There’s a nip in the air, even here in sunny Los Angeles, reminding me that Thanksgiving is right around the corner– a time of year that makes me very, very happy. Thanksgiving is my very favorite non-Jewish holiday, so I was tickled to learn that it may have been inspired by the Jewish holiday Sukkot. It’s not the roasted turkey or the NFL football or the pumpkin pie that makes me love this holiday… although I must admit, that stuff is great! I was actually born on Thanksgiving, and the arrival of the holiday reminds me how thankful I am to be alive. I always look forward to our cozy meal with family and friends. We gather to remind ourselves how grateful we are for our many blessings. What could be better than that?
Some Jews do not observe Thanksgiving, as they abstain from celebrating all non-Jewish holidays. However, most American Jews do celebrate Thanksgiving because it is a non-religious holiday that is more about being American than being religious. In our family, T-Day is actually our second biggest family gathering (our largest celebration is Passover). We believe that anything good and positive is cause for celebration, which means we embrace many holidays that are not traditionally Jewish. In keeping with the way our family celebrates, over the next couple of weeks I’ll be posting some kosher ideas for the Thanksgiving table. I’ll start today with my Challah Chestnut Stuffing.
In an effort to create a culturally blended approach to Thanksgiving, I created this kosher stuffing from challah. Using challah as a base for the stuffing was an easy choice; it’s naturally absorbent, making it well suited to stuffing. For extra savory flavor, my mind immediately went to schmaltz. The combination of eggy challah bread crumbs, schmaltz-seared vegetables, fresh herbs and subtly sweet chestnuts make this stuffing truly unique.
I really recommend cooking this dish with schmaltz, it adds a ton of flavor to the stuffing. If you’re avoiding meat, the stuffing can be made pareve/vegetarian style. Simply substitute margarine for schmaltz (I recommend organic Earth Balance) and use your favorite vegetable broth. Of course, if you’re not worried about keeping kosher, feel free to use butter!
A Note About Chestnuts: I love the slightly sweet flavor and meaty texture of chestnuts, but they can be tough to track down, particularly the pre-peeled variety. You can roast the chestnuts in shell and peel them yourself. I’ve roasted chestnuts before, and I have to say the process of peeling them is difficult and time-consuming. I really recommend the peeled and roasted variety (Gefen’s are kosher, pre-peeled and roasted and are available here). If this all sounds too daunting, you can leave out the chestnuts… the stuffing will taste fine without them.
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Challah Chestnut Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 cup pre-shelled roasted chestnuts or 3/4 lb. chestnuts in shell
- 1/4 cup schmaltz, divided (use butter or margarine to make vegetarian or vegan)
- 8 ounce sliced white mushrooms
- 1 onion, minced
- 2 cups celery, diced including leaves
- 1 cup carrots, diced small
- 1/2 cup curly leaf parsley, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh marjoram, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 quart chicken or vegetable broth (use vegetable broth to make vegetarian or vegan)
- 1 medium loaf of challah bread, cubed (about 10 cups of cubes) (use vegan challah to make vegan)
- 4 large eggs, beaten (substitute 3/4 cup aquafaba for vegan)
Instructions
- If you are using pre-peeled chestnuts, chop them into bits and reserve them in a bowl for later use. If you are using chestnuts in the shell, you will need to roast and peel them before chopping-- in my experience this takes about 45 minutes of prep time.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a skillet, melt 2 tbsp schmaltz or margarine over medium high heat, tilting to coat the bottom of the pan. Spread the mushrooms in a single layer at the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper and turn the heat to high. Let the mushrooms sear without stirring. After 2 minutes, stir the mushrooms continuously for another 2-3 minutes until they are seared golden brown and shrink to half their size.
- Reserve the mushrooms in a bowl, return skillet to the stove. Turn flame to medium high and melt 2 more tbsp of schmaltz or margarine in the skillet. Saute the onion till it softens, then add the celery, carrots, minced garlic cloves and chopped chestnuts.
- Saute mixture for 5 minutes until veggies begin to brown and caramelize. Stir in the seared mushrooms, parsley, and herbs.
- Pour in 3 cups of the chicken or veggie broth (reserve the last cup), bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow mixture to simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I like lots of black pepper!). Remove from heat and let the mixture cool for a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, spread challah bread cubes in a single layer across two cookie sheets and place them in the oven. Let them lightly toast for 5-6 minutes until the edges start to turn golden. You want to dry out the cubes just slightly; they should still retain some of their sponginess.
- Place challah bread crumbs in a very large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, beat the eggs. Pour the eggs over the breadcrumbs, stir with a large wooden spoon or spatula. Add the broth mixture and continue to stir till the vegetables and liquid are fully incorporated into the breadcrumbs.You can use this stuffing to stuff a 10-16 lb. bird, or you can bake the stuffing separately. If stuffing the bird, make sure you follow the appropriate food safety guidelines.
- To bake the stuffing outside the bird, spread the stuffing in an even layer in a 9x13 baking dish and place uncovered in the oven. Let it cook for 30-45 minutes. Check once halfway through cooking; if the stuffing seems too dry, pour more chicken broth evenly across the top. Let it continue to bake till the top turns golden brown.
- Serve hot. To keep this dish vegetarian, use vegetable broth and butter or margarine.
Nutrition
SO GOOD! I couldn’t buy chestnuts in time so I used walnuts instead and roasted them in a pan with olive oil, salt, and cinnamon powder.
I am eating this with parve gravy (Streit’s) for breakfast right now!!! I will definitely use this recipe again.
Thank you.
Delicious ! I just added more Chestnuts thanks
This is the second year I’ve made this stuffing. Just sent this to my sister-in-law and gave her a few suggestions which I’d like to share. First, the prep is more than 15 minutes mentioned above. I wrote myself a note on my copy to cut up all the veggies the day before Thanksgiving for next year. I did toast my challah a day in advance. Like the poster before me, I could not find marjoram so I substituted a little oregano. Last year we made a vegetarian version and it was great too. I am generally not a fan of stuffing but this is delicious! Tori – love your recipes and website!
If I want to make this vegan, what do I substitute the eggs for?
Use 3 tbsp aquafaba for each egg (12 tbsp – or 3/4 cup total aquafaba). Enjoy!
Would give 6 stars if I could. I found this website and recipe out of the blue because I really wanted to use chestnuts and mushrooms in my stuffing. Here are my adjustments and the favor was to die for. All my relatives kept raving about this dish.
1- I bought dried morel mushrooms. I soaked the mushrooms for 30 minutes in mushroom stock I found at the market to intensify the flavor. I Didn’t throw the soaking stock out afterwards. I used 1 cup of the mushroom stock, and 3 cups of chicken stock for my stuffing (Instead of 4 cups of only chicken.)
2- I couldn’t find fresh Challah so I also used sourdough, it tasted great but next time I hope to find challah.
3- I roasted the bread until fully dried out, I didn’t leave it moist at all. I didn’t want mushy stuffing and I’m happy I did this because the texture came out perfectly. I roasted the bread the day before so I didn’t have to do this day of. Wish I would have done the prep of celery, onions, carrots the day before also. I will do that next year.
4- Omitted marjoram because I couldn’t find it at the market.
5- I used the schmaltz and very happy I did. I think it really helped with the overall flavor.
I’ve already sent this recipe on to many others in my family. Thanks so much Tori! Best best best ever.
So glad Alana! Thank you for sharing your modifications. 🙂
What part, if any, could be made ahead and not sacrifice the taste?
Challah cubes can be toasted ahead and kept is a sealed container. All of the vegetables and the chestnuts can be prepped and stored separately in covered containers in the refrigerator.
I plan to use most this recipe and will replace bread with Ritz Crackers. For years I’ve been using Joan Hamburg’s famous recipe which has been modified by Arthur Schwartz since her recipe was very inexact. I’m sure Tori’s recipe takes the guess work out of this dish! It is a family favorite at Thanksgiving.
I love Joan! Have been her guest a few times. 🙂
I loved your recipe. You gave me the courage to try chestnuts, which I always had wanted to do. I omitted the mushrooms & carrots, and just used extra onion and celery. Your herb choices were spot on, and the only fresh one I had was parsley. I used sourdough bread that I had dried, and the egg method brought the perfect custardy texture I was looking for. A sample got rave reviews from my immediate-family testers this morning, and I can’t wait for everyone to try their first chestnut stuffing at the “main event” later today. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Fabulous!
Just what I was looking for; chestnuts & challh . . . Have you ever made this stuffing in a slow cooker?
Hi Paula, Tori’s assistant Ashley here! We have not made this recipe using a slow cooker. If you decide to give it a try please let us know how it turns out!
This could be the best stuffing recipe I’ve ever made. The chestnuts were fabulous as we’re all of the fresh herbs. It was a big hit with the vegetarians at our gathering.
I tried baking my first challah with your recipe and was inspired to make this chestnut challah recipe as well and it was a big hit. Love your site.
Great Tania! Happy to hear that. 🙂
Hi Tori,
I made this recipe the day before Thanksgiving, baked it for 30 minutes on Wednesday and then topped it with a little more broth before reheating. It was a huge hit! I ended up using half low sodium/half regular broth which gave it a nice flavor without causing it to be too salty. And I did not end up making any substitutions for the eggs. Thank you again for your wonderful recipes and your assistance when needed.
You’re welcome Marcia, so happy you liked it!
This sounds like what I was looking for, but my question is can I use poultry seasoning for the herbs? and if so, and then how much would I use and would I only need to use that? Nothing else additional? Please email me directly.I don’t check back on sites to see additional comments very often. Thanks so much.
Hi Denise, as far as using a standard poultry seasoning blend, I’m not quite sure how much you would use. If you’re having difficulty finding fresh herbs, those can be replace with dried herbs, which can be found in the spice section of most supermarkets. Use half the amount of dried herbs to substitute for fresh (example– if it calls for 2 tsp of sage, use 1 tsp dried sage).