Festive cranberry stuffing loaded with scrumptious ingredients like cranberries, pecans, sage, onions, Italian bread, and more. It goes perfectly with all other traditional holiday dinner dishes and bring an extra pop of flavor.
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In my home, at least one of the holidays features this signature Cranberry Stuffing. It’s got all of the elements of classic stuffing that you know and love, but it’s enhanced by sweet dried cranberries and crunchy chopped pecans!
This is especially a favorite of mine to cook for the Christmas dinner, since cranberries are more associated with December holidays.
One very important element of this stuffing (and all homemade stuffing recipes, for that matter) is the stale bread. You cannot make good stuffing with fresh, soft bread. With that being said, you have nothing to fear if the only bread you have is freshly baked. I have a few quick and easy steps listed below that can stale even the freshest baked bakery breads!
How to Make Stale Bread Fast
Prepare.
Preheat your oven to 200°F. While that’s heating up, cut the bread into small cubes that are about 1/4-1/2 inch in size.
Note that it’s best to use a serrated bread knife to slice soft bread.
Bake the bread.
Spread the cubed bread into two baking dishes. Place the trays in the oven and let the bread bake and harden for 2 hours.
Once the bread has hardened and feels stale, you can immediately start preparing the stuffing.
How To Make Cranberry Stuffing
Prepare. About an hour before you plan to start making the stuffing, combine the cranberries, vinegar, and one cup of broth in a bowl. Let the cranberries soak for an hour.
Once an hour has passed, remove the cranberries from the mixture, but do NOT discard that liquid! You’ll need it.
Sauté. Heat a pan over medium heat and add oil. Sauté the diced onions until they’re soft and transparent, then toss in the soaked cranberries and chopped pecans. Sauté everything together for a few minutes.
Combine. In a small bowl, whisk together the leftover cranberry broth, broth, eggs, apple juice, and seasoning until fully combined. In another larger bowl, combine the stale bread cubes, sautéed onions, cranberries, nuts, and sage. Mix everything together a few times. Pour the broth and egg mixture over the stuffing ingredients. Mix it all together thoroughly.
Bake the stuffing. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 baking dish. Transfer the Cranberry Stuffing to the prepared baking dish and bake for about 35-45 minutes.
Make Ahead Instructions
When it comes to stuffing, you already need to plan ahead. You can set time aside to stale the bread naturally for a day or two.
Just dice the bread, spread it out onto two baking sheets, and let it naturally go stale in a cool dark place for 24-48 hours. (Of course, if you forgot, there is a way to stale it quickly. Check above.)
Another great way to prepare this stuffing ahead of time is to prep it up to the baking step and refrigerate until the next day. Make sure to cover the baking dish air-tight with plastic wrap or a fitted lid and place it in your refrigerator!
When you’re ready to bake the cranberry stuffing, simply remove the plastic wrap or lid and bake it per recipe instructions. (Note, you may need to add 5 minutes or so to bake time since you’re starting with a cold stuffing.)
More Holiday Side Dish Recipes To Try
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Cranberry Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 18 oz French baguette or Italian loaf
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries
- 1 cup vegetable broth to soak cranberries
- 1 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 Vidalia onion diced
- 1 1/2-2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 cup apple juice
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 5-6 fresh sage leaves minced
- 1 tsp kosher coarse or sea salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
Making stale bread:
- Preheat oven to 200°. Cut bread slices into small cubes that are about 1/4-1/2-inch in size. Use serrated bread knife to cut easier.Spread bread in two large, rimmed baking sheets evenly and place the trays in the oven.Let them bake and harden for about 2 hours.Take them out and you can prepare the stuffing right away.
Stuffing:
- About an hour before making this stuffing, combine cranberries, vinegar and 1 cup of broth in a bowl and let it soak. Drain cranberries when ready to cook but do not discard broth.
- Preheat sauté pan, over medium heat. Add oil and diced onions and sauté until onions are transparent. Add plumped cranberries and pecans. Sauté together for a few minutes.
- Add enough vegetable broth to the broth drained from the cranberries to make 2 1/2 cups together.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the broth, eggs, apple juice, and seasoning. Whisk well.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine dried bread cubes, sautéed onion, cranberries, and nuts, and sage. Mix a few times and then pour in the broth and egg mixture as you mix everything together thoroughly.
- Preheat the oven to 350° and grease a 9×13 baking dish. Transfer the stuffing into the baking dish and spread it evenly.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: prep it up to the baking step and refrigerate until the next day. Make sure to cover the baking dish air-tight with plastic wrap or a fitted lid and place it in your refrigerator!
When you’re ready to bake the cranberry stuffing, simply remove the plastic wrap or lid and bake it per recipe instructions. (Note, you may need to add 5 minutes or so to bake time since you’re starting with a cold stuffing.) - Storing: store any leftovers either in the air-tight food storage container or in the same baking pan just covered air-tight. Make sure to store leftover stuffing the the refrigerator. It should last up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Originally published on Will Cook For Smiles on November 14, 2014.
Glenda says
Gorgeous! I think the tart-sweet of the cranberries is a perfect addition to stuffing. And yes, we always call it stuffing, even though we never prep it in the bird. 🙂 We’re rebels like that!
lyuba says
🙂 Thank you, Glenda!!
I don’t think I’ve ever even tried it cooked in bird.
Nicole says
What a beautiful side dish. Sounds delicious and looks so festive. Perfect for the holiday table!
lyuba says
Thank you so much, Nicole!
Karen H says
I would love to try the Meyer Lemon Olive Oil.
Thank you!
Madeline says
I’d love to try the Orange Blossom Champagne Vinegar. It would be delicious in a salad dressing. Found it here: http://www.ooliveoil.com/store/o-orange-blossom-champagne-vinegar.html
Elizabeth says
They carry so many wonderful products…I would like to try the O Pomegranate Champagne Vinegar http://www.ooliveoil.com/store/pomegranate.html for starters =)
KAPP says
Would love to try their champagne vinegar ( http://www.ooliveoil.com/store/best-sellers/champagne-vinegar.html) in my salad dressing along with EVOO of course…I’m craving salad just thinking about it! This giveaway is stupendous … I’d love to win…thanks for hosting it.
Kelly D says
I would like the O Tahitian Lime Olive Oil
http://www.ooliveoil.com/store/tahitian-lime.html
Carla says
Cranberry stuffing oh my…………..Yummy!
lyuba says
Thank you, Carla!
Lynzee Mathews says
I would love to try the roasted garlic olive oil. I think that it would be amazing to dip bread in for a pre-dinner snack! 🙂
Andrea D. says
I would love to try the roasted garlic olive oil.
Heather B says
I think I would most like to try the O Honey Apple Cider Vinegar. http://www.ooliveoil.com/store/honey-apple.html
Janet M. says
It’s hard to pick one, but, if pressed, I’d pick the Jalapeno Citrus Olive Oil.
http://www.ooliveoil.com/store/jalenpeno-citrus.html