Thanksgiving Apple Stuffing

I have been cooking with apples more and more lately.  Before I couldn’t stand the taste and texture of cooked apples and now I’m finding that I can tolerate it a bit more.

I still don’t want any apple pie though!  You all can have that.

I’ve also been toying around with new ideas for some holiday dishes and one I played with was stuffing.  Oh man both Scott and I love stuffing.  Mmmmm!  I love it super seasoned with crispy edges.  My mom made alright stuffing but you know, I used to really like the box mix stuff!  I used to make that for Scott and I all the time.  Then about nine years ago, I started researching how to make stuffing from scratch and I discovered that it’s not hard at all.

From that point on, I started making homemade stuffing.  This allows me to control the ingredients and how much seasoning I want, it’s a win-win for us all!  Plus you know homemade is better than any box of whatever.

Since I was playing around with stuffing ingredients I decided to add in some chopped apples.  I have a bunch in my fridge and I’ve been using them in lots of dishes lately.  I have seen a lot of talk about apples in stuffing before but never gave it a second thought until now.  In went some apples and out came a great stuffing!

Andrea’s Thanksgiving Apple Stuffing

  • 1/2 Onion, chopped
  • 2 Large Sweet Apples (I used a combo of honeycrisp and Macintosh)
  • 2 Large Carrots, peeled and chopped
  • 1 Clove garlic, grated
  • 1/2 Whole Grain Baguette, cubed
  • 1tsp Garlic Powder
  • Big pinch of Red Pepper flakes
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 2tsp All-Purpose Seasoning (Or poultry seasoning)
  • 1C Chicken Stock (May need additional)
  • Olive Oil for sautéing
  • Shredded Cheddar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a large casserole dish.  In a medium high-sided skillet, drizzle in some olive oil, about 1 TBSP and heat over medium heat.  Add in onions, apple, and carrots.  Coat with oil and season with all of the above seasonings.  Sauté for about 3-4 minutes until all the veggies and apples start to soften.  Add in the bread cubes and combine.  Slowly add in the chicken stock, 1/2C at a time.  Allow the bread to absorb the stock and then add in some more.

The mixture should pull together and start to combine.  If not, add in a touch more stock.  Once everything is combined, remove from heat and place in the casserole dish.  Heat in oven for about 15 minutes until it starts to crisp up.  Then top with shredded cheddar and allow to melt, about another 5 minutes.  Remove and serve immediately!

If I would have had some celery I would have used that here also, but I didn’t have any one hand.  Aside from the missing veg, this stuffing turned out amazing.  It was full of flavor and had plenty of texture from the different ingredients.  The whole grain bread made it way more filling and satisfying.

Of course you can use white bread here if you can’t find whole grain baguette.  The cheddar is optional, I used it because we were having this as a standalone side dish and there was no gravy or sauce to accompany it.  When we have this with Thanksgiving, it should pair really well with the turkey gravy!

If you have turkey stock from your roasting turkey, feel free to use that instead of chicken.

I found a lovely seasoning, called All-Purpose seasoning and it is like a poultry seasoning just with a few extra things tossed in.  Poultry seasoning would be completely fine in this dish if that is what you have available to you.

I never thought I would be eating apples in a stuffing and yet here I am and I can’t get enough!  I’m now desperately excited for Thanksgiving so that I can make this again!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

4 thoughts on “Thanksgiving Apple Stuffing

  1. Mmm…stuffing. I used to not eat it because my mom put too much “stuff” in it. Now it all that extra stuff that I love…as long as she doesn’t OD on cranberries.

    By the way, I was in WF today with my mom and they found the caramels! I can’t believe the ridiculous price, but they are SO yummy!

  2. Bekah says:

    Looked all over for an all natural, from scratch recipe and was very excited to find this one. I have a very picky family and it was a hit! I even just used day old whole wheat standwhich bread and it worked great!

    Thank you so much for posting!

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