This amazing Apple Cranberry Stuffing recipe is loaded with fresh apples and tart cranberries add a pop of tart sweetness that perfectly compliments the savory fresh herbs (sage, rosemary, parsley and thyme). It gets crisp on top without any foil needed while the rest of the dish stays moist and for the perfect combination of textures. It’s delicious as a Thanksgiving side dish but can be served any time of year!
This stuffing with apples and cranberries has become an all out obsession for me. It’s SO good! In recipe testing, I was basically living on stuffing and not one bit upset about it. So what makes it so darn fabulous? That gooey succulent savory herbed bread paired with the juiciness of the apples and tartness of the cranberries just hits.
Whether you’re looking for a show stopping thanksgiving side dish to pair with my juicy smoked turkey breast recipe or looking to serve it with Christmas or Easter dinner, this stuffing recipe will be a new favorite.
Like the turkey breast, it’s also a (slightly) small batch recipe that will serve 8, while most stuffing recipes are made to feed a small army. Pair with my gourmet garlic confit mashed potatoes and honey orange cranberry sauce and you’re set, dinner is served.
Cranberry apple stuffing recipe is pretty simple too! With veggie broth, it’s easily a vegetarian thanksgiving stuffing recipe so if you’ve got guests that don’t eat meat, you can cover that base without sacrificing any flavor.
You could add sausage after sautéing the onion and celery for a few minutes, but there really isn’t a need. Between those fresh herbs and butter paired with the punchiness of the fruit, it’s more flavorful than it even sounds. Truuuuust me.
What You’ll Need to Make It
You can see the ingredients you’ll need in the recipe card and image below.
How to Make Apple Cranberry Stuffing
This recipe is so simple to make! Here are the steps:
- If you don’t already have dried out bread cubes, tear or cut up a loaf and bake them in a 300°F oven for 20-30 minutes. then, turn the oven up to 350° while you prep the next step.
- Grease the baking dish to prevent sticking.
- Melt butter and sauté that onion and celery. Add apple and cranberries and cook until the apples start to soften.
- Remove from heat and add the herbs.
- In a bowl, whisk your egg and add the broth, salt and pepper.
- Toss everything together, broth mixture, skillet of veggies, herbs and cranberries and the bread cubes.
- Add to the baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes. Rest and then serve alongside your feast!
Recipe Tips
- Don’t skimp on the butter! I test the recipe with reduced butter but it’s frankly not as good. This stuffing recipe is all about the buttah baby so trust the process. 🧈
- Don’t are about being fancy and want to skip a step? Bake that apple cranberry stuffing right in the skillet you cooked the onion, apples and herbs in. Just remove it from the heat and let it sit for for 10-15 minutes before pouring the eggs and broth in to keep the egg from scrambling.
Apple Cranberry Stuffing – Moist with a Crispy Top
Equipment
- 1 spatula or wooden spoon for sauté step
- 1 Large Bowl
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
- 1 loaf crusty bread or baguette cut into cubes and dried (about 9 cups, see notes)
- 6 Tablespoons salted butter 3/4 stick + more for greasing the pan
- 4 celery ribs diced (about 1 cup)
- 1 medium yellow onion diced (about 1 ½ cup)
- 1 large apple or 2 medium cored and chopped (about 1 cup chopped, I used Cosmic Crisp)
- ½ cup dried cranberries sweetened or unsweetened, whatever your preference is
- 1 Tablespoon fresh sage chopped
- 1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 Tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth or veggie broth to make vegetarian
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F (175° C), or raise oven temperature if it was used to dry out bread.
- Grease a medium-sized casserole dish (mine is 8×10) with butter and set aside.
- Melt butter in a large, rimmed skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté celery and onion for about 5 minutes until starting to soften. Add apple and cranberries and sauté for another 5 minutes until soft.
- Add the sage, rosemary, thyme and parsley, stir and remove from heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg. Whisk in the broth, salt and pepper.
- Toss in bread cubes and veggie apple herb mixture and mix well. Stuffing should be moist but not overly wet. You’ll probably need to stir it for about 2-3 minutes to allow the bread cubes to absorb the moisture.
- Add stuffing mixture to greased baking dish. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 35-40 minutes until lightly crisped on top (cover with foil if you don’t want it crisp). Remove from oven and let sit for about 20 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
did you make this recipe?
Make sure to follow on Pinterest @feastingnotfasting and on Instagram @feastingnotfasting
Leave a Review