Alternative Stuffing Recipes for Your Turkey

Turkey and stuffing are simply a MUST on the Thanksgiving dinner table each year.

You may however, be ready to try something just a bit different, or, maybe even offer 2 stuffing choices to, perhaps, start a new family stuffing tradition?

If that sounds like something you’d like to try, we’ll give you the traditional base stuffing recipes and all you’ll have to do, is add in the additional ingredients of any one of the delicious choices below (with the exception of the Apple Corn Bread Stuffing which is a separate, fully complete recipe in its own.)

Here is the Base Bread Stuffing Recipe you would make first, before adding your chosen recipe’s add ins.

Base Bread Stuffing

Makes 6 Cups

Ingredients:

• 1 cup — White Onion, Diced ½”
• 1 cup — Celery, Diced ½”
• 1 stick — Salted Butter
• 1 tablespoon — Poultry Seasoning (or, use  Ground Sage with a pinch of Thyme & Rosemary)
• 6 cups — Dry Bread Cubes, Diced ½ to ¾”
• 1 1/2 – 2 cups — Strong Chicken or Turkey Stock (or Broth)
• 1 tablespoon  — Dry Parsley Flakes
• To Taste — Salt and Ground Black Pepper

Instructions:

1. Sauté onions and celery in butter until softened. Do not brown.
2. Add the cooked onions and celery to a medium mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients and toss or fold gently until all are combined and the dry bread cubes are moist and softened.
3. Note: if your stuffing is a bit too dry, add additional stock.

Once your base stuffing is prepared, choose any one of the following recipes below and add it to that recipe.

Delicious Alternative Stuffing Recipes to Enjoy

Start with the Basic Stuffing Recipe above and add one of the following stuffing versions below then bake or stuff your finished stuffing afterwards, as you would normally.

ITALIAN

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces — Sweet Italian Sausage, Casing removed
• 4 ounces — Ground Beef
• 4 ounces — Ground Pork
• 1 tablespoon — Garlic Clove, thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon — Fresh Rosemary, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon — Fennel Seed
•  2 tablespoon — Olive Oil
• 1/4 teaspoon — Cracked Black Pepper

Instructions:

1. Sauté Italian sausage, ground beef, and ground pork in olive oil over medium heat until well done and crumbled.
2. Add garlic and spices and continue to cook one minute.
3. Cool mixture and toss into bread stuffing.

OYSTER

Ingredients:

• 1 cup — Raw Oysters with natural juices
• 4 ounces — Bacon, raw, cut in 1/4 to 1/2 inch
• 1/2 cup —Fennel, fresh, cut in fine julienne strips
• 1 tablespoon — Garlic Clove, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons — Parsley, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon — Cracked Black Pepper

Instructions:

1. Sauté bacon until crisp.
2. Add fresh fennel and garlic to bacon and continue to sauté one minute longer.
3. Add oysters with juices to bacon mixture and cook one to two minutes longer, or until oysters curl up on the edges and are just cooked through.
4. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Cool.
5. Chop up oyster mixture and toss into bread stuffing.

APPLE, & APRICOT with WALNUTS

Ingredients:

• 1 ea. — Apple, Granny Smith, diced 1/2 inch
• 1 cup — Apricot, Dried, sliced 1/4”
• 1/2 cup — Walnut Meats, chopped
• 1/4 cup — Green Onions, sliced in 1/4’ bias cuts
• 1 tablespoon — Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 cup — Dark Raisins
• 2 tablespoons — Butter

Instructions:

1. Sauté walnuts in hot butter one to two minutes.
2. Add apple pieces and continue to sauté until lightly browned.
3. Remove from heat and add dried apricot, raisins, green onions, and sugar.
4. Toss and allow to cool.
5. Add to bread stuffing and toss in.

WOODLANDS

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces — Bacon, raw, cut in 1/4” to 1/2” pieces
• 4 ounces — Ham, cut in julienne strips
• 4 ounces — Pork Breakfast Sausage (bulk) uncased
• 2 cups — White Mushrooms, sliced 1/4’ thick
• 1 tablespoon — Garlic Clove, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup — Green Onion, sliced in 1/4” bias cuts
• 1/4 cup — Sun Dried Tomato, cut in 1/4” slices
• 1/4 cup — Pine Nuts
• 1/4 teaspoon — Cracked Black Pepper

Instructions:

1. Sauté bacon until crisp.
2. Add pine nuts and sauté two minutes to brown.
3. Add pork sausage and sauté one minute.
4. Add ham and mushrooms. Sauté 2 to 3 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender.
5. Add remaining ingredients. Sauté one minute.
6. Remove from heat and cool. Toss mixture into stuffing.

Apple Corn Bread Stuffing with Bacon & Sausage

Yield Approximately 3 Quarts or Enough for a Large Turkey

NOTE: This recipe below uses the Dry, Corn Bread Stuffing Mix instead of the Basic Stuffing mix like the other recipes above.

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces — Maple Bacon, Raw, Cut in ½ inch Pieces
• 1 pound — Italian or Breakfast Sausage, Uncooked
• 3 ea. — Apples, Granny Smith, Peeled, Cored cut in ½ inch pieces
• 1 cup — Red Onion, cut in ½ inch pieces
• ¼ cup — Green Onions, cut in ¼ inch bias pieces
• ¾ cup — Celery, cut in ¼ inch dice
• 1 cup — Sweet Corn Kernels, (Fresh if Possible)
• 1 teaspoons — Garlic, Fresh, Minced
• 2 tablespoons — Brown Sugar
• 1 teaspoons — Thyme, Dry, Crushed
• 4 cups — Dry, Corn Bread Stuffing Mix
• 2 cups — Water
• 1 teaspoon — Salt

Instructions:

1. In a large pot, sauté bacon until nearly crisp, then add sausage and continue to cook while chopping it to small pieces.
2. When the sausage is cooked through, add the apples to the bacon and sausage mixture and sauté one to two minutes longer.
3. Add red onions, green onions, celery, garlic, corn, brown sugar, and thyme. Sauté 2 to 3 minutes longer on medium heat.
4. Add the corn stuffing mix, water, and salt to the pan. Cook over medium to medium-low heat until water is absorbed and stuffing is hot.
5. Remove from heat and cool.