Challah stuffing with mushrooms, pecans, and dried fruit is full of the classic savory aromas of the holidays, especially for Thanksgiving. With a simple exchange of stock, this can be a vegetarian stuffing too!
You might also enjoy my sage sausage stuffing.
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Why you'll love this recipe
In our family tradition, the classic stuffing includes sage-scented sausage and cornbread cubes, often mixed with challah. It's beloved but over the years, we've had vegetarians join our Thanksgiving table. I've adapted my sage sausage stuffing to be a vegetarian stuffing but last year I developed this recipe for aish.com and realized this challah stuffing recipe could be the perfect choice to satisfy everyone.
Top reasons you'll love this recipe include:
- Challah is a surprisingly excellent choice as a stuffing cube base. Once seasoned and baked, it holds its own quite nicely, staying crispy and yet really nice to chew.
- Mushrooms provide a "meaty" taste but work for the vegetarians in the crowd quite nicely. They also accept flavors beautifully to match the theme of your turkey preparation.
- One of my favorite parts of my other stuffing recipe are the pecans, dried fruit and sautéed apples. So I brought all of that over to this recipe.
- If you have a vegan at the table, if you either switch the bread or make an egg-free challah, this recipe will work as well.
Ingredients you'll need
There are lots of choices when preparing this stuffing that will make it super flexible for your shopping list and when you unexpectedly find something out of stock during the holiday rush.
- Challah: Store-bought or homemade will work just fine. There are several recipes on my blog and in my book for homemade challah. This challah roll recipe would work really well - just leave out the filling and braid the dough into one loaf.
- Mushrooms: My first choice that is usually easy to find in any grocery store would be creminis, aka baby bellas. They have a bit more flavor than your standard button mushroom. Absolutely use other types of mushrooms as you prefer.
- Fresh and dried herbs: For the parsley, I would stick with using only fresh Italian parsley. And fresh chives for the mushrooms are nice but not a necessity. And the dried leafy version of thyme and sage are fine to use in this recipe.
- Soy sauce: This might seem unexpected but it adds a level of savory flavor - umami - to the mushrooms that contributes to the rich, meatiness of the mushrooms.
- Turkey stock: Chicken stock or vegetable stock will also work. For a vegetable stock, look for one without tomatoes in the ingredient list. And if you want to make your own turkey stock, use my turkey stock recipe and prepare it up to a few weeks in advance and freeze.
- Pecans: I like my pecans fairly large in the stuffing but chop them to the size that makes you happy!
- Dried cranberries: I love staying on seasonal theme with the cranberries but I often use dried cherries and dried apricots in my other stuffing recipe and we love the added flavors.
- Apple: Go with something tart and crunchy like a Pippin or Granny Smith but a good Fuji or Honey Crisp can work also. Or mix them.
Let's make this recipe step-by-step!
(Printable recipe card is at the end of the post with ingredients measurements and step-by-step instructions. This section includes more and larger pictures and high level explanations of the process.)
Make the stuffing cubes
1. Slice bread into ½-inch cubes. Spread cubes on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Add olive oil and thyme, sage, salt and pepper to cubes on each tray.
2. Mix the cubes all around to distribute the flavors.
3. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes, checking at 10 minutes for doneness and to mix cubes around. Cubes should be browned but not completely dark. They will firm up when you take them out.
Prepare the stuffing
1. In a large sauté pan cook sliced mushrooms, the sage, thyme, chives and soy sauce (if using) and salt and pepper until the mushrooms have reduced in size, become darker, and most of the liquid has dissipated. Set the mushrooms aside to cool.
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2. In the same pan, sauté the onions until translucent but not brown. Set the onions aside to cool.
3. Saute the apples, thyme and sage on high heat to quickly sear the outside of the apples.
4. Optionally add the dried cranberries at the very end of sauteing the apples, to soften them up and add a bit of extra flavor.
5. To a large mixing bowl, add the stuffing cubes, the sauteed elements, the chopped parsley, pecans, last of the sage, last of the thyme, and the rest of the salt and pepper to a large bowl and mix. Add about 1 cup of broth and mix again. Taste for seasoning.
6. Place stuffing in your casserole dish, cover with foil and refrigerate, unless cooking immediately.
7. Bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes. Check once for moistness. Add additional stock if necessary. Take foil off for the last 5 minutes to brown the top if desired (recommended!)
Check out my vegetarian stuffing with mushrooms web story for a quick visual guide on how to prepare this elegant main course!
Expert Tips
- I always make my stuffing the day before Thanksgiving and just place it in the refrigerator covered and ready to be heated before the meal the next day. Highly recommend!
- Since the stock goes in last, it would be easy to split this in half and use turkey stock in part of it and vegetarian stock for the other half.
- There is nothing uncooked in this mixture, so be sure to taste for seasoning and add more herbs, salt, pepper or broth as needed.
Recipe FAQs
If you either make a gluten-free challah or use a different kind of gluten-free bread, then absolutely this can be a gluten-free recipe.
The challah is made with eggs but similar to a gluten-free option, if you either make an egg-free challah or use a different type of bread and use non-meat stock, this can absolutely be a vegan recipe.
Wrap the leftovers in an airtight container, label it so you don't forget what it is or when you placed it in the freezer and freeze for up to 2 - 3 months. Reheat with some broth when you take it out and it should be just fine!
What to serve with this challah stuffing recipe
This stuffing is certainly appropriate at a traditional Thanksgiving feast but can also be a delicious side for any holiday feast or even a Shabbat dinner during the fall and winter seasons.
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Challah Stuffing with Mushrooms
Beth LeeIngredients
- 10 cups challah bread cubes 1 pound loaf
- 1 pound of mushrooms sliced (6 cups before cooking – 2 cups after cooking)
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives optional
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce optional
- 1 large onion chopped (about 2 cups)
- 1 large tart apple or 2 small ones chopped and not peeled (2-3 cups chopped)
- ½ cup dried cranberries (or other dried fruits such as apricots, prunes, or cherries and even double this to 1 cup)
- 1 cup chopped and toasted pecans
- ½ cup Italian parsley chopped
- 1 – 2 cups turkey stock or vegetable stock – store-bought or homemade
- 10 tablespoons olive oil
- 5 teaspoons dried thyme or about double if fresh
- 4 teaspoons dried sage or about double if fresh
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 teaspoons black pepper
Instructions
Make the stuffing cubes
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Slice bread into approximately ½ inch cubes. Spread the cubes on two parchment-lined cookie sheets, not too tightly packed.
- Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over each tray of cubes and sprinkle a ½ teaspoon of thyme, sage, salt and pepper on each tray. Mix the cubes all around to distribute the flavors.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, checking at about 10 minutes for doneness and to mix around the bread cubes. Cubes should be browned but not completely dark. They will firm up when you take them out.
Prepare the stuffing
- Prep a large rectangular roasting pan with a light coating of olive oil.
- In a large sauté pan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and when it begins to shimmer, add your sliced mushrooms. Let them cook for a minute or two and add about a teaspoon of the sage and thyme, the chives and soy sauce (if using) and about ½ teaspoon of the salt and pepper and mix well. Let the mixture continue to cook until the mushrooms have reduced in size, become darker, and most of the liquid has dissipated (a total of 10 – 15 minutes). Set the mushroom aside to cool.
- In the same large pan, sauté the onions in 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium low. Add ½ teaspoon of the salt, ½ teaspoon of the pepper and about 1 teaspoon of the thyme to again layer the flavors. The onions should turn translucent but not brown. They will take about 15 minutes. Set the onions aside to cool.
- Add the other 2 tablespoons of oil for sautéing the apple. Turn the heat up to medium high or high. Add the apples, ½ teaspoon of the thyme, ½ teaspoon of the sage. You want to quickly sear the outside of the apples without turning them to mush, hence the higher heat.
- If you want, add the dried cranberries at the very end of sauteing the apples, just to soften them up and add a bit of extra flavor.
- Add the stuffing cubes, the sauteed elements, the chopped parsley, pecans, last of the sage, last of the thyme, and the rest of the salt and pepper to a large bowl and mix. Add about 1 cup of broth and mix again. Taste for seasoning and add more herbs, broth or salt and pepper if needed. The mixture should be flavorful and moist but not soggy.
- Put the stuffing in your stuffing pan, cover with foil and refrigerate. You can prep the stuffing the day before but bake it after the turkey comes out of the oven.
- Bake at 375°F for about 30 minutes. Check once for moistness. Add additional stock if necessary. Take foil off for the last 5 minutes to brown the top if desired (recommended!)
Notes
- I always make my stuffing the day before Thanksgiving and just place it in the refrigerator covered and ready to be heated before the meal the next day. Highly recommend!
- Since the stock goes in last, it would be easy to split this in half and use turkey stock in part of it and vegetarian stock for the other half.
- There is nothing uncooked in this mixture, so be sure to taste for seasoning and add more herbs, salt, pepper or broth as needed.
Jill L-R says
So, I call it semi-homade cooking -I bought seasoned bread cubes in a box, but added your recipe of mushroom, cranberry, onion, apple and pecan and It turned out amazing, and so much better than the usual mirepoix of carrot, celery and onion. I cook it in a casserole dish. My parents are vegetarian, so I REALLY try to make good sides dishes for them. My mom loved the stuffing and confessed that she ate the leftovers for breakfast, even though they weren't vegetarian. I told her, No, I didn't add meat, it must be the texture of the mushrooms, apples nuts etc. People kept asking me what the red things in the stuffing were. They loved the addition of dried cranberries. It tasted great and the only complaint I got was that I didn't make enough to send enough leftovers home with my elderly relatives. So next year I guess I need to make more!
Beth Lee says
Next year, I'll convince you to make your own bread cubes too :-). Thank you for this review - I am so glad your mom (and you) loved it!