This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Apple Stuffing. This sweet and savory stuffing recipe is made easy in the slow cooker! Free up some space in the oven with this slow cooker stuffing recipe. Loaded with sweet chunks of apple and dried cranberries, plus tons of fresh herbs!

Cranberry Apple Stuffing served in a white bowl and a large spoon. Garnished with fresh parsley.

 

This stuffing is easy to make and made using real ingredients! No store bought premade stuffing here! The end result is a flavorful, buttery, sweet and savory side dish perfect for gracing any holiday table, or just a weeknight meal. This is such an easy side dish to make, you can make it on the stove top, or in a baking dish in the oven.

Ingredients needed for Cranberry Apple Stuffing:

  • Dried Bread Crumbs: you can use a store bought plain stuffing. But I find most store bought versions come with some type of seasoning. It’s been challenging to find an unseasoned version lately. I recommend making your own. Instructions are below. 
  • Onion and Celery: the veggies give wonderful flavor to the stuffing. 
  • Fresh herbs: thyme, sage and parsley go wonderfully in this stuffing recipe. You can also add some rosemary if you would like and have some on hand. 
  • Apple: diced apple adds a sweetness to this dish. Gala apples are one of my favorites to use. Other options would be Fuji or Honeycrisp. 
  • Dried Cranberries: the bit of fruity sweetness is a happy contrast to the fresh herbs in this stuffing. 
  • Chicken stock: since we’re not cooking the stuffing inside of a turkey, we’re using the chicken stock to add some depth of flavor. 
  • Butter: this adds a delightful butter flavor to the bread. 
  • Eggs: this acts as a binder and keeps our stuffing moist and prevents it from being crumbly. 

Dried breadcrumbs, cubed bread spread out on a large baking sheet, air drying, to make stuffing.

How to make your own Dried Breadcrumbs:

  • Dry out the bread overnight: cut the bread and spread it out into a single layer.  I find that letting the bread dry out for several hours, then shuffle it around with your hands to help turn the bread cubes around to ensure they are drying out on all sides. If the bread doesn’t feel super dry the next morning, keep letting it dry out, or bake the bread to ensure it’s as dry as possible. Otherwise you will end up with mush instead of stuffing. 
  • Bake the bread: Spread the cubed bread out on a large baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 300 degrees, using a spatula toss the bread crumbs at 20 minutes, to ensure they dry out on all sides equally. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until completely dried out.
  • Best Bread to use: the best bread is going to be a thick, hearty bread. I have great luck with white bread. It’s sturdy. You’ll know it’s good when it doesn’t squish when you cut it, it holds it’s shape. If the bread is really soft, even when it dries out completely it tends to mush easily when cooked with the liquids. 

How to make Cranberry Apple Stuffing in the Slow Cooker:

My favorite method of making this stuffing is to use the slow cooker.

  1. Combine the chicken stock, eggs and melted butter in the slow cooker. Add the bread cubes, apples, celery and onion. Stir to combine.
  2. Stir in the dried cranberries and the fresh herbs.
  3. Slice the additional tablespoon of butter thinly and place over the top of the stuffing. This helps keep the top from drying out while it cooks.
  4. Cook on HIGH for 1 hour, fluff with a fork, then continue cooking on LOW for another 2 hours.

Close up of cranberry apple stuffing garnished with fresh parsley.

How to adapt this recipe for the oven:

This recipe can easily be made in the oven instead if that works better for you.

  1. Saute the onion, celery and apples in a small amount of olive oil or butter over medium heat until softened.
  2. Remove from heat, let cool for 2-3 minutes. In a medium size bowl whisk together the eggs, chicken stock and melted butter. Add the sautéed veggies and apples to the egg mixture. Stir together. Add in the bread cubes, dried cranberries and fresh herbs.
  3. Spoon the stuffing mixture into a baking dish.
  4. Bake at 400 degrees covered for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until golden on the top.

If you are wanting to add sausage to this recipe you can easily do that, you will need to cook the sausage completely and then add that to the ingredients either in the slow cooker or in the baking dish.

Other Side Dish Recipes:

{Slow Cooker} Cranberry Apple Stuffing

5 from 7 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 3 hours
Total: 3 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 6
Author: Serene
Slow Cooker Cranberry Apple Stuffing. This sweet and savory stuffing recipe is made easy in the slow cooker! Free up some space in the oven with this slow cooker stuffing recipe. Loaded with sweet chunks of apple and dried cranberries, plus tons of fresh herbs!
Close up of cranberry apple stuffing garnished with fresh parsley.

Ingredients  

  • 10 ounces dried bread cubes
  • 2 cups chicken broth low/no sodium
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter divided
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 stalks celery chopped
  • 1/2 cup yellow onion diced
  • 1 apple chopped
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • ½ tbsp sage diced
  • ½ tbsp thyme diced
  • 1 tbsp parsley diced

Instructions 

  • In crockpot mix together the eggs, chicken stock, and 3 tablespoons of melted butter.
  • Add in the bread cubes, celery, onion, and apple, stir until bread cubes are completely coated.
  • Slice the last tablespoon of butter into three thinner slices and place on top of the stuffing.
  • Cook in the slow cooker on HIGH for 1 hour. Stir with fork. Continue to cook on LOW for another 2 hours. Serve and enjoy!

Equipment

Notes

Herbs were all fresh. If using dried herbs cut the amounts. For dried sage and thyme use 1/2 a teaspoon and for dried parsley use 1 teaspoon.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 164kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 49mg | Fiber: 2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

SaveSave


Welcome to my kitchen!

Welcome to the House of Yumm!! My name is Serene. I’m the food photographer, recipe developer, and official taste tester around these parts.

You may also like

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




81 Comments

  1. I have made this for a number of years now from an older version of the recipe and it has been a huge hit, PLUS very convenient to make in my InstaPot.

    Question: the original recipe says to cook on HIGH for 1 hour, and that’s it! Why has cooking 2 hours on LOW been added?

  2. Hi! I have a 6 quart slow cooker. For what size slow cooker are the cooking times recommended? Wouls I need to adjust times? Thank you in advance for your response.

  3. I’m not sure I understand 10 ozs of dried bread cubes. I going to make my own bread cubes so can you list how many cups that is?

    1. I would substitute so that the stuffing keeps the texture you’re looking for. A flax egg should work, although I haven’t tried it before.

  4. if you need to double up on the recipe, do you change the cooking time in the slow cooker? And if so, what would the time be?

    1. Yes the cooking time will change, I would increase it by an hour, but double check the stuffing after the initial cooking time to make sure.

  5. Hi Serene, I made this last Thanksgiving and it was a hit. So much that it’s been requested again this year! I just wanted to let you know! Thanks for posting this!

  6. I have been looking for a crockpot recipe for dressing for this Thanksgiving and I just found it yours! I will make mine with corn bread sautéed onion & celery and seasoning s and some other tidbits from the kitchen cupboard. So much to be thankful for.

  7. Hi there! I have made this for the last three years for my work’s Thanksgiving feast- everyone loves and requests it!! This year I am making it for my new hubby’s family dinner as well. There are going to be a couple of vegetarians in the mix- do you think I could use vegetable stock in place of the chicken stock? Thanks!

  8. Wondering id this recipe would work good without the herbs/spices? I have one person who is sensitive to them but I’m dying to try this cranberry apple!

    1. Hi Brandie, the herb blend is a fairly common one in stuffing. But you can definitely omit them and either leave it out completely, or substitute with some herbs and seasonings that you enjoy and your guest can eat!