Apple Cranberry Stuffing – Moist with a Crispy Top
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 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!
Servings 8
Calories 292kcal
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 8x10) 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
To dry bread cubes - spread them out on a baking sheet and let them dry and harden overnight. Alternatively, you can dry them out on a baking sheet in the oven at 300° F (150° C) in a bout 20-30 minutes. Just make sure to toss the bread cubes about half way through to make sure they get evenly dried out.
Prepping ahead of time – dish can be prepped up to a day in advance before baking and stored covered in the refrigerator. Let it sit on the counter for 1 hour to bring it to room temperature and then bake as instructed.
Nutrition
Calories: 292kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 43mg | Sodium: 584mg | Potassium: 213mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 679IU | Vitamin C: 9mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 3mg