A Delicious Apple Stuffing for Your Thanksgiving Dinner

The stuffing has always been my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. I look forward to it every single year, so much so, that I could probably just have stuffing for dinner and pies for dessert and be a happy camper. No need to make a fuss over the turkey. I'm just here for the stuffing!

For years now, I've been making the same stuffing recipe that was passed down to me from my great aunt. With this new apple stuffing recipe made with delicious Harry & David apples, I made sure to follow her traditions of plenty of butter and seasonings. And more butter...

The first step to making great stuffing is crisping the bread in your oven. This is a step you don't want to miss. Don't worry about it taking too much time on Thanksgiving Day, though because you can crisp the bread one to two days in advance if necessary.

When you're ready to start cooking, you'll need to get out the biggest pot you have and sauté the diced celery, onion, fennel, and apples until they are soft. This is where all the butter comes in. Along with the butter, I also mixed in the seasonal herbs I had on hand, including parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. That may seem like herb overkill, but for Thanksgiving, it's worth going the extra mile. The herbs really bring a lot of freshness to this apple stuffing. Plus, your house will smell amazing as it bakes!

Finally, you'll combine the cooked vegetables and herbs with the crisped bread, broth, and a couple eggs to help bind everything together. The stuffing will go into a 9x13 inch baking dish, where you'll lightly pat it down so it fits snuggly in the pan. But be sure not to compress it too hard, or the stuffing will bake up super dense.

I decided to keep this apple stuffing recipe vegetarian, so I used vegetable broth in the recipe. This is great if you're having a mixed crowd over for holiday dinners. But if you're not concerned, you can certainly replace the vegetable broth with chicken broth. You can even use a few drippings from the turkey pan during basting (be mindful of any added salt). Or you can check out these other easy no-stress Thanksgiving stuffings and appetizers. Enjoy your apple stuffing. And happy Thanksgiving!