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Make any holiday meal complete with Cranberry Stuffing – homemade stuffing with toasted day old bread cubes, plenty of butter, savory onion, dried herbs, and tart cranberries. The perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving table.
For a stove top version of classic stuffing be sure and try this Stove Top Stuffing.
Cranberry Stuffing Recipe
If you don’t want a traditional stuffing recipe for the holidays, then try this sweet, savory, and lightly tart cranberry stuffing. It’s a homemade stuffing recipe that uses day old stale bread cubes that get toasted in the oven, savory dried herbs, sweet onion, crunchy celery, and tart cranberries.
Simple to make with dried seasonings and only a few minutes of prep time needed. It can also be made the day before which means less to do on busy Thanksgiving Day.
Full List of Ingredients
- Cubed Bread : For best results, use day old bread that has been dried and sitting out at room temperature for 24 hours. The bread is toasted anyways in the recipe, so even if you forget to set the bread out to dry, don’t worry cause the fresh bread can easily still be dried and toasted with the oven time listed in the recipe.
- Butter : Use salted butter or unsalted butter, whichever you prefer. I use salted butter.
- Sweet Onion
- Celery Stalks
- Dried Cranberries : These are the dried cranberries, otherwise known as ‘craisins’.
- Dried Sage
- Dried Thyme
- Dried Rosemary
- Kosher Salt & Black Pepper
- Chicken or Vegetable Broth : Chicken stock or vegetable stock can also be used.
- Large Eggs
How To Make Homemade Stuffing With Dried Cranberries & Herbs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Evenly spread the cubed bread onto a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and let it cool at room temperature.
Mix together the dried sage, dried thyme, dried rosemary, kosher salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.
In a large skillet pan, over medium heat, melt butter. Once melted, add the finely chopped sweet onion and celery. Cook until softened and translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
Add the cooled toasted bread cubes, and cooked onions & celery into a large bowl. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture over top. Add the dried cranberries. Mix the ingredients until well combined.
Pour the chicken broth over the bread mixture, a little bit at a time, while gently stirring with a rubber spatula to moisten the bread evenly. Only add as much broth as needed to moisten the bread but not to the point that it’s soggy.
Stir in the beaten eggs, ensuring they are well incorporated into the bread mixture.
Transfer the stuffing mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crisp.
Remove the stuffing from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before serving.
How To Store Leftover Stuffing
Allow the stuffing to cool completely to room temperature before storing. Transfer the stuffing to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat leftovers in the microwave until warmed through.
What Bread Should I Use For Homemade Cranberry Stuffing?
The recipe calls for the bread cubes to be toasted in the oven. So you can either just use fresh bread that has just recently been cut into cubes and is still soft, or cube the bread the day before and leave it out at room temperature to dry out and get really stale. Use crusty bread from the bakery, sourdough bread, rosemary herb bread, French bread, sandwich bread, white bread, wheat bread, anything will work just fine!
Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe Tips
- You can prepare the stuffing mixture a day in advance and refrigerate it, covered, for up to 24 hours. If you bake the stuffing directly from the fridge add a few minutes to the bake time, or you can let the baking dish sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes prior to baking it.
- Add chopped walnuts or pecans for an added crunch and texture.
- Slowly add the broth and do not add it all at once! Only add broth until all the bread is moistened but not soggy. You will use anywhere from 1 cup to 1.5 cups of broth. It all depends on how dry and toasted the bread is, and how much broth it soaks up.
- Make sure to beat the eggs before adding them into the stuffing mixture. This just means to crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk them with a fork.
- I recommend using a mix of different breads when making stuffing. I like to use the crusty bakery bread that you can get from the bakery area of the store. I usually use white bread + crusty bakery bread when I make this. You can also use a mix of white bread + wheat bread. Or use French bread.
- Using day old bread is ideal as it will be dried out, which will help it absorb the broth without becoming too mushy. Day old bread + toasting the bread in the oven produces the best results when making homemade stuffing.
More Favorite Side Dishes For Thanksgiving Dinner
- No Mushroom Green Bean Casserole
- Meringue Sweet Potato Casserole
- Cranberry Fluff
- Classic Deviled Eggs
- Twice Baked Potato Casserole
- Cheesy Funeral Potatoes
- One Hour Rolls
- Buttery Cracker Sweet Potato Casserole
Cranberry Stuffing
Ingredients
- 10 cups cubed bread (see notes)
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
- 1 sweet onion finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks (finely chopped, about 1 cup)
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1½ -2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 2 large eggs beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Evenly spread the cubed bread onto a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until lightly golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and let it cool at room temperature.10 cups cubed bread
- Mix together the dried sage, dried thyme, dried rosemary, kosher salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.1 teaspoon dried sage, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- In a large skillet pan, over medium heat, melt butter. Once melted, add the finely chopped sweet onion and celery. Cook until softened and translucent, about 8-10 minutes.1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, 1 sweet onion, 2 celery stalks
- Add the cooled toasted bread cubes, and cooked onions & celery into a large bowl. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture over top. Add the dried cranberries. Mix the ingredients until well combined.1 cup dried cranberries
- Pour the chicken broth over the bread mixture, a little bit at a time, while gently stirring with a rubber spatula to moisten the bread evenly. Only add as much broth as needed to moisten the bread but not to the point that it's soggy.1½ -2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- Stir in the beaten eggs, ensuring they are well incorporated into the bread mixture. *Crack the eggs first into a small bowl and whisk with a fork, before adding them into the stuffing mixture.2 large eggs
- Transfer the stuffing mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crisp.
- Remove the stuffing from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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