This easy cauliflower stuffing recipe gives you the classic stuffing taste, yet it’s vegan, gluten-free, paleo, keto, and low-carb!  Packed with veggies and seasoned to perfection, everyone at your holiday table will be able to enjoy this classic side with a twist!

A bowl full of vegan cauliflower stuffing with a red and white tea towel behind it.

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Stuffing has always been a Thanksgiving favorite in our house, but when my family had to go gluten-free, there weren’t many options for us.  I could make my own stuffing from gluten-free bread, but gluten-free bread which is also vegan is hard to come by, so I had the idea of using cauliflower instead of bread. 

I must admit that I was skeptical at first, but my family was thrilled with the result! A gluten-free low-carb stuffing that tastes great!

I just made some of this for a side along with some potatoes and vegan chicken nuggets. I couldn’t believe that my kids loved it and ate it all. I will be making this again for Thanksgiving!

—Kate

We love cauliflower in my house and I use it in tons of my gluten-free recipes like cauliflower cheese casserole, baked cauliflower nuggets, roasted rainbow cauliflower, whole roasted cauliflower, and deep-fried cauliflower. It’s great for orange cauliflower and buffalo cauliflower too.

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • It has all the flavor of stuffing without dairy, gluten, or carbs.
  • It’s easy to make in 1 pot in less than 20 minutes!
  • Nearly anyone who follows a special diet like vegan, gluten-free, Paleo, or Keto can eat it!
  • It has all the savory goodness of classic stuffing!
  • You can eat a big serving and not feel guilty.
  • It’s healthy and packed with vitamins.

This stove-top cauliflower stuffing is made in about 20 minutes with no need to roast, so it doesn’t take up precious room in the oven on holidays.

A bowl filled with gluten-free stuffing made from riced cauliflower.

Ingredients and substitutions

  • Riced Cauliflower – 1 bag of pre-cut riced cauliflower makes this recipe super easy, but you can break up a head of cauliflower and chop it into very small pieces with a food processor.
  • Vegan Margarine – you can use my homemade vegan butter, olive oil, or swap out the oil for vegetable broth if you want it fat-free. For a rich nutty flavor, you can also use my vegan brown butter or vegan garlic butter.
  • Onion – for flavor. White or yellow onions work well. You can also use shallots for a more mild flavor.  Feel free to omit or swap out with 2-3 cloves of garlic.
  • Carrots – to add a little sweetness and pretty color.
  • Celery Stalks – to give it a little crunch.  Feel free to omit it.
  • Mushrooms – you can use any variety that you wish.
  • Poultry Seasoning – for flavor.  These are the herbs in traditional stuffing that give it the savory flavor you know and love. If you don’t have poultry seasoning you can season it with sage, parsley, rosemary, and/or thyme. You can use dried or fresh herbs.
  • Nutritional Yeast – (optional) yet gives it a rich and slightly cheesy flavor.  If you don’t know what nutritional yeast is, you can read more about it in my post about nutritional yeast.
  • Salt and Black Pepper– for flavor.

Tools

A Pan – or large skillet for sauteing the vegetables.

A Food Processor – if you want rice the cauliflower florets yourself.

How to make cauliflower stuffing

  • Start by sautéing an onion on low heat in some vegan margarine or light olive oil for a few minutes.  (Or use ¼ cup vegetable broth for a fat-free version).
  • Chop up the carrots, mushrooms, and celery and add them to the onion and saute on medium-low for about 5 minutes. (or about 2 cups of any veggies you would like).
Onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms sautéing in vegan butter.
  • Add a bag of pre-chopped cauliflower (aka riced cauliflower) or chop up a large head of cauliflower in your food processor and pulse it until it becomes very small.
  • Sprinkle the veggies with salt, poultry seasoning, and nutritional yeast.  Then stir well making sure to coat them in the seasoning.
  • Continue to sauté over medium-low heat stirring frequently for about 10 minutes until all the veggies have softened and are tender, then serve as you would stuffing.
Riced cauliflower and poltry seasoning added to sauted veggies in a pan being stirred with a wooden spoon.

Pro Tips

  • Saute the onion and all the veggies slowly to bring out the sweetness and soften them.
  • Cook the veggies and cauliflower over medium-low heat and remember to stir frequently so they cook evenly.

What is riced cauliflower?

Riced cauliflower is simply a head of cauliflower chopped up into tiny pieces the size of rice.  They sell it already washed, chopped, and ready to use in most grocery stores. 

You can simply dump in a 16 oz. bag or you can make your own by using a food processor and pulsing many times until your cauliflower is chopped into tiny pieces.  Unless you can find a very inexpensive cauliflower, I find the bags of riced cauliflower to be less expensive and much easier.

Be sure to try my vegan cauliflower risotto with spinach recipe that’s made with riced cauliflower too!

How to store cauliflower stuffing

Store your leftover cauliflower stuffing in the refrigerator for up to 5 days in an airtight container. You can also freeze the stuffing, but it will change its texture of it a little.

More holiday favorites

Or check out my 10 favorite vegan Thanksgiving main dishes or this list of Gluten-free Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes! 

A white bowl filled with colorful veggie stuffing made with riced cauiflower.

You will be amazed by how delicious cauliflower stuffing can be, and you don’t have to forgo one of the best holiday sides, just because of your special diet!

Riced cauliflower stuffing recipe

A close up of a bowl of cauliflower stuffing made with carrots, mushrooms, celery, and riced cauliflower.
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5 from 7 rating

Cauliflower Stuffing

Yield: 8
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 20 minutes
Author: Monica Davis
An easy 1 pot gluten-free stuffing recipe made with cauliflower and veggies.
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Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegan butter, or oil of choice or 1/4 cup vegetable broth for fat-free
  • 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms, washed and diced (I used portabella)
  • 1 cup celery, washed and diced
  • 2 cups cauliflower, chopped (or a 16 oz bag of riced cauliflower)
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt, (or salt to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions
 

  • Start by sautéing an onion on low in some vegan margarine, or light olive oil.  (Or in ¼ cup vegetable broth for a fat-free version).
  • Chop up the carrots, mushrooms, and celery and add them to the onion. Saute on medium-low for about 5 minutes. (or about 2 cups of any veggies you would like).
  • Add a bag of pre-chopped cauliflower (aka riced cauliflower) or chop up a large head of cauliflower in your food processor; pulsing it until it becomes very small.
  • Sprinkle the veggies with salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, and nutritional yeast. Stir well, coating them in the seasoning.
  • Continue to sauté over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently until all the veggies have softened.  Serve as you would regular stuffing.

Notes

  • Saute the onion and all the veggies slowly to bring out the sweetness and soften them.
  • Cook the veggies and cauliflower over medium-low heat and remember to stir frequently so they cook evenly.
  • The nutritional yeast in the recipe is optional, but it gives a rich and slightly cheesy flavor. 
Serving: 0.5cup, Calories: 54kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 3g, Sodium: 349mg, Potassium: 196mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 1g, Vitamin A: 1605IU, Vitamin C: 14.9mg, Calcium: 20mg, Iron: 0.4mg
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below!

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*This recipe was originally posted on 10/30/2018.  It was updated on 10/2/20 to include new images and more detailed instructions.