Apple Stuffing Recipe
This apple stuffing recipe is holiday worthy! It's cooked with fresh herbs, chopped apples and dried cherries. The fruit adds subtle sweet and tart flavors to this Thanksgiving favorite.
Servings: 16 Servings
Calories: 194kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ loaves (24 oz. each) whole wheat sandwich bread About 12 cups of bread cubes (See Note 1)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 tabelspoon unsalted butter
- 1 large Gala apple about 1 ½ cups (See Note 2 for alternatives)
- 1 cup diced celery ½-inch dice
- ½ cup chopped green onions white and green parts
- ½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme
- ½ cup dried tart cherries
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper or more to taste
- 2 cups chicken broth or more as needed. Use vegetable broth for vegetarian version.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9- by 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Cut the crusts off of the bread. Discard the crusts or reserve for making breadcrumbs.
- Air-dry or oven-dry the bread as needed (See Note 3 below for details). If the bread is oven-dried, let it cool. Place the bread cubes in a large bowl.
- Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Sauté the yellow onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add and melt the butter. Stir in the apple, celery, green onions, parsley, sage and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, until the celery and apples are starting to soften 6 to 8 minutes.
- Scrape the vegetable-apple mixture into the bread mixture, along with the dried cherries, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Pour in the chicken broth and toss to coat the bread. If the bread isn't coated and starting to soften, add additional chicken broth (¼ cup at a time) and toss again.
- ***IMPORTANT: Taste the stuffing for seasoning. If it needs more salt, pepper and/or nutmeg, now is the time to add it!
- Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Bake, uncovered, until the stuffing is heated through and a light crust forms on top. Serve.
Video
Notes
Note 1: I used Franz bread (about 80 calories per slice), which is available in the bread aisle of many grocery stores. This is reflected in the nutritional information.
Note 2: Use a crisp, sweet apple, such as Gala, Golden Delicious or Fuji. Avoid tart apples, such as Granny Smith.
Note 3: Two ways to dry the bread...
- Air dry: A couple of days before making the stuffing, remove the crusts and cut the bread into cubes. Spread them on a couple of large baking sheets and allow the bread to air dry.
- Oven dry: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F. Spread the bread cubes onto two large baking sheets and allow the bread to dry in the oven, but don't toast it (i.e., it shouldn't start to brown). This should take about 20 minutes. Flip the bread over halfway through to dry both sides.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup | Calories: 194kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 476mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g
