Can you guys even believe that Thanksgiving is a week away? Seriously? Between hosting our friends last weekend and hosting my mom’s birthday party this coming weekend, I haven’t given Thanksgiving Day much thought at all. I guess I should probably start thinking about what I want to bring along to the family party this year.

If you are in the same boat as me and still finalizing your Thanksgiving food plans, this recipe might help you! It’s a grain free stuffing made without the bread and chock full of nutritious vegetables. I made this for our Friendsgiving get together on Sunday, and despite being up against Tim’s bread and sausage version, it was gobbled right up!

Grain Free Sweet Potato and Apple Stuffing

Serves 8-10 as a side dish 

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cups of diced carrots
• 1.5 cups of diced celery
• 1 ten ounce container of mushrooms, diced
• 2 apples, cored and cubed
• 1 bunch kale, with stems removed and then massaged until soft
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Coconut oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes in a little bit of coconut oil, and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a lightly sprayed baking dish, then roast in the oven for twenty minutes. When twenty minutes are up, flip the sweet potatoes and toss in the carrots. Roast for another 15.
3. While the sweet potatoes and carrots are roasting, heat the vegetable stock over medium to high heat. Add the diced onion along with a little more salt and pepper, and cook 5-6 minutes or until onions become translucent. Add the diced mushrooms and diced celery, and cook another 5-6 minutes or until the mushrooms become soft. Finally, add the cubed apples, and cook for another two minutes or until the apples are tender and start to absorb the color of the stock.
4. When everything is done, combine in a big bowl. Add the kale, fresh sage, and fresh thyme, and season one last time with salt and pepper. Mix well, then transfer to a 9×13 baking dish.
5. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes to warm before serving.
6. Enjoy!

If you live by a grain free or gluten free diet, this recipe is a great breadless option. I’m not going to tell you it tastes just like bread, but what is comparable to a bread based stuffing is the texture of the dish. The sweet potatoes add the softness that the bread pieces normally would, and all the other vegetables absorb a ton of flavor from the vegetable stock. When mixed all together, the flavors mesh really well to create the texture that stuffing is known for.

I used rosemary and sage for herbs to give it the Thanksgiving feel, but I think that this recipe could be made at any time of year. Using different spices and ingredients could give it a completely different taste! For example, using sausage, chili powder, and crushed red pepper with black beans instead of apples would give it more of a Southwestern feel. For the non-vegetarians, you can also mix in a meat of choice to make this more of a main make ahead dish than a holiday side. I’ve been enjoying leftovers with shredded chicken for lunch all week!

Let me know if you try this one! As always, I love when you guys post to social media and tag me at @fitnessandfeta so I can include your pics in my next You Made It, You Did It post.

Readers, let’s chat! What does your ideal Thanksgiving stuffing have in it? Have you started thinking about your Thanksgiving menus yet? 

You guys know that I love experimenting with traditionally unhealthy recipes and finding ways to make them more nutritious, but I’m not going to bullshit you… I’m not one to turn down my share of regular stuffing for Thanksgiving Day! Gimme a scoop of both please. 🙂