Mashed potatoes in your stuffing? Oh yes! My Instant Pot vegetarian stuffing combines two holiday favorites — savory bread stuffing and buttery mashed potatoes — into one flavor-packed side dish. After one bite, you’ll be hooked. Yields 6 servings.
I'm in it for the side dishes
I don't know about you guys, but when it comes to vegetarian recipes for the holidays, I am allllll about the side dishes. And while I love a Hasselback Butternut Squash or homemade vegan gravy, I'm really here for one side dish: the stuffing.
You guys, this Mashed Potato Stuffing is the BOMB. It is so unbelievably moist (gonna use the M word a lot today, sorrynotsorry) and full of flavor. It is the stuff that (my) stuffing dreams are made of.
This is a best of both worlds situation, with buttery mashed potatoes folded into savory bread stuffing with onions and celery and sage and Ohhhhhhhhmg you guys. So. Freaking. Good.
And listen, you can definitely bake this whole thing in the oven and it will be very, very good, but if you're looking to free up some oven space I implore you to try making Instant Pot vegetarian stuffing. If you've been trying to make the perfect vegetarian stuffing recipe, or just any stuffing that's cooked outside of a bird, this is the one. Let's do this.
Let's make Mashed Potato Stuffing together
You'll find detailed instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post for both stovetop and Instant Pot stuffing. Feel free to jump on down there (use the "jump to recipe" button), or stay with me for a visual walkthrough.
Step 1: sauté the onions and celery
Melt the butter in a large heavy-bottomed frying pan. Add the onion and celery, and sauté until the onion is translucent.
This may seem like too much butter, but it's all going into the stuffing to keep it nice and moist. Just trust.
Step 2: mix it up!
Place the torn bread and mashed potatoes into a large bowl. Add the cooked celery and onions to the bowl, ensuring that you scrape all of the melted butter out of the frying pan and into the bowl.
Add the sage, thyme, sugar, salt, and pepper. Mix the ingredients together, ensuring that everything is well mixed.
Step 3: get ready for cooking!
Butter the bottoms and sides of an 8-inch cake tin, or another oven-proof container that will fit into your Instant Pot. Transfer the mashed potato stuffing mixture into the prepared tin, and press down.
Step 4: Instant Pot Stuffing
Place the trivet into the Instant Pot insert, and pour in 1.5 cups of water. Tightly wrap the cake tin with foil, and place it into the Instant Pot, on top of the trivet.
Seal the lid, and ensure the valve is set to "SEALING".
Set the Instant Pot to Manual / High Pressure for 20 minutes. When the pressure cooking cycle is complete, flip the valve to "VENTING" and quick-release the pressure.
Step 4: (optional!) Bake
Transfer to a serving dish. Place into the oven under the broiler for 5 minutes to crisp the top.
That's it! You're ready to go to town on the BEST mashed potato stuffing there is.
Vegetarian Mashed Potato Stuffing (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 5 slices wholegrain bread 4 cups torn / cubed
- 3 cups mashed potatoes
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place a large heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the butter to the frying pan.¼ cup butter
- Once the butter is melted, add the diced onion and celery to the pan, and sauté until the onions are translucent - about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.*Note that this step can also be done in the Instant Pot using the sauté function.1 medium yellow onion, 3 stalks celery
- Combine the torn bread and mashed potatoes in a large bowl.5 slices wholegrain bread, 3 cups mashed potatoes
- Add the onions and celery, ensuring you scrape all of the melted butter into the bowl as well.
- Add the thyme, sage, sugar, salt, and pepper.1 Tablespoon sugar, 1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt, ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Mix well, taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Instant Pot Stuffing
- Butter the bottom and sides of an oven-proof dish that will fit in your Instant Pot (I used an 8-inch round cake pan).
- Put the stuffing into the pan, and wrap tightly with foil.
- Place a trivet into the Instant Pot insert, and add 1.5 cups of water.
- Place the foil-wrapped dish into the Instant Pot, on top of the trivet.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot, and ensure the valve is set to "sealing".
- Set the Instant Pot on Manual / High Pressure for 20 minutes. It will take about 10 minutes to reach pressure.
- When the pressure cooking cycle is complete, flip the valve to "venting" and quick-release the pressure.
- Carefully remove the dish from the Instant Pot, and check that the center of the stuffing is hot.
- Transfer to a serving dish, and if desired, crisp under the broiler for five minutes.
Oven Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
- Butter the bottom and sides of an oven-proof baking dish.
- Transfer the mashed potato stuffing mixture into the buttered baking dish. Cover with foil if your dish does not have a lid.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes, until the center of the stuffing is nice and hot.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
- Nutrition values are an estimate only.
- If you don't have leftover mashed potatoes on hand, boil up five medium-sized potatoes to get 3 cups of mashed potato.
- If you don't have stale bread and don't have time to leave it out overnight, you can tear the bread up and then place it in the oven at 300°F / 150°C for about 15 minutes to dry out.
- It can be helpful to create a "sling" out of foil to help lift the cake tin out when the cooking cycle is complete. I typically do a precarious thing with two forks, but I think a sling is more responsible.
- You can mix up the stuffing up to a day in advance and then cook it in the Instant Pot (or oven) when you're ready. You can also cook the stuffing in advance, and then simply re-heat when it's time to serve.
- To freeze stuffing, wrap it tightly with foil or throw it into a freezer bag, and toss it into the freezer. Frozen stuffing will keep for up to three months.
- For vegan stuffing, simply cook the onions and celery in olive oil or a vegan butter substitute, and make sure that your mashed potatoes recipe is vegan and you're good to go.
Emily says
I can confirm that the Instant Pot method makes this stuffing so much better. We loved it!
Tasha says
My east coast soul just had to add summer savoury. If you know, you know. No potato stuffing is complete without it! Other than that, this is amazing! My new go to for quick and moist stuffing!
Katie Trant says
My mom always makes it with summer savory! I meant to bring some back from Canada this summer but sadly forgot, so I'll gave to get some next year.
Christine says
I have no baseline for stuffing prep because I’m a spoiled adult who’s never been in charge of Thanksgiving, but pandemics have a way of changing things. This is awesome stuffing. I had Penzeys poultry stuffing, so I subbed that for the herbs. Otherwise, no tweeks. I’m still too afraid to learn how to use the Instant pot, but my husband set it up no problem. Probably should have halved the recipe for our little family (2 adults and a small child who doesn’t understand the joy of stuffing). Thankful to hear it freezes!
Heather says
This East coast stuffing is the best of the best and the idea of cooking it in the instant pot is brilliant! The original recipe calls for summer savoury as the herb addition. Not just savoury, but specifically summer savoury. It's easy to find in stores in Eastern Canada but less so out west and in Europe. If you can find it it's worth using .
Now I've got my mouth twisted around Christmas! A very small Christmas this year, but Eastern stuffing will be served for sure.
Katie Trant says
I used sage and thyme since I can't find summer savoury and I assume a lot of other people can't either. But seriously, try it in the IP, it turned out sooooo great!
Allison says
I wasn’t able to find a dish to fit inside my instant pot, but made this in the oven and it was amazing. This is going to be my new go-to stuffing recipe - yum!