Holiday Recipe Exchange: Sausage-Cranberry Stuffing

What’s my favorite thing about any Thanksgiving spread? Hands down, it’s the stuffing!

Even though I never cook my stuffing inside of my turkey, I still call it stuffing. I know the correct term is dressing when it is cooked outside of the bird, but we just never referred to as dressing, so I simply can’t get the hang of it.

Growing up, I don’t remember anyone having a signature stuffing recipe, we kind of just ate whatever was presented to us, but it was always called stuffing and it was always baked on the side. As an adult, I have experimented with several different recipes and seem to always come back to this one. It’s full of veggies, sausage, herbs, apples and cranberries and it’s always the first empty bowl on our Thanksgiving table. The beauty of stufffing is that it is so adaptable, simply add in what you love and modify the spices, textures and flavors to suit your taste. No matter what recipe you use, stuffing is one of those comfort foods that has a nostalgic quality about it that takes me back to family gatherings and many hours of experimentation in my own kitchen.  I am pretty sure Thanksgiving would not be the same without it.

What’s your stance on stuffing? Swanson Broth is trying to settle the Great Stuffing Debate and has set up quite the comedic website devoted to this beloved Thanksgiving side dish. Seriously, you need to watch the video simply to get a glimpse of the ridiculous Thanksgiving sweaters that are being worn by several of the family members.

Regardless of your opinion, Katie and I hope you’ll join us in our second Holiday Recipe Exchange sponsored by Swanson’s. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours and thanks so much for stopping by!

Be sure to head over to goodLife {eats} and check out out Katie’s delicious Leek and Bacon Stuffing.

How To Participate

For a chance to win a $150 Visa Gift Card:

1. Write and post a recipe on your blog featuring Swanson Broth and/or Stuffing.
2. Include “Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Swanson Broth.” in your blog post.
3. Add your link to the widget on either GoodLife Eats or My Baking Addiction (we have the same widget code, so only add it on one site).
4. Submit your post before Nov. 26, 4:59 AM. On Nov. 26, 5:00 AM the widget will switch to voting mode. Be sure to encourage your readers to vote for you and/or vote for your favorites.
5. Anyone can participate in the link up, but the prize will ship to US residents only.
6. More detailed info, including buttons for your posts are available here.

Link Up Your Recipes:

This Week’s Prize:

$150 Visa Gift Card (2 winners), provided by Swanson.

Recipe Theme Schedule:

click image to enlarge

How To Promote:

Help us spread the word by letting your friends, family, and followers know about the contest. Email, Facebook, Tweet, Stumble…anything you want to do to promote this post is welcome.

• Sample Tweet 1: Join @GoodLifeEats and @BakingAddiction for a Holiday Recipe Exchange. See how you can participate (and WIN) here: http://bit.ly/9YCFgA Pls RT
• Sample Tweet 2: Enter your Stuffing recipe in @GoodLifeEats & @BakingAddiction Holiday Recipe Exchange 4 chance @ $150 http://bit.ly/9a6RvJ Pls RT
• Sample Tweet 3: Have a winning Stuffing recipe? Share it in the @GoodLifeEats & @BakingAddiction Holiday Recipe Exch 4 chance at $150 http://bit.ly/9a6RvJ

Sausage-Cranberry Stuffing

Yield: 10 servings

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

5 cups cubed French bread
1 pound ground Italian sausage
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
8 ounces fresh mushrooms; sliced
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup minced fresh parsley
1 3/4 cups Swanson Certified Organic Chicken Broth
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.

2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until evenly browned {about 8 minutes} remove from pan; set aside. To the pan, add olive oil, onion, celery, mushrooms, apple, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring frequently for 10 minutes to blend flavors and soften the vegetables.

3. Add sausage back into pan and stir to combine. Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in dried cranberries and parsley. Drizzle with Swanson Certified Organic Chicken Broth s and melted butter, and mix lightly.

4. Spread into a buttered 9x13 inch pan and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Notes:

Notes: I like my stuffing with a crunchy top layer, so we always baked it uncovered. We also like our stuffing to be moist, so feel free to adjust the amount of chicken broth to suit your taste.

Adapted from allrecipes

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