Mushroom-Leek Stuffing

This easy vegetarian stuffing uses fresh bread, and is flavored with mushrooms, leeks, and herbs.

Ready to graduate from boxed stuffing mix and make your stuffing from scratch? Great news: it’s easier than you think. This vegetarian mushroom-leek stuffing is herby, savory, and will have your whole home smelling like the best holiday of the year. Let’s dive in.

Key Ingredients + Substitutions

• Bread: Choose a white, crusty loaf like ciabatta or a sourdough boule for the best texture. Do not use “sandwich” bread or pre-sliced bread; you want to be able to cut it into chunky pieces.
• Mushrooms: Add meatiness and umami to vegetarian stuffing.
• Leek: Leeks belong to the onion family but have a sharper, greener flavor (kinda like a scallion). You can certainly substitute with a large white/yellow onion, though.
• Carrots + Celery: Create the signature, sweet-earthy foundation of stuffing.
• Broth: Use store-bought vegetable or mushroom broth, or make your own from veggie scraps.

How to Make Mushroom Leek Stuffing

Find complete instructions with ingredient amounts in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Dry Out the Bread

Cut the bread into chunky squares and arrange in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350ºF oven until fully dry but not yet golden, about 12 minutes.

Step 2: Brown the Mushrooms

Meanwhile, cook the mushrooms in olive oil until golden brown, about 10 minutes. For optimal browning, resist the urge to stir too often. Then remove from the pan and set aside.

Step 3: Sweat the Aromatics

To the same pot where you cooked the mushrooms, add the leeks, carrots, celery, garlic, and thyme. Cook gently until the vegetables have released their juices, and are soft and reduced in size, about 15 minutes. The goal here is to soften, not brown.

Step 4: Combine Everything and Bake

To the pot, add the dried bread, cooked mushrooms, and chopped parsley. Gradually incorporate the broth. Then transfer to a casserole dish (here’s the one I use!) and bake at 375ºF until golden and crispy, about 25 minutes.

Expert Tips for Vegetarian Stuffing

• Use a good-quality bread. Preferably from a good bakery or the bakery section of the supermarket. The bread does, after all, dictate most of the flavor of stuffing.
• Don’t wash the mushrooms under the tap. Mushrooms absorb water like sponges, which can prevent them from browning properly. (Browning is key for developing the flavor of mushrooms, which is also why they’re cooked separately from the rest of the vegetables here.) So unless your mushrooms are literally covered in dirt, wipe them with a damp paper towel instead.
• Season at every stage. Don’t forget to salt and pepper at every phase of cooking: i.e. season the mushrooms, the aromatics, and right at the end (before putting the stuffing in the oven). There’s nothing worse than serving a beautiful homemade stuffing and realizing it’s under-seasoned when it’s too late.