Paleo Holiday stuffing, without the bread!
Have you noticed my no-bread theme? Whether it’s no-bread sandwiches or no-bread pizza crusts, I’m determined to find simple and tasty ways to renovate old favorites with a grain-free twist.
I desperately wanted a stuffing recipe I could prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, so I went to the drawing board to come up with a solution for bread-free stuffing. I settled on a few special ingredients to provide a dense, satisfying texture with a deeply savory flavor.
I’ve been working on this recipe since last year, which meant I’ve been eating this stuffing since September for recipe testing. And I certainly don’t plan on relegating this dish to the holidays in the future… it is one of my favorite vegetable recipes ever.
I used chanterelle mushrooms in the recipe pictures here, but feel free to substitute your favorite mushrooms.
This recipe is inspired by Mickey’s recipe for an autoimmune-paleo-friendly cranberry stuffing (I adore Mickey’, her site, and her book, The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook. I did a book review here). She uses chopped mushroom, riced cauliflower, some chopped sweet potato and some chopped apple. I’ve tweaked this version to be lower carb, using squash instead of the sweet potato and upping the veggies.
A couple of years ago I share my Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Menu, and I will be inspired by that same menu this year – with the addition of this stuffing, of course.
- 4 Tbs. ghee, bacon grease, coconut oil, or olive oil
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 2 - 3 cups diced butternut squash
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 8 oz chopped mushrooms of choice (I've used chanterelles, baby bellas, or shitakes)
- 1 granny smith apple, diced
- ½ tsp. chopped fresh thyme
- ½ tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
- Sea salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 400 and line two baking sheets/glass baking dishes with unbleached parchment paper. Put the cauliflower on one sheet, and the squash on the other. Toss the cauliflower and squash each with 1 Tbs. of melted cooking fat.
- Roast until the cauliflower is tender and has golden brown edges, about 30 minutes. Stir halfway through. Roast the squash until golden and tender, stirring halfway through, about 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the last 2 Tbs. cooking fat in a heavy skillet. Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, over medium head until soft and almost caramelized.
- Add the garlic, cook for a minute. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally, add the diced apple and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened but still firm. If necessary, add another tablespoon of fat.
- Finely chop the herbs. In a large serving dish, toss together all the components: the squash, cauliflower, and mushrooms. Season with the herbs, salt and pepper.
Hi Lauren,
I am a big believer in getting plenty of carbs on paleo (perfect health diet style) and I know you had some articles on why carbs are important in the past. However, I noticed on your Instagram and some of your recent of posts have been emphasizing low carb. Could you explain this? Thanks so much
Check Mercola.com for Dr. Mercola’s well researched comprehensive articles on this and many other health related topics. R L Gatton
This looks really good! I was wondering how much net carbs and sugar this would have? I am a diabetic and watch these very closely. I was also wondering if you could do the roasting of the vegetables the day ahead then bake in oven to warm up?
Hello Judy,
I also watch my carbs for health reasons. I entered this recipe into my recipe/nutrition software and here is the resulting nutrition information. (I used butter instead of ghee, 2.5 cups butternut squash, and crimini mushrooms, plus 2 pinches sea salt, to find the nutrition info for those items.)
Calories: 160; Calories from fat: 70; Cholesterol: 20 mg; Sodium: 130 mg; Potassium: 825 mg; Total Carbohydrates: 22.18 g; Fiber: 5.23 g; Sugar: 8.14 g; Protein: 4.06 g.
(Net carbs = 16.95)
I hope that helps. 🙂
Previous email wrong
I was wondering how you got diagnosed for your illness?
Lauren, thank you so much for sharing this! Due to many food sensitivities and health issues (thyroid especially), I’ve been on a strict Paleo diet for the past couple months. While I still don’t have a lot of energy (my integrative medicine doctor says this will take time as my body heals), I’m excited to finally have answers and be on the path to wellness.
Anyways, I’ve always loved baking and cooking special recipes over the holidays and this will be the first season where I will not be able to cook or eat hardly any of my old traditions. So I am just THRILLED to see a Paleo option for stuffing! I will definitely be making this on Thanksgiving!!
Hello, I was wondering if Lauren or any savvy readers here have a suggestion for a substitution on the cauliflower. Against all odds, it is a highly reactive veggie for me, and such a shame as it is very versatile and a paleo favorite.
Hi Jacquelyn,
if you haven’t found a sub. for cauliflower yet; then you may want to try the following. Jicama may work well. It looks sort of like a potato, but is very versatile. It roasts very nicely, too. I’ve not tried it in this recipe, yet. However, i roast it with other veggies @ times, like turnip, carrot, and sweet potatoes. hope that helps !
It sounds wonderful.
Have you actually used this recipe as stuffing? to stuff the turkey?
I’m wondering how much of the roasting and sauteing could be left out, and just mix it and let it all cook together in the turkey?
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m on a strict AIP lifestyle for multiple auto-immune diseases so I know I’ll enjoy this recipe for Thanksgiving. I’m sure it will become a regular part of my weekly meal preparations.
Hands down best Thanksgiving side dish. Made this along with the whipped carrot side dish. Both super delicious! Will be a Thanksgiving staple. Thank you for posting.
Hi! How much would it affect the recipe to leave out the apples? This sounds amazing, but I can’t have apples. Thanks!
It will still be delicious! If you can have an alternative fruit, bosc pears would be a tasty substitute.