Vegan Stuffing Basics 101. Tips. Ingredients. Ideas.

Today is one of my favorite days in my Vegan Thanksgiving Series: Stuffing Day! Stuffing (and sweet potatoes) were always my favorite childhood Thanksgiving dishes. So it was important to me to perfect a few stuffing recipes that were 100% vegan. Later today I'll post a trio of my three favorite stuffing recipes. But before we can get creative with recipes (aka the fun part), we have to start with the basics of 'veganizing' stuffing. Let me answer the basic questions of: What vegan ingredients do I substitute my traditional ingredients with? Where do I 'stuff' my vegan stuffing? And what are some tips for making stuffing healthier (and tastier) than I remember? Here's my Vegan Stuffing 101...

Vegan Stuffing Substitutions

There are a few essential ingredients you should include when making stuffing. Here they are and the vegan substitution for each. All subs can be made on a 1:1 ratio (in general).

Key: Traditional Ingredient - Vegan Substitute

1. unsalted butter - vegan buttery spread (example: Earth Balance brand)
2. onions - no sub required
3. celery - no sub required
4. fresh and/or dried herbs (thyme and sage) leaves - no sub required
5. chicken broth - vegetable broth (low-fat)
6. white cubed bread, day-old/stale - cubed bread (white/wheat/spelt), day-old/stale
*note: you may need to use a bit less bread in your recipe if you are using a whole wheat/high fiber bread source (compared to white sandwich bread). Higher fiber bread will not bake-down as much as white will.
7. salt/pepper - no sub required (less salt may be required so salt to taste)
8. flat leaf parsley - no sub required

Non-Essential Ingredients - Common Flavor Add-ins
9. bacon - tempeh bacon
10. sausage - seitan or vegan sausage by Field Roast brand, (Apple Sage flavor)
11. nuts - no sub required
12. milk/cream - soy/hemp/oat milk and soy creame....

- Source : http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com