hearty whole grain bread is combined with carrots, celery, tart apples and chicken apple sausage to make a tender, perfect-for-thanksgiving baked stuffing.
Poor Thanksgiving tends to get overlooked in the commercial setting. It seems to go straight from Halloween to Thanksgiving. But for me and my family, that’s definitely not the case. As a family of foodies, Thanksgiving is one of our absolute favorite holidays. There’s something so comforting about our whole family in the kitchen, working together to bring our meal to life.
In my family, everyone gets involved. Which means there are always a number of hands in different pots, we’re often bumping into each other and stepping on each other’s toes but we love it all the same.
It’s hard to pick a dish at our Thanksgiving table that I love the most – to me, half the wonder of the meal is how well everything goes together. That said, if my mom’s stuffing was missing from the table, I would be absolutely heartbroken. It’s like the glue that holds the whole meal together if you ask me.
I updated her recipe to add a little more nutrition. I swapped out white bread for whole grain and threw in some chicken apple sausage so that you’re getting whole grains, protein, veggies and fruit all in one fell swoop!
You guys know how much I love one and done dishes and this is absolutely that. It makes for a perfect leftover (especially when topped with homemade cranberry sauce – that recipe is coming soon!) because it’s a fully balanced meal all on it’s own!
If you’re not into sausage though, you can omit that and eat it with leftover turkey too!
No matter how you choose to serve it up, I promise it’ll be a favorite among your guests. It’s also great stuffed into a leftover baked sweet potato 🙂
the best whole grain stuffing
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: side dish
Description
hearty whole grain bread is combined with carrots, celery, tart apples and chicken apple sausage to make a tender, perfect-for-thanksgiving baked stuffing.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf semi-stale whole grain bread, cubed*
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons earth balance or butter
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup turkey stock
- 1 apple, peeled & cubed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 2 chicken apple sausages, cubed
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- Prepare a casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside
- In a non-stick saute pan, add earth balance, onion, celery and carrot and saute about 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are fragrant and just tender
- Add bread cubes, apple, seasonings, chicken sausage and turkey stock and, stir well to combine. Cook for another 5 minutes then transfer entire mixture to a casserole dish.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes or until bread is lightly toasted and veggies are fork tender.
Notes
*Day old bread works best for this as it stands up better in the stock, however you can also quickly toss the bread cubes in the oven (set to 350 degrees F) and toast. You can also cube and leave out on the counter to allow bread to stale.
Keywords: thanksgiving, side dish, stuffing, dressing
This sounds just like my family’s Thanksgiving! So many great memories and delicious food. It’s why it’s my favorite holiday!
Same!! Nothing better than family and good food 🙂