Yup. It's happening. It's November. AKA best month ever AKA time to get going on some Thanksgiving recipes! I'm starting with....Cranberry Apple Sage Stuffing!!!
Quick story. Last year. Dan and I had the fam and a few friends over to our house and we made most of the Thanksgiving feast. I'm proud to say, I was pleased with almost all of it. I even dry brined the Turkey! Dad made our traditional Tortilla Soup appetizer and delicious Cranberry Daiquiri cocktails, and we had all the requisite Thanksgiving dishes: roasted turkey, green bean casserole, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, Blue Cheese Chive Biscuits, and, of course, stuffing....This is where the "almost" hits. My stuffing was sad. It was drydrydry, and sad. So, I've literally been thinking about a different recipe all year long. Ergo, Cranberry Apple Sage Stuffing.
I'm so excited to tell you, that this stuffing is nothing like my stuffing from last year. Plenty of butter and chicken broth plus a couple eggs give this recipe all the moisture it needs! Also, my favorite part, is the absolute lack of boxed stuffing croutons. I use an unsliced, artisan sourdough bread loaf. I tear up the night before and let sit out over night to stale up. SO. MUCH. BETTER!
Packed with crispy apples, tart cranberries, fresh herbs, onions, celery, and of course butter, chicken broth, you're going to LOVE this recipe. Just as easy as regular, out of the box stuffing, this Cranberry Apple Sage stuffing will really add some extra oomph to your Thanksgiving table this year!
Cranberry Apple Sage Stuffing
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4-6 1x
Ingredients
- 9 cups day old sourdough bread, roughly diced (about 1 artisan loaf)
- 2 ribs celery, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 medium granny smith apple, diced
- 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries
- 2 tablespoons fresh fresh sage, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- Coarse salt, fresh ground black pepper
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9X13 baking dish.
- In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and cook until softened and onions start to become translucent, about 6-7 minutes.
- In a large bowl, mix together bread, apples, cranberries, cooked onion and celery, and fresh herbs.
- Add half of the chicken broth to the mixture and stir until combined.
- In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and the rest of the chicken broth. Pour into the bread mixture, and stir until completely combined.
- Add a couple pinches of salt and pepper, and stir until combined.
- Pour stuffing into prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes and serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
Joan V says
Where did the sage (from the name of the dish) go??
Aberdeen says
???????? well that's embarrassing! I've edited the recipe to include the fresh sage. Thanks for letting me know!
Kristin says
Is it really 1 cup of butter? Seems like a lot.
Aberdeen says
Yup! It keeps the stuffing from ending up too dry.
Marie says
Are you using fresh cranberries or dried? They look like dried in your photos. I'm excited to try this, sounds delicious!
Aberdeen says
Hi Marie! The cranberries are fresh 🙂 They definitely look dried! By the time they're done cooking in the oven they'll have wrinkled a bit. Let me know how it turns out!
Julia says
I’m also wondering if the cranberries are dried or fresh. Also, can a bread besides sourdough be used?
Aberdeen says
Hi Julia,
Yup the cranberries are fresh! Definitely a way better flavor, and using dried cranberries in the first place will give you completely dried out husks by the end of the cooking process (gross). I haven't used a bread besides sourdough for this recipe but I would love you hear about your take on it! Just make sure that the bread is somewhat stale to get the right texture for your stuffing.
Maria says
I made a mistake and bought dried cranberries. Should I still use it? I also, am using store bought bread stuffing. Can I make this dish the night before?
Aberdeen says
Hi Maria! I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you last week! Thanksgiving was busy busy. If you do make this again, dried cranberries are ok to use, they just wont have as much flavor and may dry out a little bit during baking. As for making it the night before, I would only go to step 3, stopping at step 4 (before adding broth, eggs. etc). Otherwise you'll end up with a soggy stuffing!
Molly says
If you use dried cranberries, you can soak them for a few hours to plump them up and then add them 🙂
Deirdre says
hi! Cant wait to try this for Thanksgiving ... would this recipe work if cooking inside the turkey? First time making the feast on my own and I wanted to try something other than my moms traditional stuffing 🙂
Aberdeen says
Absolutely! I've made it inside the turkey as well as in a pan, turns out delicious 👍🏻.
Jenna Timon says
Hi there! I've saved this recipe to make for an event tomorrow and I was wondering what your thoughts might be on making it tonight, refrigerating it and reheating it tomorrow to be served.
Thank you!
Jenna says
Nevermind I see the comment above 🙂
Jessica Fisher says
Can I use vegetable broth? I have a vegatrian at the table.
Aberdeen says
Absolutely!
Lauren says
Making your recipe right now and I just have to ask- 1 cup of butter? Really? I love me some butter, but I don’t want to be swimming in it. 😛
Aberdeen says
Yup! Since it’s 9 cups of cubed bread it keeps the stuffing from getting too dry.
Lauren says
Update- I made it with the full cup of butter and after everything got mixed together, it looked just PERFECT!! I seriously cannot wait to dig in! 🙂
Aberdeen says
Yay! So glad it turned out 😁.
Samantha says
Looking forward to trying this! Wondering can I use pre-packaged stuffing mix..? And would I cook the stuffing on a stove top first you think?
Thanks!
Samantha
Aberdeen says
Wow I'm so sorry! I'm not sure what happened but this comment got lost in the mail so to speak 😣. Sorry again, I hope it turned out ok!
Diana says
Can the stuffing be made the night before and reheated?
Aberdeen says
Absolutely!
Bree says
Are all the spices fresh? Or just the Sage? Recipe list only states Sage as the fresh one, but in the instructions it sounds like all the spices are supposed to be fresh
Aberdeen says
You're right! All fresh herbs. I've updated the recipe to avoid further confusion. Thank you!
Shaun ODonnell says
Can I cook this in the crockpot on low over nite or just start it early in the morning? I'm cooking for 12 people so I've doubled the recipe.
Aberdeen says
I've never cooked it in a crock pot so I'm not sure how it would turn out. I would say start it early in the morning!
Julie says
can I use corn bread instead?
Amita says
Hi, i am a vegetarian. So instead of eggs what can i use. Thanks. Amita
Elizabeth camp says
Can this be frozen ?
Heaven says
Made this last year both inside and outside the turkey and it was amazing! I instantly put it in my recipe book. Nobody ever eats the cranberry sauce I make, so this is my sneaky and delicious way of making everyone eats cranberries--without all the sugar and so tasty! I love that it's more unique than most people's stuffing which makes it a great dish to bring to potlucks and gatherings. Sure to get you lots of compliments!
I am making it again this year, but unfortunately my sourdough starter wasn't ready in time so I'll be making it with regular bread. I'm sure it will be just as delicious though!
Jenny says
I love this recipe, it's a go-to for me and not even on Thanksgiving! As soon as the stores start carrying fresh cranberries I make this. Perfect blend of sweet and savory.
Aberdeen says
Thank you so much!
Susan says
I can dress up a box of stuffing many different ways so it isn’t boring and just boxed stuffing. This is a great from scratch, fresh, flavorful stuffing. Apples, pears, nuts, juice to replace some of the broth, a mixture of various herbs are ways to vary this delicious stuffing.
JC says
ZERO stars!!! DISGUSTING. Absolute waste of ingredients. I followed the recipe Exactly as written. Don’t waste your time or money on ingredients for this recipe. I should have listened to the other negative reviews. Fresh cranberries were the death of this. Don’t….just don’t!!!!!!
Tina says
Hey JC!
Wow! I believe the death of this was your bad attitude. If you don't like cranberries, make a stuffing without the cranberries? Move along and Karen out somewhere else, like the trash can you live in.
Sarah says
This was delicious! I loved the fresh cranberries, they really added some sparkle. It’s going in my recipe book for Thanksgiving (I always do a test early in the year).
Dopree Martinez says
I can't wait to try this recipe. I love the idea of the fresh cranberry. and paired with the sweet apples. yum yum.
has anyone tried it with pears?
K says
Can you do all the prep the day before and then put it in the oven to cook on the day of?