I know I’ve mentioned our weekly potluck meals before, and this creation was in anticipation of one of those. It was a fall themed potluck, and this stuffing went really well alongside apple cider chicken, butternut squash soup, and pumpkin pasta (and pumpkin cheesecake for dessert!!).
A lot of people, as I found out again at this little meal, don’t get just eating stuffing… like not from inside a turkey. (And they didn’t really like stuffing because that is all they knew.) But I grew up where the stuffing was never stuffed, it was just a really yummy side dish to go along with those big fall meals. And this recipe… it delivers! In fact, it converted those non-stuffing believers, and they even asked for the recipe!
This recipe started as a Sausage and Herb Stuffing I found on the food network website. BUT, after reading the reviews I decided I could adapt it a little to make it even better. Plus… when I was melting the butter before cooking the veggies and green apples, I accidentally let the butter start to brown… but that was definitely a happy accident! Veggies and apples cooked in brown butter, uh yeah… delish! And it was just another little layer of flavor this dish needed.
- 16 cups of 1-inch cubes, roasted garlic bread
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
- 2 cups medium-diced sweet onion
- 1 cup medium-diced celery
- 2 granny smith apples, unpeeled, cored and large-diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound sage sausage
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Place the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 7-10 minutes until starting to dry out and get toasty. Remove bread crumbs to a very large bowl. Raise the oven temp to 350 degrees F.
- Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, brown the butter and then add the onions, celery, apples, parsley, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add to the bread cubes in large bowl.
- In the same saute pan, cook the sausage over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, breaking up the sausage while cooking. Add to bread cubes and vegetables.
- Add the chicken stock and cranberries to the mixture, mix well, and pour into a 9x12 baking dish. Bake loosely covered with foil for 30 minutes, and without the foil for another 20, until browned on top and hot in the middle. Serve warm.
- Roasted Garlic Bread are loafs of bread that have whole cloves of roasted garlic baked into the bread. I know it can be found at Costco and Fred Meyer. If you choose to use regular white or sourdough, I'd add roasted garlic to the stuffing mixture!
- I also specifically used Sage Jimmy Dean sausage which has a great sage flavor, you could alternately just add sage as a seasoning and use regular sausage.
So make this stuffing as a side dish for a fall meal you are planning! You will not be disappointed in the layers of flavors this dish has going on! My mouth is watering with thoughts of garlic and sage and brown butter and granny smith apples and sausage and, and, and…
You’ll love it, promise.
Sam
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