Fennel Spinach Stuffing

This vegetarian Fennel Spinach Stuffing recipe is made from scratch with bread and eggs. A hearty gluten free side dish for Thanksgiving!

I made this Spinach Fennel Stuffing recipe for my husband a few years ago when we celebrated Thanksgiving in northern Minnesota and now he requests it over and over.

When I think about Thanksgiving, I think about stuffing. It's one of those quintessential Thanksgiving side dishes that ranks right up there with turkey and pie. Thanksgiving without stuffing just seems kind of...wrong.

If you've never made stuffing from scratch, I highly encourage you to do so. It's a relatively easy dish to make and full of comforting flavors.

I think he gets more excited about this stuffing than the turkey or the pie. I can't say I blame him, though. There's nothing like a warm pan of stuffing filling your home with savory goodness.

Jump to:

• What Kind Of Bread Should I Use To Make Stuffing?
• What Is Fennel?
• How To Make The Egg Mixture
• Assemble The Fennel Stuffing
• How Long Does Stuffing Take To Bake?
• What To Serve With Savory Stuffing
• Fennel Spinach Stuffing

What Kind Of Bread Should I Use To Make Stuffing?

This recipe is gluten free and uses a gluten free brand of white bread. Canyon Bakehouse, Schar, and Udi's are all great choices when making stuffing.

You can make gluten free sandwich bread from scratch if you prefer.

Feel free to use regular white bread if gluten is not an issue for you. A hearty variety like an Italian loaf is perfect.

You want something that will hold up to everything that gets added to it.

1. To start, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. The first step is to cut the loaf into uniform pieces and then toast them in the oven. Cut the bread into 1 inch pieces - Try to make sure they're roughly the same size so the stuffing cooks evenly.
3. Place the bread cubes onto a sheet pan and place it into the oven for 12 minutes. This will dry the bread out a little bit (which is what you want).
4. Remove when finished and set aside.

It's important that the bread is dried slightly or it will not absorb the liquid properly and will result in a mushy instead of a firm texture after baked.

What Is Fennel?

Fennel is a bulb-like vegetable that has a distinctive licorice or anise flavor. It's used a lot in Italian and Mediterranean cooking.

If you've never used fennel before, you're in for a treat. It's so tasty - fennel gives this stuffing a flavor of its own.

The next step is to chop the fennel, onions, and garlic.

1. Chop a fennel bulb into slices and then chop 1 white onion and mince 6 cloves of garlic.
2. Heat a pan to medium and then add 1 Tbsp. of butter.
3. Once the butter has melted, add the fennel, onion, garlic and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Saute the mixture for 10-12 minutes. The fennel will soften as it cooks (and smell amazing in the process).
4. Once the mixture has cooked, remove from heat and set aside.

How To Make The Egg Mixture

As the fennel mixture is cooling, you can prepare the rest of the ingredients.

1. In a mixing bowl, combine 5 eggs, 2 ½ cups low sodium vegetable broth (or chicken broth if you don't need it to be vegetarian), ½ tsp. salt, and ½ tsp. pepper.
2. Mix these ingredients together and then add 2 ½ cups of chopped fresh spinach.
3. The fennel mixture can be added to the bowl at this point. Make sure it has cooled so that it doesn't cook the eggs.

Assemble The Fennel Stuffing

Now it's time to assemble!

1. Place the toasted cubes of gluten free bread (or regular bread if not gluten free) into a greased 9x13 cake pan (you may not be able to fit the entire loaf of cubed bread in the pan) and pour the egg/fennel/spinach mixture all over the bread cubes.
2. Make sure all the bread is saturated in the egg mixture (you can add a little more vegetable stock if needed) and then chop 3 Tbsp. of unsalted butter and dot the top of the stuffing mixture with it.
3. The butter will melt as it cooks and make the top nice and golden.

How Long Does Stuffing Take To Bake?

Place the Fennel Spinach Stuffing in an oven that is heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the stuffing is firm in texture.

The top should be slightly crispy and golden and the stuffing itself should be moist.

Looking for dessert to serve with your stuffing? Don't miss these recipes!

• Maple Bourbon Pecan Pie
• Cast Iron Skillet Apple Crisp
• Apple Pie From Scratch
• Pumpkin Bread Pudding
• Crustless Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Maple Walnut Pie
• Pumpkin Coffee Cake
• Homemade Apple Galette
• Ina Garten Apple Crisp

What To Serve With Savory Stuffing

Chop some of the fennel fronds (the bushy green portion of the fennel) and garnish the stuffing with them. This sort of reinforces that fennel flavor and freshens the whole thing up a bit.

Fennel stuffing is a quintessential Thanksgiving dish and pairs perfectly with a traditional holiday dinner like turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pie.

Your guests might just pass up the pie for more stuffing - Not likely, but anything is possible, right?

Planning a Thanksgiving menu? Check out these recipes!

• Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
• Savory Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Green Bean Casserole
• Maple Mustard Brussels Sprouts
• Wild Rice Butternut Squash Salad
• Roasted Green Beans
• Maple Sesame Brussels Sprouts
• Butternut Squash Arugula Salad
• Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
• Butternut Squash Parmesan Dip
• Au Gratin Potatoes

If you like this stuffing check out this Wild Rice Stuffing!

Looking For More Stuffing Recipes? Don't Miss These!

Sourdough Thanksgiving Stuffing

Traditional Gluten Free Stuffing

Crockpot Cranberry Pecan Stuffing