Sausage, Apple & Cranberry Stuffing
This traditional Thanksgiving recipe is easy to make since it uses Mrs. Cubbison’s Traditional Seasoned Stuffing as its base. Pork sausage, apple, celery, onion, garlic, pecans, cranberries and fresh sage are added for sweet, savory flavors. If you prefer, you can swap the cranberries with dried plums, apricots or persimmons. Walnuts are also a good substitute for pecans. While stuffing is not going to win the “healthiest side dish” award, cranberries, apples, onions and garlic all contain valuable antioxidants. In fact, cranberries are sometimes called a superfood because they are high in anti-inflammatory anthocyanins, compounds that may protect against liver and heart disease and high blood pressure.
Makes: 10 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients
1 box (12 oz. or 5 cups) of Mrs. Cubbison’s Traditional Seasoned Stuffing (or other boxed stuffing or toasted bread cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 pound pork sausage, crumbled
¼ cup unsalted butter (or 2 tablespoons butter & 2 tablespoons olive oil)
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
1 cup pecans, chopped
¾ cup dried cranberries
1 large Honeycrisp or Golden Delicious apple, cored, chopped into ½ inch pieces
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1½ cups low sodium chicken broth
Cooking Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place crumbled pork sausage in a large frying pan. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown; stir in butter, celery, onion and garlic; sauté until translucent.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine Mrs. Cubbison’s Traditional Stuffing, prepared sausage and vegetable mixture, pecans, cranberries, apple, sage and chicken broth.
4. Transfer mixture to medium buttered baking dish. Bake covered in pre-heated oven 30 minutes; uncover and bake additional 20 minutes until lightly browned.
Nutrition per serving
340 calories; 16 g fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrate; 13 grams protein; 9 grams sugar; 2 grams fiber; 524 mg sodium.
Recipe adapted from Mrs. Cubbison’s Cranberry Sausage Traditional Stuffing