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Active Time
2 hours
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Total Time
3 hours, 30 minutes
Just in time for Thanksgiving, we’ve given the stunningly deliciousVegduckenan autumnal makeover. This year’s entirely meatless take on turducken focuses on autumnal flavors with butternut squash, sweet potato, and parsnip filling in for the traditional meats. The mushroom-cranberry stuffing makes use of leftover vegetable scraps, making the dish#wasteless. It's the ideal vegetarian entrée for Thanksgiving dinner. Note that Parmigiano Reggiano is not vegetarian; you'll want to use a vegetarian-friendly version, such as BelGioioso.
Ingredients
6 servings
Special Equipment
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast pumpkin seeds on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing once, until fragrant and slightly darkened, 8–10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
Step 2
Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil. Cut potato in half lengthwise. Using a medium-size, quick-release ice cream scoop or heavy spoon, scoop out flesh, leaving a small divot down the center. Reserve potato filling.
Step 3
Place potato halves and parsnip in a large heatproof bowl; cover with plastic wrap. Microwave on high 5 minutes. Carefully check to see if vegetables are fork tender; if not, re-cover and microwave in 1-minute bursts until tender. (Alternatively, roast potato halves and parsnip on a rimmed baking sheet in a 400°F oven until fork-tender, about 50 minutes for parsnip and 30 minutes for potatoes. Let cool slightly.)
Step 4
Meanwhile, cut squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds, and discard. Scoop out flesh, leaving a divot deep enough to fit potato inside and at least a ½" border on all sides. Reserve squash filling.
Step 5
Using a fork, pierce insides of squash and potato halves, then pierce parsnip all over.
Step 6
Pulse garlic and thyme in a food processor, scraping down sides as necessary. Add paprika, ¼ cup oil, and 1 Tbsp. kosher salt and continue to pulse until a thick paste forms, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl.
Step 7
Working in batches, pulse squash and potato filling in food processor until coarsely chopped, about 30 seconds. Transfer to a large bowl. Pulse 4 oz. mushrooms in food processor until coarsely chopped, about 30 seconds. Transfer to same bowl and stir to combine.
Step 8
Heat 1 Tbsp. garlic-oil mixture in a large nonstick skillet over medium until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add vegetable purée and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is browned and moisture releases, about 12 minutes. Return to bowl and let cool.
Step 9
Add eggs, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, cranberries, 3 Tbsp. parsley, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, ¼ tsp. pepper, and ¼ cup pumpkin seeds to bowl and mix to combine.
Step 10
Place squash halves, cut side up, on prepared baking sheet. Using a pastry brush, coat inside with garlic-oil mixture. Using the back of a spoon, press 1 cup vegetable mixture into each half until interior is fully coated.
Step 11
Nestle potato halves, cut side up, inside squash halves. Brush with garlic-oil mixture. Using the back of a spoon, press 6 Tbsp. vegetable mixture into each half until interior is fully coated. Discard remaining vegetable mixture.
Step 12
Trim parsnip to fit inside 1 potato half. Brush parsnip with garlic-oil mixture and place inside.
Step 13
Cut 3 (18") lengths of kitchen twine. Slip twine under 1 squash half, then top with second squash half so cut sides face each other, and press down to seal. Tightly tie twine around squash to secure. Brush top with garlic-oil mixture, reserving remaining mixture, and season with ½ tsp. kosher salt. Wrap squash tightly in foil and place in center of baking sheet. Using 2 loaf pans or small metal bowls turned upside down, keep squash secure on baking sheet.
Step 14
Bake vegducken, carefully flipping halfway through, until squash is tender, 1 hour–1 hour, 20 minutes. Let rest 15 minutes.
Step 15
Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. reserved garlic-oil mixture in a medium pot over medium-low until beginning to brown and smells fragrant, about 30 seconds. Cook shallot, bay leaves, and remaining 12 oz. mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add broth, bring to a simmer, and cook 30 minutes.
Step 16
Strain mushroom mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl; wipe out pot. Cook flour and remaining 2 Tbsp. oil in pot over medium heat, stirring constantly, until nutty brown and thickened, about 8 minutes.
Step 17
Add wine, bring to a simmer, and cook 3 minutes. Add mushroom broth, 1 Tbsp. parsley, ¼ tsp. kosher salt, and ¼ tsp. pepper, and return to a simmer. Season to taste.
Step 18
把vegducken砧板切成1”slices with a serrated knife, transferring to serving plates as you go. Spoon gravy over. Top with remaining ¼ cup pepitas and 2 Tbsp. parsley. Season with sea salt and serve.
The sizes of the squash, sweet potato, and parsnip can vary a bit from the lengths specified; the key is that they fit/nestle into one another. When possible, choose squash that has a neck and bulb and sweet potato that are as uniform in width as possible. If necessary, use 1 medium and 1 small sweet potato and trim, then stagger to fit together into the squash.
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Reviews (12)
Back to TopThis recipe may be hard to read and labor intensive to make, but it's absolutely worth it. This is my favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving main I've ever made, and I love that it feels as special and project-y as a whole bird. The stuffing is awesome and makes the whole dish. The gravy was pretty good too, but I am thinking I may try a dry hard cider instead of white wine next year.
Alek
11/26/2021
Without extended family this year my wife and I decided to have a vegetarian Thanksgiving. We use butternut squash often in soups so this recipe captured our attention. I was used to a lot of Thanksgiving Day prep, with turkey, dressing, mashing potatoes, gravy, etc., so the work wasn't intimidating, although I did underestimate the effort and elapsed timeframe. I found the instructions very clear, detailed and helpful, and the construction approach appealed to my engineering mind. I struggled viewing the recipe on my phone with the ingredients at the top, away from the instructions, and will likely print them out next time. I peeled the sweet potato and parsnip (a reviewer mentioned not pealing the sweet potato) so they were both excellent to eat. I'm not sure the pumpkin seeds added much but I'm not sure about the suggestion of pine nuts as they have a strong flavor in themselves. Would be interesting if you particularly like that flavor. I used a melon baller to clean out the squash and sweet potato and it worked great. Food processing the potato, squash and mushrooms gave a great base for the stuffing (and we saved the leftover for something interesting tomorrow). The garlic-oil-paprika-salt paste was a new idea and provided utility and flavor at multiple steps. I didn't have cooking twine so made two narrow band out of an 18" sheet of aluminum foil cut in half, rolling up the foil lengthwise to create something to tie the construction together. Someone mentioned leaving all the mushrooms in the gravy but we added some back into the gravy and saved the rest for other dishes. I will use at least 3 T of flour for the gravy next time, we had to add more. The one timing item missing from the recipe was the time needed to thicken the gravy, which was at least 20 min for us. Might try making the gravy the night before next time. We are sodium conscious so pared down the salt content in a few places. We cooked it at 400 for 1h 15m and then turned down to 375 for another 20m, for simultaneous cooking of stuffing and pie. It could probably have used another 15-20 for the squash but was definitely edible. The final presentation was awesome and we really enjoyed the flavors, especially with the gravy. Time intensive but Thanksgiving worthy!
jdhtucson
Tucson, AZ
11/27/2020
I found it time consuming to make. However, It was Thanksgiving and for a special vegetarian. We all like it but the leftovers were not used. Looked great.
Anonymous
堪萨斯托皮卡
4/19/2020
I ended up making a combo of this and the 2015 recipe as I had eggplant but not parsnip or zucchini. I can understand why this seemed tasteless and mushy to some, because the vegetables are full of water and flavors need to be concentrated. So I did the prep completely differently from the instructions above. First, I microwaved the halved yam for a minute and the halved squash for 5 minutes. This softened them enough to enable scooping out. I used a melon baller which worked well. I diced the innards of the squash, yam, and eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes, tossed with some oil and a pinch of salt, and roasted them at 400F until they started to brown and shrink, about 15-20 minutes (did in batches so not precise on the timing). This concentrated the flavors, eliminated excess moisture, and allowed for some caramelization and thus richer flavors. I also roasted the shiitakes and left them as strips in the filling. While roasting, I prepped the rest of the filling ingredients. Since we have some allergies, I used GF breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast (1:1 sub for the parmesan). I made the oil with black garlic (can’t digest regular garlic) by mashing it into a paste and adding oil and thyme. Pureed the roasted veg and stirred into the rest of the filling ingredients. Instead of the parsnip I used a row of roasted halved brussel sprouts. Assembled as per directions. Trussed and wrapped in foil and baked 1 hour, then unwrapped and baked about 30 minutes more to brown. Everyone loved the flavors. Three forks due to it falling apart while slicing; the engineers at my table were wondering if using wooden skewers to hold the layers together while slicing would work. Other letdown was trying to remove the squash skin at table. Otherwise, would make again. A lot of work, but could certainly make the filling one day, assemble the next day, and bake on the third day.
pf1cooking
Philadelphia, PA
12/7/2019
I was so disappointed with how this recipe turned out! It was very time-consuming and I threw more than half of it away because it was that bad. I cook all the time and I'm far from a fussy eater. This is one of the worst things that I've ever made and it was probably the most work. My family found the flavors to be very strange together. The texture of the seeds in the stuffing was unappealing. The peel left on the sweet potato was also unappetizing. I let the squash cook much longer than recommended (despite being exactly the size called for in the recipe) and it was still slightly underdone and very bland. I chose to make it based on the fantastic reviews, but I will warn others to proceed with caution. If you choose to make it I hope you have better luck than I did! Also, read the full recipe to be sure you know what you're getting into as it's a big project, in my opinion, especially considering the results.
kathrynamyconn
Northern NY
12/16/2016
Wonderful recipe even for a meateater like me. Time consuming but you can skip the sweet potato and parsnip and use only the delicious mushroom stuffing. I cooked it a vey longtime and it was perfect (2, 5 hours). Do make the gravy, it is a must with this butternut squash!
bretonne
France
11/30/2016
I made this on thanksgiving. It is not as complicated as it sounds. You don't need the gravy. I made it vegen with good result by omitting egg and Parmesan and adding vegen cheese ( specifically vegen pepper jack). You just cook the parsnip and sweet potato, crave out the squash, make the stuffing and oil garlic rub, put it together. Don't have to worry about sizes of things as the sweet potato and parsnip can be cut to size and the sweet potato can be scooped out after cooking when you put it inside. Peel it. We all enjoyed it and carving at table
jceverett
Arlington
11/25/2016
Made it yesterday. Time consuming but fairly straight forward. Scraping raw squash out of a shell was a workout, but I think it'll be worth it when I slice it open tomorrow! Wish I could post a picture..
jchristiansumn
Brooklyn
11/23/2016
I want to make this and I'm wondering if anyone sees a reason why it can't be assembled today and baked on Thanksgiving... I can't find any. It sounds terrific!
dlg6187
Lancaster PA
11/21/2016
It is NOT "entirely meatless" when you add Parmesan. Parmesan is made with RENNET which comes from cutting up the calves stomachs into tiny pieces. So please beware! Otherwise very tasty recipe.
Vegginin
Sweden
11/18/2016
I did make this dish. My husband and I enjoyed this tasty meatless entree. My changes were as follows: MORE garlic, toasted pine nuts instead of pumpkin seeds, I peeled the skin off the garnet yam before microwaving, did not strain or thicken the gravy, over stuffed the squash and cooked open faced for longer than 1 hour. (not tied up) ( I could not bring my self to "discard" the left over stuffing. What a waste.) The bottom half of the squash, as a result, was a bit crunchy. (Perhaps some pre cooking of the squash skin side up before stuffing would solve this problem.) It still tasted delicious! Warning: It is a lot of work to get the butternut squash carved out. I would make this again. May I politely request that reviewers actually MAKE the dish before they submit a review?
lecknox
San Francisco Bay Area
11/17/2016
This looks so good! Will definitely be making it!
cookbooker
San Francisco, CA
11/12/2016
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