This vegetarian Apple Cranberry Stuffing is made with toasted bread cubes, vegetable broth, Honeycrisp apples, fresh cranberries and dried herbs. It's golden brown and buttery with classic stuffing flavor but with a sweet and tart twist. It's a festive way to change up your stuffing side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
If you're like us and stuffing is one of your favorite holiday side dishes, you'll also want to check out my whole wheat stuffing recipe!
Quick Look: Apple Cranberry Stuffing
- ⏱ Prep time: 30 minutes (including time to toast the bread cubes)
- 👩🏻🍳 Cook time: 55 minutes
- ⏳ Total time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- 🍽 Servings: 10
- ⚡ Calories: 280 per serving
- 🌱 Diet: vegetarian
- 🔥 Flavor/texture: sweet, tart and herby flavor; soft in the middle with a crispy topping.
- 👌 Difficulty: easy to assemble and bake.
- ❤️ Why you'll love: no boxed stuffing croutons needed; apples and cranberries add a festive touch along with a sweet and tart flavor.
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Why this stuffing is a must-make for the holidays
- Flavor contrast: The apples and cranberries add a sweet and tart flavor to an otherwise savory dish. (This contrast is the same reason I love my apple cranberry crisp recipe).
- No boxed croutons: By using homemade toasted bread cubes, you can ensure the base of your stuffing is using good quality bread that isn't overly processed or salty.
- Texture contrast: There's no mushy, soggy stuffing here! The middle is moist and the top is crisp and golden brown.
- Fall herbs: Rosemary, thyme and sage are the ultimate trio of herbs for fall and add traditional and nostalgic flavors to this stuffing.
- Vegetarian: Traditional stuffing is often made with sausage and/or chicken stock. This one omits the sausage and uses vegetable broth to keep it vegetarian.
Ingredient notes
- French bread - You'll need an entire loaf of French bread, or about 14 cups of cubed bread. I like the texture of French bread in stuffing, but Italian bread or sourdough are also great options. Make sure your bread is a few days old. It's easier to cut into cubes when it's stale.
- Apple - Sweet and tart apples with a crisp bite work well for stuffing. We like Honeycrisp (we always have them hand to make my air fryer baked apples), but other apples like Pink Lady, Fuji or even Granny Smith work too. I don't normally peel my apples, but you can if you prefer.
- Cranberries - Fresh cranberries add a tart flavor and pop of color to this stuffing. If you don't have fresh, you can substitute with dried cranberries, but they will add a sweeter flavor to the stuffing. (In the fall of the year, I always have fresh cranberries in the fridge to make my gluten-free orange cranberry bread)!
- Celery, onion, garlic, dried herbs - These aromatics are cooked and softened in butter and add amazing flavor to the stuffing. For the herbs, I like to use dried thyme, rosemary and sage. If you prefer to use fresh herbs, just triple the amount as fresh herbs aren't as potent as dried herbs.
- Broth - To keep this stuffing vegetarian, we're using vegetable broth. I prefer to use no salt added broth. If you use low sodium or regular, just reduce the amount of salt you add to the stuffing.
How to make apple cranberry stuffing
Step 1: Arrange the bread cubes in a single layer on a large sheet pan. Toast the bread at 250F for 12-15 minutes, flip over and toast for another 12-15 minutes, until dried out and crispy.
Step 2: While the bread is toasting, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, garlic and herbs.
Step 3: Cook the veggie/herb mixture until everything is softened, about 5 minutes.
Step 4: In a large measuring cup, whisk together the broth, eggs, salt and pepper.
Step 5: In a large bowl, add the toasted bread cubes, veggie/herb mixture, cranberries and apples. Toss to combine.
Step 6: Gradually pour the egg mixture over the bread cube mixture, tossing until everything is well coated. The bread cubes should be moist but not soggy.
Step 7: Transfer the stuffing mixture to a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
Step 8: Bake at 350F for 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy on top.
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Expert tips
- Stale bread. Fresh bread is so soft and difficult to cut into cubes. It also makes soggy stuffing. I like to use stale bread that's a few days old, and then toast it for good measure. The goal is for the bread cubes to be the texture of croutons (similar to my homemade sourdough croutons).
- Avoid soaking the bread cubes. You want all of the bread cubes moistened by the egg/broth mixture but you don't want the bread so soggy that it's falling apart. I like to gradually add the liquid and gently toss the bread cubes to ensure even coverage. You may find that you don't need to use all the liquid.
- Use an extra large bowl for mixing. There's a lot of stuffing mixture here, so you'll want a large bowl to mix everything together. The one I used in these photos is large but I should have gone bigger!
Apple cranberry stuffing FAQs
I tested this recipe with frozen cranberries and it made the stuffing a bit mushy. If you only have frozen cranberries, I suggest defrosting them first and patting them dry before adding them to the stuffing mixture.
For best results, I recommend assembly the stuffing just before baking, but you can prep a few things ahead of time. You can toast the bread cubes 1-2 days in advance and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also cook the veggie mixture a day in advance and store it in the fridge.
If there is any stuffing leftover (there usually isn't for us!), it's best stored in an airtight container and enjoyed within 2-3 days. The best way to reheat it is on a sheet pan. Just spread everything out and bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes, or until heated through and crispy on top. Be careful not to reheat it for too long as the cranberries may burn and the stuffing may dry out too much.
To round out your holiday meal, I recommend serving this stuffing with turkey or ham, air fryer baby potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts with prosciutto, air fryer butternut squash and healthy cranberry sauce.
More holiday side dishes
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📖 Recipe
Apple Cranberry Stuffing (Vegetarian)
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes, about 14 cups
- ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter
- 3-4 stalks celery, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 2 ½ cups (600 ml) no salt added vegetable broth
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cup fresh cranberries
- 2 small Honeycrisp apples, cored and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250F. Arrange the cubed bread in a single layer on a large baking sheet. (You may need to use two sheets to spread out the bread in a single layer). Toast the cubes for 12-15 minutes, flip them over and toast for another 12-15 minutes, or until crispy but not browned.
- Set the bread aside to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 350F and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary and sage, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together the broth, eggs, salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, add the toasted bread cubes, vegetable/herb mixture, cranberries and chopped apples. Toss to combine.
- Gradually pour the broth/egg mixture over the bread cube mixture, gently tossing together until everything is well coated. (*see note #1)
- Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and crispy.
Notes
- You want all of the bread cubes moistened by the egg/broth mixture but you don't want the bread so soggy that it's falling apart. I like to gradually add the liquid and gently toss the bread cubes to ensure even coverage. You may find that you don't need to use all the liquid.
- To keep this stuffing vegetarian, we're using vegetable broth. You can use chicken broth if you don't need it to be vegetarian. I prefer to use no salt added broth. If you use low sodium or regular, just reduce the amount of salt you add to the stuffing.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
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