These Vegan Cranberry and Pistachio Stuffing Balls are packed with fresh sage, thyme, citrus and crunchy nuts. The perfect festive side dish! Get the recipe below.
This Vegan Cranberry and Pistachio Stuffing is a delicious addition to any festive roast dinner. Made with cubes of bread, frangrant fresh herbs, zest citrus, sweet dried cranberries and crunchy pistachios, itis packed with flavour and texture. Best of all, it's completely plant based, making it a wonderful option for a vegan Chrsitamas dinner.
Want to see all of my festive roast recipes in one place? Check out my guide to the Ultimate Vegan Christmas Roast Dinner.
If you're looking for a vegan stuffing recipe that's a little more exciting than traditional sage and onion stuffing, then this is the recipe for you! The combination of cranberries, nuts and herbs creates a delicious balance of sweet, savoury and fresh flavours. The citrus zest adds a lovely brightness, cutting through the richness of the vegan butter.
I love making the stuffing into individual balls rather than baking it in one large dish. Not only do they look lovely on a festive dinner plate, they also have plenty of crispy edges. The outside becomes beautifully golden while the centre stays soft and full of flavour. They're also easy to portion out when you're serving a crowd - ideal if you've got family and friends coming over.
They're so easy to prepare with simple ingredients and can even be made ahead of time, helping to take some of the stress out of cooking a big celebratory meal.
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Ingredients
You only need a handful of ingredients to make these Vegan Cranberry and Pistachio Stuffing Balls.
- Bread - ideally it will be stale. You can use white, wholemeal or sourdough.
- Vegan butter - block or spreadable vegan butter is fine in this recipe.
- Fresh sage
- Fresh thyme
- Lemon zest
- Orange zest
- Dried cranberries
- Pistachios - shelled, not salted.
- Vegetable stock - get the best you can afford or make your own, it really makes a difference.
Step-by-step instructions
- Step 1: if you're not using stale bread, dry it out by placing it in the oven and cooking on low until crisp.
- Step 2: add the dried bread cubes to a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients, pour over the stock and butter and stir to ensure the bread is evenly coated. Leave to rest until cool enough to handle.
- Step 3: squish the softened bread together with the rest of the ingredients and form into 12 evenly sized balls.
- Step 4: turn up the temperature of the oven and bake the balls until they are golden and crispy on the outside and piping hot all the way through.
Hint: the secret to perfectly crispy stuffing balls is getting the moisture level right. Stale or dried bread is important because it can absorb the vegetable stock without becoming too wet. Add the stock gradually is you're unsure as different types of bread absorb different amounts of liquid. You want the mixture to be moist enough to hold together when squeezed but not so wet it falls apart.
Substitutions
There are a few ways you can adapt this Vegan Cranberry and Pistachio Stuffing recipe depending on what you have available:
- Bread: white, wholemeal or sourdough bread all work well. You could also use leftover bread rolls.
- Vegan butter: substitute the butter with olive oil.
- Fresh herbs: if you can't get fresh, dried herbs will work fine. As a general guide, use 2 teaspoons or dried sage and 1 teaspoon of dried thyme.
- Dried cranberries: dried cherries or apricots make lovely alternatives.
- Pistachios: swap the pistachios for chopped walnuts, pecans, almonds of hazelnuts.
Variations
Once you've mastered this Vegan Cranberry and Pistachio Stuffing recipe there are plenty of ways to make it your own:
- Add chestnuts: chopped cooked chestnuts make this extra festive.
- Add caramelised onion: finely chopped caramelised onions bring extra sweetness and savoury depth.
- Add fresh parsely: a handful of finely chopped fresh parsley adds colour and a fresh herbal flavour.
- Make a stuffing loaf: rather than shaping it into individual balls, press the mixture into a lightly greased dish and bake until golden on top. Note that you may need to increase the cooking time depending on the depth of the dish.
Equipment
You don't need any specialist equipment to make these homemade vegan stuffing balls. Here's what I use:
- Chopping board
- Sharp knife
- Mixing bowl
- Baking tray
- Zester
Storage
One of the best things about homemade vegan stuffing is that you can prepare it ahead of time, making Christmas dinner a little easier.
Once cooked, allow the stuffing balls to cool before transferring them to an airtight container and keeping in the fridge for up to 3 days.
You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
Top tip
For the crispiest stuffing balls, make sure you leave a little space between each one on the baking tray. If they're too close together they'll steam rather than roast meaning you won't get those lovely crisp, golden edges.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! This is a great recipe to prepare in advance. You can mix the ingredients together and refrigerate the unbaked stuffing for up to 24 hours in advance. Alternatively you can cook them and store them for up to 3 days in the fridge then reheat before serving.
Stale white bread is a traditional choice because it absorbs the stock well but I like to use sourdough. The most important thing is that the bread is dry enough to absorb the stock without becoming mushy.
This usually happens when the bread hasn't been dried out sufficiently or too much stock has been added. Different breads absorb different amounts of liquid so its best to add the stock gradually. To fix it, add more bread.
Yes! Transfer the stuffing mixture to a greased ovenproof dish and spread it out evenly. Bake until the top is golden and crispy and the centre is piping hot. You may need to increase the cooking time depending on the size and depth of your dish.
The recipe
Vegan Cranberry and Pistachio Stuffing
Equipment
- chopping board
- Sharp knife
- Mixing bowl
- Baking tray
- Zester
Ingredients
- 250 g bread cut into small cubes, ideally stale
- 100 g vegan butter melted
- 2 tablespoon fresh sage finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 lemon zest only
- 1 orange zest only
- 100 g dried cranberries
- 100 g pistachios shelled and roughly chopped
- 400 ml vegetable stock boiling hot
Instructions
- If using fresh bread, preheat the oven to 140C / 275F / gas mark 1. Spread the cubed bread onto a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes to dry it out.
- Add the dried bread cubes to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the vegan butter, chopped sage, thyme leaves, lemon zest, orange zest, dried cranberries and chopped pistachios.
- Pour over the boiling vegetable stock and stir gently to combine. Allow the bread to absorb the stock.
- Leave the mixture to cool until it is comfortable to handle.
- Shape the mixture into balls roughly the size of a golf ball and arrange on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Increase the oven temperature to 180C / 350 F / gas mark 4.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the stuffing balls are golden and crispy on the outside and piping hot in the centre.
- Serve immediately with your favourite vegan roast dinner.
Nutrition
More roast dinner recipes
These Vegan Cranberry and Pistachio Stuffing Balls would go great with these roast dishes:
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