If you are looking for a special treat for your holiday table, this sausage and cranberry stuffing is the perfect dish. Based in all of the goodness of a traditional stuffing, this blend adds the spice of sausage along with the sweetness of cranberries to add just enough unique to get your tastebuds excited, while still leaving your palette satisfied with the favorite flavors of this classic holiday favorite.
The quickness and ease of this recipe is also a huge bonus given everything else happening in the kitchen when it comes to holidays. With a quick fifteen minute prep and another fifteen in the oven, this is the perfect side dish to create a new family favorite on the holiday table for years!
What will I need for my Cranberry Sausage Stuffing?
The base of this dish is a traditional stuffing, so you’ll need a favorite plain cubed stuffing mix, olive oil, butter, onions, and celery. For spices you want black pepper, salt, sage, and fresh cut parsley. If you don’t have fresh cut you can definitely use jarred parsley. To finish it off you will need a broth. We prefer vegetable broth, but you can certainly use a meat broth as well.
The final part of this is a ground sausage, mild, medium, or spicy, whichever temperature you prefer, and some dried cranberries.
Yep! Your ingredient list is quick and simple!
Making the Stuffing
This is a pretty simple stuffing to make. The Sausage and Cranberry Stuffing is pretty much made in a single skillet before being transferred to a baking dish for baking.
The first thing you’ll need to do is pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees and then lightly grease a baking dish with cooking spray.
Now let’s move to the skillet. Warm a large cooking skillet to medium and heat the olive oil. Add the sausage and break apart into small chunks with a spoon or spatuala over the heat until browned.
Now add your flavors – butter, onion, celery, cranberries, sage, salt, pepper, and oregano. Cook for about 4-6 minutes, stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften. They will dull a little bit in color and have a sheen to them as they soften.
Stir in your stuffing mix until it is evenly distributed through the sausage. Now stir in the broth, making sure the stuffing mix is thoroughly coated and evenly soaked.
Transfer the full blend into the baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and put in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes covered in the center rack. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another ten minutes.
Remove from the oven and you are ready to serve!
Health Benefits of Cranberries for an MS diet.
While holiday meals aren’t often touted for their health benefits, we do want to spend a second talking about the cranberry here. Cranberries are a remarkable source of nutrients and are considered a super food. Why you ask? Because they’re packed full of vitamins and nutrients and are a powerful source of antioxidants.
While not specifically connected to multiple sclerosis, the high level of proanthocyanidins in cranberries is associated with helping to reduce urinary tract infections, which can be a common symptom in multiple sclerosis patients, particularly those suffering from incontinence due to weakened muscles in the pelvic area.
Cranberries are also stocked with Vitamin C and Vitamin B, which are both beneficial to the immune system and fighting inflammation.
So while you may not be serving this dish for its health benefits, it is nice to know you’re adding both flavor and some extra nutrients to the table when you serve up your Sausage and Cranberry Stuffing!
Please visit our Resources page if you are interested in finding some of the tools and gadgets Dre uses to make cooking accessible while cooking with MS.
Sausage and Cranberry Stuffing
Ingredients
Preparation
-
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease an 8×8 or other medium baking dishes with cooking spray.
-
In a large skillet, heat olive oil over med-hi heat. Add sausage and cook until it begins to brown, breaking into crumbles with a spoon.
-
Add butter, onion, celery, cranberries, sage, salt, pepper, and oregano. Cook, stirring often until vegetables soften, 4-6 minutes.
-
Remove from heat, add the stuffing mix and stir into the sausage. Once it is evenly distributed, stir in the broth. Stir everything together until the stuffing mix is evenly soaked with the broth.
-
Transfer to baking dish, cover with foil, and bake 15 minutes covered. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more.
-
Enjoy as a side dish or main dish!
