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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!
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.
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.
- Combine the chicken stock, eggs and melted butter in the slow cooker. Add the bread cubes, apples, celery and onion. Stir to combine.
- Stir in the dried cranberries and the fresh herbs.
- 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.
- Cook on HIGH for 1 hour, fluff with a fork, then continue cooking on LOW for another 2 hours.
How to adapt this recipe for the oven:
This recipe can easily be made in the oven instead if that works better for you.
- Saute the onion, celery and apples in a small amount of olive oil or butter over medium heat until softened.
- 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.
- Spoon the stuffing mixture into a baking dish.
- 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
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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I assume sage and thyme are dried. But from picture parsley is fresh? Regarding dried cranberries, did you use regular craisins? If I want to add the onion should it be sauteed first? Thanks!
Hi Mary! I actually used all fresh herbs in this recipe. So the ingredient list is for fresh herbs. You can definitely substitute with dried herbs, just cut the amount that you use, instead of 1/2 tablespoon use only 1/2 teaspoon of dried sage and thyme. And if you’re adding onion just add it in with the other ingredients, no need to sauté it. The onion will cook in the slow cooker the same as the celery 🙂 Happy cooking and let me know how it turns out!
Can you precook this and later reheat it to serve it,? I!d like to premake it to take it to my daughter who is cooking Crhristmas dinner this year.
Hi Joan! Absolutely! In fact, sometimes I prefer reheated stuffing 🙂
Could I mix this up the night before and refrigerate it?
Hi Heather! You absolutely can make it the night before. I would just mix all of the dry ingredients together and refrigerate overnight. Then prepare the butter, stock and eggs right before you bake it. Otherwise you might end up with soggy stuffing.
Can you put this in the turkey
Absolutely!
At what point would you put it in the turkey?
Add the stuffing to the turkey just before you start to bake it. Leave the stuffing in the entire time that the turkey is cooking, the only thing you need to do is to check the temperature of the stuffing to ensure that it reaches 165 degrees to ensure that everything is properly cooked.
Thank you for the recipe, hoping to use this for the upcoming Canadian Thanksgiving. How much bread is 10 oz? Is 10oz weighehed on a scale for correct measurement or can it be measured in cups?
Hi Candace! I used 10 ounces in weight. And it doesn’t have to be exact. This is a very forgiving recipe, just start with a little less stock and add as you need to get the right consistency. And add herbs and spices to taste if needed 🙂 Enjoy! Let me know how it turns out.
Approximately how many cups of cubed bread? Would 8 cups sound about right?
Thank you for sharing! I made this today for my AF shop Christmas luncheon. I doubled the recipe and when I opened the front door to check on it the smell of the herbs and berries flooded the house. I cant wait for my guys to try it. I will be sure to share their thoughts!
So fun!! I hope everyone enjoyed 🙂
Hi, I prefer to make my stuffing in the oven because I like when it gets crisp on top. I really love the different flavors in this recipe. Do you think I could follow this recipe and then just pop it in the oven?
Just to clarify, I mean cooking it completely in the oven, but if you don’t think that would work, I could scoop it out of the crockpot and let it toast under the broiler for a bit,
Hi Karena, I haven’t made the stuffing in the oven completely before. I’ve made it in the slow cooker and on top of the stove. I imagine it would turn out just fine in the oven as well. Or like you said, you can always make it on the stovetop or slow cooker and toss it under the broiler for that crispy top! Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
Hi Serene! I have the pepperidge farm herb stuffing on hand and I was thinking of using that to make this stuff. Just not adding the herbs I guess, since it already has some in it? Do you think it would turn out okay?
Absolutely! And just like you said, since it’s already seasoned you wouldn’t need to add any extra seasoning. Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
Do you cook the celery before putting it in the crock pot? Also, do you add onion? Thanks!
Hi Donna! I didn’t cook the celery beforehand. I just put everything into the slow cooker. The heat of the slow cooker will cook them until softened. And I didn’t add onion, that’s just a personal preference thing. If you love them, like my husband, you can definitely add them in! Happy Thanksgiving!
If you added onion, would you saute it first, or would you just throw it in the crockpot raw as well?
Hi Erica, I would saute it first and then add it. Hope that helps!
Has anyone cooked with with some nuts? I love a little crunch to stuffing, just wondering. Thanks!
this really looks good is there anything I can substitute for the eggs not a fan of eggs at all
Hi Francine! The eggs acts as a binder, meaning it helps the stuffing to stick together so it’s not just loose bread crumbs. The stuffing will not have any egg flavoring though. If you’re allergic or have adverse reactions to egg you can definitely make it without, you will just have looser stuffing. Happy Thanksgiving!