AIP Grain Free Stuffing

Wether you call it dressing or stuffing, eat it alongside turkey or if you’re like me just a cozy bowl of comfort. When I was growing up we only had bagged stuffing on Thanksgiving because Stove Top would have been too top shelf for an everyday meal. Stuffing to me is a celebration of celery and sage, sweet onions and sausage, holiday not required.

That being said I’ve been working double time to crank out a few AIP friendly recipes for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was my first big family holiday gathering after starting AIP and I actually opted to host the meal. I know, it sounds crazy right?! Mostly I didn’t want to get into conversations regarding my food choices or impose my dietary restrictions on an unsuspecting host. So I set out to show friends and family how real, healing, homemade food can still be just as tasty and not leave you feeling like absolute crap.

The one thing I never nailed down was stuffing, if you’ve been on the AIP for a while you know that gluten free, grain free, egg free, nut free eliminates most of the options out there, leaving a bunch of stuff that just fell short of my expectations. I recently came up with the perfect AIP waffle recipe and have been making mini waffles to freeze and pop out when needed. I had a few in the freezer and it got me to thinking why the heck couldn’t I just chop up some waffles, dry them in the oven a bit and toss with all the usual goodies—so I did it, and man is it good. So good! Definitely going to be part of the regular rotation.

AIP Grain Free Stuffing

5 mini waffles (recipe here.)

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup celery, chopped finely

1/2 cup mushroom, finely chopped

1/4 cup black olives, minced

1/2 cup chicken or turkey broth

Cube up waffles and spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and place in a 325 degree oven for about 20 minutes to dry.
Heat 1 tbsp fat in a skillet. I used chicken fat skimmed from a recent batch of broth, it was phenomenal. Saute the onion in the skillet over medium heat until it softens and begins to lightly brown. Add garlic, mushrooms and celery, cooking until softened.
Add spices to the veggies, coat evenly.
add the broth to the pan with the vegetables, stirring until warmed through.
Place the dried waffle bits into a medium mixing bowl, add the veggies and broth. Toss to coat. Prepare a small baking dish with a little oil spray. A deeper dish means more soft stuffing, a shallow dish means more crisp edges.
Give the cubes another toss and dump into prepared baking dish. Bake on a 350 oven for 20 minutes.