Blueberry Bread Stuffing! Traditional homemade vegetarian bread stuffing with sweet blueberries added in! This comes from a Grandma’s vintage cookbook, so you know it’s going to be the best! It’s easy to make and you can even make it ahead of time to freeze!
I’m back with another stuffing recipe! So many of you have loved my Amish Potato Stuffing recipe, so I decided to share with you another favorite, Blueberry Bread Stuffing! It obviously does not need to be Thanksgiving to make this stuffing, but it is the perfect Thanksgiving side dish!
This is the perfect side stuffing to accompany a main meat, like chicken or turkey. It’s also the perfect vegetarian side dish because it doesn’t involve any meat products or broths (it’s made with vegetable broth).
This is a vintage bread stuffing recipe that I have tweaked over the years to fit with our preferred tastes. It originally appeared in an old cookbook that my husband’s Grandmother gave me. The original recipe included a minced meat that even Google couldn’t explain to me, so I decided to change the meat ingredient to pecans.
Pecans in a stuffing recipe are wonderful because they add a delicious crunch! Everytime I serve this bread stuffing recipe, everyone wants to know what the crunch is because they love the small surprise. And just to note, it’s not an overwhelming crunch, it’s subtle as the recipe only calls for 1/2 cup of pecans.
This recipe calls for 6 cups of stale bread. You can use any type of bread you want, including just regular bagged bread, but I love using a cheap baguette that I get at the grocery store. To make it stale, just keep it out on the counter for a few days. If you don’t have enough time to make bread stale, here’s my trick I use (all the time!).
How to Make Stale Bread
Stale bread is the best bread to use for stuffing, but sometimes I don’t plan ahead accordingly. It’s super easy to make stale bread, though! Simply cut up your fresh bread into cubes and place them on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until “stale”.
The bread becomes stale, and hard, because the oven sucks the moisture out of the bread. I love using this trick whenever I need stale bread in a hurry!
How To Make Bread Stuffing
The vegetables in this stuffing are basic, yellow onions, carrots and celery. Are you a fan of celery? I love it! You’ll want to sauté the veggies in olive oil in a large pot for about 10 minutes.
A tasty stuffing calls for all of those yummy savory seasonings and this bread stuffing recipe has all the good stuff! You’ll need parsley, sage, white pepper and thyme. I’ve become such a fan of white pepper over the years due to its taste and appearance! Sometimes black pepper ruins the aesthetic of a dish, so try white pepper if you can. But don’t worry if you don’t have white pepper, you can use regular black pepper.
And now the star of this recipe… drum roll please! Come on, a bigger drum roll than that! Thank you.
BLUEBERRIES!
You might not always associate blueberries with stuffing, but let me tell you, they go together like “chocolate” and “cake” go together. What I’m saying is that it’s a perfect combination!
The blueberries add a slight sweetness to the stuffing, that tastes great with the savory seasonings you’re accustomed to in stuffing.
After all your ingredients are done simmering, then fold in the blueberries gently, careful not to squash them.
Add all your ingredients into an oven safe casserole dish. You’ll want to bake this dish for 1 hour (covered with aluminum foil) and then 15 minutes more, after removing the foil. If you want a crunchy top appearance, you can broil the bread stuffing for a couple minutes on low, but as always when broiling, keep a CLOSE EYE on it so it does not burn!
Once baked, the blueberries will melt down slightly, but they will still keep their blueberry appearance. Seriously, isn’t this beautiful? Have you ever seen a more pretty stuffing?
Can You Make Stuffing Ahead Of Time?
Absolutely! This bread stuffing recipe works so well as a make-ahead dish. You can assemble this whole recipe, cover it with foil, and place it in the fridge for up to 8 hours before you plan to bake it. You may need to add more bake time to compensate for starting with a cold dish.
Can You Freeze Bread Stuffing?
Yes, you can freeze this stuffing dish. Simply, bake the stuffing as directed, and then let it cool completely. Once cooled, wrap tightly and freeze. When the time comes that you need the stuffing, defrost it in the refrigerator overnight and then bake it for about 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. If I’m cooking the stuffing after freezing it, I will not broil it during the first baking session, but instead broil it on the day I’m serving it.
I hope you love this Blueberry Bread Stuffing recipe as much as my family does! Enjoy
Looking for more stuffing recipes? Try my Potato Kale Stuffing and Cheesy Broccoli Stuffing!
Check out my favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes too!
Did you make and love this recipe? Give it your review below! 👇 And make sure to share your creations by tagging me or using the hashtag #brooklynfarmgirl on Instagram!
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Blueberry Bread Stuffing
PrintIngredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cup yellow onion chopped
- 1 cup celery chopped
- 1/2 cup carrots chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 6 cups stale bread cubed
- 2 tablespoons dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- 1 1/2 cup blueberries
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium high heat, saute onion, celery and carrots in olive oil for 10 minutes. Add chopped pecans and vegetable broth and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat and add bread and all spices. Mix so bread and vegetables are completely covered in broth and spices. Add blueberries and gently fold into the stuffing, careful not to squash them.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place stuffing in a casserole dish, and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and bake for additional 15 minutes.
- OPTIONAL: Turn oven to broil and broil on low for a couple minutes, until top of stuffing is crispy. Watch it carefully so it does not burn!
Notes
Nutrition Information:
Michelle says
I made this for a weekend pot luck and it was a big hit. It’s a good change in stuffing that I usually make. Thank you for the recipe.