Gluten-free stuffing made with cheddar biscuits in a baking dish

Gluten-Free Stuffing with Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Name: Gluten-Free Stuffing with Cheddar Garlic Biscuits
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients: 1 pouch (12.3 oz) Pamela's Gluten-Free Cheddar Garlic Drop Biscuit Mix; 2/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese; 1 cup cold water; 4 tablespoons butter; 1 large onion, diced; 3 celery stalks, diced; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, or 2 teaspoons dried; 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried; 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, warmed; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; Salt, to taste

on Oct 14 2026

Table of Contents

Most gluten-free stuffing is disappointing for one reason, and it is not the seasoning. It is the bread.

Gluten-free sandwich bread is low in fat and holds together loosely, which is fine in a sandwich and a disaster in a casserole dish full of broth. It absorbs everything, gives up, and turns into paste. Anyone who has made stuffing with cubed gluten-free bread knows the texture, and it is why a lot of people stopped trying.

A biscuit does not do that. There is more fat in it and more structure, so it takes on broth and stays a distinct piece of bread. You get the thing stuffing is supposed to be: crisp and golden on top, soft and savory underneath, with pieces you can still identify.

These start with Pamela's Cheddar Garlic Drop Biscuit Mix, which brings garlic and chives along with it, so half the seasoning is handled before you start. So good, no one will guess they are gluten-free, the way Pamela's has done it since 1988.

What Kind of Bread Is Best for Gluten-Free Stuffing?

Something with fat and structure, which rules out most gluten-free sandwich bread.

Wheat bread works in stuffing because gluten gives it a network that survives soaking. Gluten-free bread has no such network, so it relies on starch and gums, and both give way when saturated.

What actually works, in rough order:

Biscuits. The most fat and the most structure. Holds its shape better than anything else here.

Cornbread. The traditional Southern answer and a genuinely good one. Slightly crumblier than a biscuit, sweeter, and it gives a softer stuffing.

A sturdy artisan-style gluten-free loaf, if you dry it thoroughly. Works, but it is the most likely to go soft.

Whatever you use, it has to be dried first. That is not optional and it is the step most recipes rush. More on it below.

Drying the Biscuits

Fresh biscuits will not work. A soft biscuit hits broth and dissolves. A dried one absorbs and holds.

The overnight method, which is best: bake the biscuits, let them cool, cube them into roughly 3/4-inch pieces, and leave them uncovered on a sheet pan overnight. They go firm and slightly stale, which is exactly what you want.

The same-day method: cube the cooled biscuits and toast at 275 degrees F for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring once or twice, until they are dry all the way through and lightly golden. Cool completely before using.

How to tell they are ready. Break one in half. If the center is still soft or springy, keep going. It should feel dry and light, closer to a crouton than a biscuit.

Do not cube them too small. Three-quarters of an inch is right. Smaller pieces lose their identity in the pan, and the whole point is that you can still see them.

This is the step that decides the dish. If your stuffing has ever turned to mush, this is almost certainly why.

Why Cheddar Garlic

Any of the drop biscuit mixes would work here. The Cheddar Garlic is the one that earns its place, because it arrives already seasoned for this.

Garlic and chives are already in the mix, which means the biscuit is not a neutral carrier waiting for you to flavor it. It comes with savory built in.

And you fold sharp cheddar into the dough, which melts into pockets. Those pockets stay recognizable through the drying and the baking, and they are the reason this tastes different from every other stuffing on the table.

The mix this is built on Pamela's Gluten-Free Cheddar Garlic Drop Biscuit Mix Real buttermilk, garlic, and chives in the mix. Add your own shredded sharp cheddar. GFCO-certified gluten-free and kosher.

The Buttermilk mix works too if you want a plainer base, and you would add a little more garlic and herbs to compensate.

One pouch makes enough for an 8-inch square pan, serving 6 to 8. Double it for a 9x13, which is what most holiday tables need.

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes, plus drying

Yield 6 to 8 servings

Serving Size 1 cup

Ingredients

1 pouch (12.3 oz) Pamela's Gluten-Free Cheddar Garlic Drop Biscuit Mix
2/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup cold water
4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, or 2 teaspoons dried
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth, warmed
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Salt, to taste

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Directions

Make the biscuits first, ideally the day before. Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Stir the biscuit mix with the shredded cheddar, add the cold water, and stir about fifteen stirs until the dough looks shaggy. Drop 12 mounds onto a parchment-lined sheet and bake 14 minutes.
Cool the biscuits completely, then cut into roughly 3/4-inch cubes.
Dry the cubes. Either spread them on a sheet pan and leave uncovered overnight, or toast at 275 degrees F for 35 to 45 minutes, stirring once or twice, until dry all the way through. Cool completely.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter an 8-inch square baking dish.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and celery until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in the sage, thyme, and pepper and cook 1 minute more.
Put the dried biscuit cubes in a large bowl and add the vegetables with all the butter. Toss.
Add about two thirds of the warm broth, toss, and wait 2 minutes. Squeeze a handful. It should hold together and feel damp. Add more broth until it does, then season with salt.
Transfer to the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.
Uncover and bake another 20 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp. Rest 5 minutes before serving.

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Gluten-Free Cheddar Garlic Drop Biscuit Mix

Recipe Tips & Notes

Stuffing vs Dressing

Wetter than looks right, and this is the other place people go wrong.

The cubes should be thoroughly moistened but not sitting in liquid. Squeeze a handful. It should hold together and feel damp, and a little liquid should come out. If it crumbles, add more broth.

Add the broth gradually. Pour in about two thirds, toss, wait two minutes for it to absorb, then judge. Biscuit cubes drink more slowly than bread cubes.

Cover for the first 25 minutes, uncover for the last 20. Covered lets the middle steam and set. Uncovered gives you the crisp top, which is the part everyone fights over.

If it looks dry coming out, drizzle a few tablespoons of warm broth over the top and let it sit five minutes. It will take it.

Making It Ahead

Stuffing is a holiday dish, which means the oven is the bottleneck. Nearly all of this can happen before the day.

Bake and cube the biscuits up to 3 days ahead. Store the dried cubes in a paper bag or a loosely covered container at room temperature. Not airtight, which traps the moisture you just removed.

Cook the vegetables up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate.

Assemble up to a day ahead. Combine everything, put it in the dish, cover, and refrigerate. Add 10 to 15 minutes to the bake coming from cold, and take the cover off for the last 20 minutes.

Freezing works for up to a month, assembled and unbaked. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as usual.

What not to do ahead: do not add the broth more than a day out. The cubes keep absorbing, and by day two you are back to paste.

How Wet Should Stuffing Be?

Stuffing vs Dressing

Stuffing goes inside the bird. Dressing bakes in a dish. That is the only real difference, and half the country uses the wrong word cheerfully.

This recipe is dressing, technically. It bakes in a pan.

Do not stuff a turkey with it. Beyond the food safety issue, which is real, a biscuit-based stuffing inside a bird gets no air and turns dense. The crisp top is most of the appeal and you lose it entirely.

If you want the flavor of the bird in it, spoon a few tablespoons of pan drippings over the top before baking.

Ways to Change It Up

Sausage. 1/2 pound of bulk breakfast or Italian sausage, browned and folded in. Check the label, since many contain wheat.

Apple. One firm tart apple, diced, cooked with the onion and celery. Good against the cheddar.

Mushrooms. 8 oz sliced and sautéed until the liquid cooks off.

Fresh herbs. 2 tablespoons chopped sage, thyme, or a mix, added to the vegetables. The mix brings chives, but sage is what makes stuffing taste like stuffing.

More cheddar. 1/2 cup shredded, folded in before baking.

Bacon. 4 slices, crisped and crumbled, with a little of the fat in place of some butter.

What This Contains

This stuffing contains milk and soy.

Milk comes from the buttermilk, butter powder, and whey in the mix, the cheddar you add, and the butter for the vegetables. Soy comes from soy flour and soy lecithin. Both are core ingredients, so this cannot be made dairy-free or vegan.

Check your broth. Some contain wheat, and many contain soy. This matters more than people expect on a holiday table.

If you need dairy-free, our Biscuit & Scone Mix contains no milk and no soy and lets you add your own fat and liquid. You would add garlic and herbs yourself, use oil instead of butter for the vegetables, and skip the cheese.

Eggs and tree nuts are not ingredients here, but Pamela's products are made on equipment that processes both.

Every Pamela's product is certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization, made in a certified gluten-free, peanut-free facility, and certified kosher.

Other Recipe Notes

The biscuits must be dried before they meet the broth. This is the single most important step, and skipping it is why gluten-free stuffing turns to mush.

Store dried cubes loosely covered, not airtight. An airtight container traps the moisture you just removed.

Double everything for a 9x13 pan, which serves 12 to 16.

To assemble ahead, combine everything, refrigerate covered up to a day, and add 10 to 15 minutes to the bake.

Check your broth for wheat and soy.

Copyright Pamela's Products, Inc.

Recipe FAQs

Something with fat and structure. Biscuits work best, cornbread is a close second, and a sturdy artisan-style loaf will do if you dry it thoroughly. Avoid soft gluten-free sandwich bread, which has too little fat to hold together once it takes on broth and collapses into paste.

Yes, and with gluten-free bread it matters more than with wheat. Cube the biscuits and leave them uncovered overnight, or toast them at 275 degrees F for 35 to 45 minutes until dry all the way through. Break one open to check. If the center is still soft, keep going.

Most of it. Dry the biscuit cubes up to 3 days ahead and store them loosely covered, not airtight. Cook the vegetables up to 2 days ahead. You can assemble the whole thing a day before and refrigerate, adding 10 to 15 minutes to the bake. Do not add broth more than a day out.

Almost always undried bread, or bread that was too soft to begin with. Gluten-free sandwich bread has little fat and no gluten network, so it gives way when saturated. Use biscuits or cornbread, cube them at about 3/4 inch, and dry them completely before the broth goes anywhere near them.

Stuffing cooks inside the bird and dressing bakes in a separate dish. This recipe is dressing. Bake it in a pan rather than inside a turkey, since a biscuit-based stuffing gets no air inside a bird and turns dense, and the crisp top is most of the appeal.