Feel good about serving this scrumptious dish to anyone at your table this holiday season. This recipe brings together all the special memories of traditional stuffing but with a nutritious twist. The slow cooker stuffing is both gluten-free and vegan, but it also contains Chickapea elbow noodles, giving the dish more protein and nutrients. Your home will be filled with the aroma of warm bread and herbs, while you set and almost forget this easy to make dish.

Slow Cooker Gluten-Free Traditional Stuffing with Elbow Pasta

• Prep Time:  20 minutes
• Cook Time: 6 hours
• Total Time: 6 hours 20 minutes
• Course: Main­
• Cuisine: Canadian
• Servings:  8 large servings, 12 side servings

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp avocado oil
• 2 cups celery, medium diced
• 3 cups yellow onion, medium diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup vegan butter
• 10-12 cups gluten free bread, chopped into bite sized pieces
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 ½ tsp poultry seasoning (vegan)
• 1 ½ tsp dried sage
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp flaked salt
• 6 Tbsp aquafaba, lightly whipped
• 2 ½-3 cup vegetable broth
• 1 Package Chickapea Elbow noodles

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F
2. Chop the gluten-free bread into bite sized pieces
3. Lay it out in a single layer on a large baking tray
4. Bake the bread for 15 minutes, then toss it and continue to bake it for another 10 minutes
5. Prepare the slow cooker pot by coating the inside with avocado oil to prevent the stuffing from sticking
6. Warm a large sauté pan over medium heat
7. Melt the vegan butter in the pan
8. Once the vegan butter is hot, add the celery and onion
9. Cook the celery and onion over medium heat, stirring often, for 7 minutes or until beginning to brown
10. Remove the pan from the heat and immediately stir in the garlic
11. Place the contents of the frying pan in the slow cooker
12. Add the fresh parsley, poultry seasoning, dried sage, rosemary, dried thyme, and salt to the contents of the slow cooker and mix well
13. Mix the cooked bread into the seasoning in the slow cooker 
14. Add the aquafaba to the bread mixture
15. Pour in 2 cups of vegetable broth to start
16. Combine all of the ingredients thoroughly, adding more vegetable broth a ¼ cup at a time as needed until the stuffing is moist but not soggy
17. Set the slow cooker to low for 6 hours
18. With 30 minutes remaining on the slow cooker, add the Chickapea elbow noodles and stir well
19. Checking the noodle tenderness roughly every 10 minutes, cook the stuffing in the slow cooker until the noodles are al dente or desired texture
20. Serve the stuffing while hot
21. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

• The amount of vegetable broth to add will depend greatly on the bread. In this recipe exactly 2 ½ cups of broth were used, but sometimes it will require slightly more or less
• Only gluten-free bread has been tested in this recipe
• A combination of white and brown artesian gluten-free bread was used in this recipe
• 10-12 cups of gluten-free, vegan bread equalled roughly 1000g 
• This recipe has not been tested with a high slow cooker setting. If a high setting is used, it is recommended to be cooked for 3 hours and stirred regularly to prevent scorching. 
• The stuffing can be made ahead without the noodles and then reheated with a slow cooker setting of low. Reheat the stuffing before adding the noodles. Once the noodles are added, cook them in the stuffing for roughly 30 minutes and then serve
• The noodles should be added to the slow cooker on a low setting and stirred at 10-minute intervals
• Aquafaba is the packing liquid from a can of chickpeas
• An easy way to prepare the aquafaba is to measure 6 Tbsp into a jar. Close with a tight lid then shake it vigorously until frothy