Looking for a sumptuous Thanksgiving stuffing that will have your family and friends begging for the recipe? This brioche stuffing with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions, inspired by Endless Simmer, is a wildly delicious yet elegant rendition of stuffing that always gets rave reviews.
This vegetarian-friendly Thanksgiving stuffing features tender bites of brioche studded with earthy wild mushrooms, sweet caramelized onions, rich-flavored sauteed kale, fresh herbs, and walnuts. Wild mushrooms and the caramelized onions are definitely shining stars in this holiday dish but the leading role goes to the brioche.
ALSO TRY: Delicious Keto stuffing for Thanksgiving
Brioche is a golden, pillowy, and sweet yeast-risen French bread made with a luscious amount of butter and eggs. Soft and scrumptious, brioche is an especially elegant pastry bread that gives stuffing an upscale flair compared to the usual cornbread, sourdough, or wheat bread.
You can find brioche in the supermarket bakery section or, if you’re fortunate enough to have one in the neighborhood, at your local French bakery. Just like any other bread for stuffing, you’ll need to cut your loaf of brioche into cubes and let it dry out for a day or two.
Wild mushrooms are an indispensable ingredient in our Thanksgiving brioche stuffing because of their unparalleled, complex earthy flavors. We recommend crimini, shiitake, brown, chanterelle, or a combination of them all.
If your favorite grocery store doesn’t carry wild mushrooms, you can hunt them down at specialty food markets or online. If fresh wild mushrooms aren’t available, buy dried wild mushrooms and rehydrate them before chopping and adding to the stuffing.
Caramelize the onions
Slowly cooking onions coaxes out their natural sugars, which caramelize, turning the raw pungent onion into a complex, savory-sweet treat. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook, stirring often, for 10 to 15 minutes until they are soft and have turned a golden brown color.
Cook the mushrooms and kale
Wild mushrooms and kale give stuffing a delicious depth of earthy flavor. Turn the heat to medium-high. Add the mushrooms and kale to the onions. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms have softened and the kale is wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
Add herbs, walnuts, brioche, egg, and broth
Sprinkle fresh herbs and walnuts into the wild mushroom mixture. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Turn the skillet to low and stir in the brioche and egg until just combined. Gently stir in the broth. Don’t overmix or the brioche will fall apart and turn to mush. Bring the stuffing mixture to a simmer.
Transfer stuffing to a casserole dish and bake
Time to finish the stuffing in the oven. Transfer the stuffing to a casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake the stuffing at 350 F for 30 minutes.
Brown the top of the stuffing
Remove the foil from the casserole dish. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the top of the stuffing is nicely browned.
Serve hot
Earthy Mushrooms and sweet brioche and the perfect pair
Serve some up at your next holiday meal
Your guests will thank you!
Brioche stuffing with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions
Yield 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (half a stick) butter
- 1 sweet yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cups rough-chopped wild mushrooms (crimini, shiitake, brown, and/or chanterelle)
- 3 cups kale, spines removed, roughly julienned
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 loaf brioche, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, dried out for 1 to 2 days
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 cup vegetable broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until they caramelize.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the mushrooms and kale. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the mushrooms are softened and the kale is wilted.
- Season with salt and pepper. Stir well.
- Stir in the herbs and walnuts. Cook, stirring often, for 1 minute.
- Turn the skillet to low heat and gently mix in the brioche cubes and egg.
- Stir in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.
- Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Transfer the mixture to the prepared casserole dish and cover with aluminium foil.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for 10 minutes or until the top is browned
Courses Sides
