It’s just about time for Thanksgiving dinner preparations and I know this can be a challenging time of year for those on a gluten free diet. Thankfully there are tons of gluten free options you can substitute for your old gluten-filled holiday favorites. Thanksgiving dinner, in my opinion, requires stuffing so I tested out a few different gluten free stuffing mixes to find the best one.
Olivia’s Gluten Free Stuffing
I added celery, Earth Balance buttery spread, and turkey bone broth to this stuffing mix and seasoned with salt, pepper, and onion powder. This was pretty easy to assemble and bake, it took me about a hour overall. I covered the baking dish with foil for the first 30 minutes then let it bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. I thought this needed more salt and was a bit mushier than I like(I like soft stuffing but not mushy) but this would work in a pinch. One thing I appreciated about this stuffing was that it was easy to make dairy free, I just substituted Earth Balance in place of butter for sautéing the celery. I found this mix at my local grocery store, Standard Market. The box makes 9 servings and filled my standard glass pie plate nicely.
Aldi’s LiveGFree Stuffing
This stuffing is my favorite so far. I used the chicken flavor but Aldi also sells a turkey flavor. All you need to add is butter and water – I used Earth Balance instead of butter. This mix was not dairy free but milk is just listed as an ingredient in the bread so if you can tolerate a small amount of dairy you should be ok. I am pretty sensitive to dairy and I was fine eating a large portion of this stuffing. You could add other things like celery and onion if you prefer, but I think this stuffing tastes fine on its own. I did add a little celery salt, salt, and pepper.
Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakehouse 10 Minute Stuffing
I followed the directions for this stuffing and didn’t add anything except the broth(I used Pacific Bone Broth) and Earth Balance “butter”. This was very quick to make but I think it would have been better with some celery and I ended up adding celery salt, salt and pepper. This was also dairy free and soy free which is a bonus. I didn’t like it as much as the Aldi’s stuffing but if you can’t have dairy this is a good option, I would suggest adding some veggies, seasoning, and possibly baking in a casserole dish after making it on the stovetop.
Pacific Gluten Free Stuffing
The instructions for this stuffing were kind of confusing – first I sautéed celery and mushrooms(instead of onions) in Earth Balance “butter” while heating up broth(I used Pacific Chicken Bone Broth) in a separate pan. Then I added the stuffing mix to the veggies and combined that with the broth. Then the broth mixture was covered with a lid and left to simmer for 10-15 minutes. After 15 minutes the liquid still wasn’t totally incorporated but I continued following the directions to let it stand for 10 more minutes. It was still pretty liquid-y so I turned up the heat and stirred to get rid of the excess liquid. But then some of the croutons were still dry in the middle – I think this is because the crouton pieces were really big, much bigger than the other mixes I tried. I liked the flavor but this mix was more difficult to work with. However it is also dairy free and soy free so if you are willing to put in some extra effort to make it work this might be a good option for you.
Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Stuffing – I found this stuffing mix at Trader Joe’s, but it does contain dairy in the mix itself. I haven’t tried it yet but I will update this post once I do.
If you can’t find a gluten free stuffing mix in stores near you it’s also pretty easy to make your own – I recommend using Udi’s gluten free bread as it works well for soaking up the broth and spices.
Check out my recipe for GF DF Green Bean Casserole here
