Gluten-Free Brown Rice Stuffing Casserole (Vegan, Allergy-Free)

Published: Nov 25, 2019 by Rebecca Pytell · This post may contain affiliate links.

A hearty and cozy side dish recipe to feed a crowd! This Gluten-Free Brown Rice Stuffing Casserole dish is vegan, allergy-free, and easy to make! Whole grain brown rice, vegetables, savory herbs, and pops of cranberry all baked together! Great for the holidays or a weeknight family meal!

From traditional stuffing to cornbread stuffing, a cozy baked side dish always sounds good to me! So many variations and longheld family recipes. Sometimes changing up the bread heavy dish with a different food star is just the thing to keep it all interesting! Whole grain brown rice in place of your gluten-free bread, baked with all the typical stuffing vegetables and herbs, makes this recipe a holiday showstopper!

Rice Stuffing vs Casserole

You've probably seen many recipes for "wild rice stuffing" that call for a simple stove-top cooking method. I wanted to actually BAKE this brown rice and make it a brown rice casserole. Stuffing (or dressing) is typically baked and sure you can not bake this dish, but baking all the ingredients together, with the savory herbs rosemary, thyme, and sage, plus a gluten-free bread crumb top, makes this dish not only Thanksgiving/holiday-approved but any old weeknight dinner-approved casserole too! All the flavors get to mingle and infuse together, making the rice and veggies so soft and flavorful!

How to make brown rice stuffing

I based this recipe off my gluten-free vegan stuffing but added a few extra goodies to tie it all together and take boring brown rice from bland to BAM!

What you need:

Long Grain Brown Rice
Vegetable Broth (you can use chicken broth too!)
Celery
Carrots
Mushrooms
Onion
Garlic
Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Black Pepper
Craisins (aka dried cranberries)
Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs (optional to add!)

Steps to make it:

You'll need to cook your brown rice according to package directions, using the vegetable broth instead of water (adds 100% more flavor!)
While the rice is cooking, saute your veggies, spices, and herbs until they're soft. Do this in a cast iron skillet, which you can bake the entire casserole in. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, just use your typical saute pan.
Add the rice to the veggies, mix in the cranberries. Now either transfer the mixture to a new casserole dish or simply bake it all right in the cast iron skillet.
Before baking, top the stuffing with the bread crumbs and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

Can you use white rice instead?

You can use long grain white rice if you prefer. Cook the rice according to the package directions, but note that it may be a bit mushier after you bake the stuffing casserole. Brown rice is sturdier and holds up better to the long cooking and baking process.

Naturally gluten-free, allergy-free, and vegan

Brown rice is underrated. There's something about plain brown rice that always gets me. That natural, earthy flavor, hearty bite, it's so good on its own, but we can make it even better by dressing it up with veggies, herbs, spices, and pops of color. It's a naturally gluten-free whole grain, so you don't have to buy or make your own gluten-free bread for a typical stuffing! Using all real food ingredients, it's allergy-free and vegan too!

Gluten-Free
Vegan
Allergy-free (Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Peanut-Free, Wheat-Free, Sesame-Free, Corn-Free, Coconut-Free)
Oil-Free
Sugar-Free
Kid-Friendly
Whole Food Ingredients
Great Source of Protein, Fiber, Complex Carbohydrates + Veggies!

Make it ahead of time

Casserole, by definition, means making the dish ahead of time is a given! You can prep the entire stuffing before your big holiday celebration or have this dish ready for a week of dinners.

Make the entire dish and freeze it in a foil-wrapped casserole dish before baking it. To reheat and finish cooking, bake the dish for 10-15 minutes longer than the recipe states.
If you opt to bake it, you can freeze the baked stuffing casserole and reheat at 325°F - 350°F for 10-15 minutes before serving as well.
If you're just making the dish a day or two before, cover the casserole dish with foil, place it in the fridge, and warm in the oven before serving for a few minutes at 325°F - 350°F.

With rich savory herbs and the pops of sweet dried cranberry, this brown rice stuffing is a flavor explosion! I think it could make for a fantastic vegetarian meal even if it's actually a side dish! It's perfect for any cold weeknight where you need some "healthy" comfort food to warm you up, body and soul! The family will love it (I know mine did!)

More rice recipes to try: