The best paleo stuffing recipe! Perfect for Thanksgiving or as a healthy grain-free side dish for roast chicken. Made with simple ingredients, you’ll be shocked at how much it tastes like “real stuffing”… but better!
This recipe requires no beating around the bush: this is the best paleo stuffing recipe.
I’m a fool for stuffing. Like, if you didn’t include stuffing on your Thanksgiving table, I’d just walk out without a word, dramatically tipping my chair over for effect. I’m really into it. Apparently.
The problem with being mostly paleo is that um, bread isn’t allowed? It’s kind of one of those main tenants of eating primal foods that… yeah, no white bread. No whole wheat bread. No cornbread. No bread. And normally it doesn’t bother me, which is also a little weird? But stuffing… different story.
Why this paleo stuffing recipe is so good:
- It tastes surprisingly like “real” stuffing but is made with all healthy ingredients, like veggies and eggs.
- This healthy stuffing recipe is perfect with a roast chicken or turkey, making it a great side dish for both weeknight dinners and Thanksgiving.
- The ingredients are super versatile: you can swap out what you like and have.
Tips:
- Make sure you sauté your veggies long enough for them to be really softened. This helps everything meld together beautifully in this healthy paleo stuffing recipe, just like a traditional dressing!
- Use the dried herbs you prefer or make your own poultry seasoning.
- If you’re strictly paleo, make sure you get dried cranberries that are sweetened with juice, not sugar.
- This healthy stuffing recipe reheats well, so you can make it ahead.
- You can make this entire paleo stuffing recipe in a large oven-proof skillet, or you can bake it in a casserole dish.
Variations:
- Use chopped dates in place of the dried cranberries, or add 1/4 cup chopped dates to the whole thing!
- Increase the amount of celery by 1 cup and leave out the mushrooms, if you don’t like fungi.
How to Make the Best Paleo Stuffing
Sauté all ingredients except for almond flour and eggs in a large skillet in ghee or oil over medium heat until very soft.
If desired, transfer sautéed veggies to a baking dish; otherwise, keep everything in your large oven-proof skillet. Stir in almond flour and eggs.
Bake at 350º for 45 minutes to one hour, or until the top is lightly browned and crispy.
Other recipes you’ll love:
- Whole30 Green Bean Casserole
- Perfect Whole30 Turkey Breast and Gravy
- Whole30 Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Herbs
- Whole30 Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecans
- Whole30 Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
Did you make and love this recipe? Give your review below! 👇 And make sure to share your creations by tagging me on Instagram!
Best Paleo Stuffing (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free)
A healthy paleo stuffing recipe that makes the perfect side dish for chicken or turkey. Ideal for Thanksgiving! Gluten and grain free.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ghee or avocado oil or refined coconut oil
- 3 cups onion diced
- 2 cups celery diced
- 1 cup mushrooms diced
- 1 cup apple cored and diced
- ¼ cup dried cranberries or dates, chopped
- ¼ cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 4 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups almond flour
- 3 eggs whisked
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º F.
Heat ghee or oil in a large cast-iron or oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, apple, mushrooms, cranberries or dates, parsley, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper. Sauté until very soft, about 7 minutes.
Remove from heat. Keep in an oven-proof skillet or transfer to 9x9" baking dish. Stir in almond flour and mix well. Add the whisked eggs and stir well. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until browned on top.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
If you don't have a cast-iron skillet, grease a medium-size baking dish before sautéing ingredients (a 9x9" works well). After eggs have been added and the mixture is well-stirred, transfer mixture to baking dish. Continue baking as directed.
This recipe was originally published November 2016 but was updated with new photos, video, step by step photos, and tips July 2018.
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This recipe has a wonderful flavor and my family really liked the flavor, but it was dry. Is this supposed to be dry? What can I do to fix this.
Belinda, so sorry to hear that happened! Did you add enough liquid?
Thank you for this recipe! It was wonderful. Made it the night before and re-heated for Thanksgiving. It’s a keeper.
Excellent recipe!! I substituted raisins for cranberries and also added chopped carrots. Everyone was raving that this was great stuffing! Thank you for the inspiration!
How long would you bake this if I wanted to bake in individual muffin tins?
This is the best gluten free stuffing recipe! I’m a stuffing diva and I love this. My daughter is super picky and she love it too! Thank you….
That is great to hear! I’m a stuffing diva too and now I’m glad there’s a name for it – ha!
I just made this and it was off the hook! The bean casserole is bomb as well.
I’m sooo glad you liked it!
Well, the good news is, everyone LOVED this stuffing. The bad news is, a few hours before thanksgiving dinner, I found out that this recipe is NOT whole30 compliant, so I was unable to have any. I was told by an admin, because there is so much almond flour used in this recipe, it considered a “baked good”, which is not allowed while following whole30. 😩
Oh wow! It certainly does not taste like a baked good, and you could definitely reduce the almond flour 🙂 An admin in the Whole30 forums? I’m glad everyone else liked it, but bummed that you didn’t try any! I promise it does not taste like “fake bread” or anything like that. The almond flour is simply there for texture
Do you think you could add crumbled sausage to this recipe?
Absolutely! I’d brown it first, remove it when crumbled, then continue on with the recipe. Stir the sausage in when you stir in the almond flour and bake! It sounds a lot like my very favorite family stuffing recipe 🙂
I’m loving this recipe, it sounds amazing but I’m allergic to almonds. What would be a good substitute for almond flour?
Can you have cashew flour? That’d be a great substitute
Could aarowroot flour also work? It’s the “flour” I purchased when starting my whole30 journey and I’m not sure if most of these “flours” are interchangeable? Thanks!
They aren’t really. Nut flours are fairly interchangeable, at least in this context, but arrowroot is much more like cornstarch. I’d highly recommend using almond flour here. It’s very easy to find!
Would coconut flour work? I can’t do any kind of almond/cashew flours…
You know, something like 3/4 cup coconut flour would probably work. You might have to add a bit more to get the texture right (and absorb enough liquid) but it might work!
What are your thoughts on preparing this ahead of time? Would it work to cook it all the night before and heat up? Or just do the veggies + apple and add in the eggs and almond flour just before cooking? Wasn’t sure if mixing all before would be too soggy? Thanks!
I know this is a bit late, but I would think this would work fine to prep ahead of time! There’s no bread to mush or anything like that, and it’s always great as leftovers