gently together and then fold in your chicken broth, adding just enough to soften the bread cubes.  You don’t want them to be soggy, just moist. Add salt and pepper to taste.

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Place mixture in a greased slow cooker and cook on high for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to low, and cook for 4 to 6 hours.

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If you don’t want to cook this stuffing recipe in a slow cooker, simply add your stuffing mixture to a greased baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. For a crispy top, remove the foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking. 

Easy thanksgiving side dishes

I am a firm believer that more is more when it comes to good stuff in stuffing, but this stuffing recipe is basically fool proof.  If you don’t like the idea of apples and cranberries in your stuffing, simply omit them from the recipe.  

Here’s a printable recipe card for you:

Easy Thanksgiving Side Dishes : Delicious Gluten Free Stuffing Recipe

Easy thanksgiving side dishes

This delicious Thanksgiving side dish can be made Gluten free or with regular bread. If you need to save oven space, you can make it in the slow cooker too!

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of butter
  • 2 small yellow onions diced (I like to use the pre-diced onions you can find in the produce section to save time and tears
  • 4 stalks celery washed and diced (I like to cut this very thin and small)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (watch to make sure this is gluten free, some seasonings can contain gluten)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 2 large granny smith apples diced
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries (Ocean Spray dried cranberries are gluten free according to their packaging)
  • 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
  • salt to taste
  • 12 cups bread cubes (substitute gluten free bread crumbs here to make this recipe gluten free..I found mine at Trader Joe's)
  • 3-4 cups chicken broth (be sure to buy a gluten free variety like Swanson's Chicken Broth if you are going for gluten free stuffing)

Instructions

    1. Melt your butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add your onion, celery, apples, cranberries, mushrooms, poultry seasoning, and your fresh herbs. Cook over medium-low until tender, for about 10-12 minutes. 

2. Remove your fresh, whole sage, thyme and rosemary from the pan and using a large bowl, combine your dry breadcrumbs and your onion, apple etc. mixture.

3. Stir gently together and then fold in your chicken broth, adding just enough to soften the bread cubes.  You don't want them to be soggy, just moist. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Place mixture in a greased slow cooker and cook on high for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to low, and cook for 4 to 6 hours.

Notes

If you don't want to cook this stuffing recipe in a slow cooker, simply add your stuffing mixture to a greased baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. For a crispy top, remove the foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking. 

I am a firm believer that more is more when it comes to good stuff in stuffing, but this stuffing recipe is basically fool proof.  If you don't like the idea of apples and cranberries in your stuffing, simply omit them from the recipe.

Looking for more great recipes ideas?  You can find so many good ones here in our Recipe Gallery.

Here are a few favorites:

Best Cranberry Sauce Ever

The Best Homemade Orange Rolls 

Spinach and Berry Salad

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There are 6 other delicious easy Thanksgiving side dishes and crock pot recipes in today’s blog hop, so be sure to check out all of these fabulous recipes:

Check out these other  Fall Slow Cooker Recipes

Easy Paleo Chili // White Chicken Chili // Tex-Mex Cheesy Potato Soup

Cajun Chicken Fettuccini // Crock Pot Candied Pecans // Classic Chili // Gluten Free Stuffing 

Have a great day!
Tammy

Tammy

Creative Director at Pink Peppermint Design
Tammy Mitchell is the founder and creative director of lifestyle blog pinkpeppermintdesign.com. Along with being a homeschooling mom of two kiddos, she is also an in-demand prop and event stylist, photographer, interior and graphic designer. On Pink Peppermint Design, she shares creative DIY projects, easy entertaining and gift ideas, inspiring interiors and events. She lives in Southern California, with her husband and two children.

Gluten free stuffing recipe

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