Fig Apple Sausage Stuffing

Fig and Sausage Stuffing on a white plate with a gold fork.

A delicious bread stuffing filled with savory sausage, fresh apple, herbs, and dried figs.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 50

Total Time 1 10

Servings - 12 (as a side dish)

Calories 331kcal

Author Allison - Celebrating Sweets

Ingredients

½ pound sausage I used sweet Italian sausage
⅔ cup finely chopped onion
⅔ cup finely chopped celery
¾ cup finely chopped apple (I leave the skin on) I prefer honeycrisp, pink lady or fuji
¼ teaspoon ground fennel (optional)
10 cups cubed stale white bread see note
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon each thyme and fresh sage
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 cups chicken broth preferably low sodium
¾ teaspoon salt
⅓ to ½ cup chopped dried figs or dried cranberries
2 tablespoons butter cut into small pieces

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 2 or 2 ½ quart casserole dish and set aside.
In a large saucepan, break up sausage and saute until browned and cooked through. If there is a lot of grease, drain all but a couple teaspoons. Add onion, celery and apple, a pinch of salt and pepper and ground fennel (if using). Saute, stirring occasionally, until tender.
In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, thyme, parsley, chicken broth, and ¾ teaspoon salt.
In a large bowl, combine bread cubes, sausage mixture and chicken stock mixture. Toss gently until all the bread is moistened.
Place half the stuffing in the prepared casserole dish. Top with half the figs, then repeat with remaining stuffing and figs. Place the pieces of butter all around the top, pressing some down in between the pieces of bread. Spray a piece of foil with nonstick spray and tighty cover the stuffing.
Bake, covered for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20-35 minutes. The stuffing is done when the top is golden brown and the inside has reached your desired level of doneness. This will vary based on the size of your dish and whether you want your stuffing more crisp or more moist.

Notes

I used a rustic/artisan white bread that I cut it into bite-size cubes.

To dry out the bread: Place the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake them at 300°F for 25-35 minutes, until dry and stale. Make sure your bread is plenty dry, so that your stuffing isn't mushy.

Nutrition