I’ll never forget my first married Thanksgiving. We were young and poor and far away from family. I was determined to make my first Thanksgiving entirely from scratch. I took the liberty to nix certain staples off the menu and add some new ones. I cleaned, brined, and cooked the turkey all by myself. I was proud, so proud, until Kev saw the final spread.
Where’s the green bean casserole? The sweet potato casserole?? The corn casserole??? He said with increased worry, hoping there was more food behind door number 2.
Oh, I don’t make casseroles. Didn’t he know that by now, I thought. Clearly we missed a major topic in premarital counseling.
I’d never heard of corn casserole. I didn’t have the ingredients for green bean casserole. But I did have one lonely sweet potato on the counter. It was fate. I emergency called my mom for her recipe, and threw together a single portion of sweet potato casserole as fast as humanly possible. This is love.
Over the years, I’ve learned to more carefully craft my Thanksgiving menu while still making a wholesome meal. Green Bean Casserole always makes the list, though it’s made from scratch (and 1,000,000 times better). I’m still not sure what corn casserole is. And despite my effort to keep the menu simple, sweet potato casserole is usually a last minute addition after Kev does a walk through. This year, I’ve partnered with Grain Foods Foundation to share my homemade stuffing, made from a mixture of whole wheat bread and cranberry walnut bread. It’s filled with savory vegetables, thyme and sage, plus an extra handful of dried cranberries and walnuts for good measure. It puts the bagged stuffing to shame (though I’m not down with shaming). Pinky promise.
I’m making Thanksgiving for 18 people, most of which have not had my Thanksgiving meal before. There’s so much love, goodness, and flavor buried into that meal. But, I’m still shaking in my boots, and praying no one looks for door number 2. I’ll have a sweet potato casserole behind it just in case. This is love.
Everyone’s favorite side dish turned wholesome without compromising flavor. It’s mostly savory with a minor sweet note. The kale crisps as it bakes with the carrots and walnuts offering a nice crunch. I prefer my stuffing unstuffed, but feel free to do otherwise.
Ingredients
Scale
3 c. cranberry walnut bread, diced into 1/2” cubes
2 c. wheat bread (not sourdough), diced into 1/2 ” cubes
1 sweet onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 stalks kale, chopped
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. walnuts, lightly chopped
1 1/2 tbsp. fresh sage, finely chopped
1 tbsp. fresh thyme
2 c. stock
salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Cut up bread and allow to dry out on the counter for at least 24 hours or bake in the oven at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until hardened.
Prepare vegetables. In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil. Add in onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook on medium heat for about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Into a 10″ x 8″ pan (or something similar), add bread, cooked vegetables, kale, cranberries, walnuts, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper. Stir together until evenly combined.
Pour stock over stuffing and stir again to evenly coat. Drizzle the top with olive oil.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden (or use as stuffing for the turkey). Serve warm.
Notes
• Bread and sautéed vegetables can be prepared a couple days in advance. Assemble and bake the day of.
This blog is made possible by your support (thank you), select brand partnerships, advertisements, and affiliate links to items I love and use. READ MORE >
It’s so interesting to hear what thanksgiving food means to different people. In my family we HAVE to have fried artichokes in breadcrumbs. And the.boy has never heard of green bean casserole. So weird! I have gone without stuffing many a thanksgiving, but am so excited for this veggie-stuffed version!
Your post made me laugh! We don’t do casseroles either- that may become a problem. 🙂 But since we all gather together for Thanksgiving everyone brings their own dish to share (and make sure their favorite is represented on the table).
I love stuffing. I made savoury bread pudding this year instead of stuffing for our Canadian Thanksgiving and it was a real hit. Could corn casserole be the same as Corn Pudding? We make that traditionally for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I did a post a while back on it: http://www.audrey74.com/2012/11/08/corn-pudding-our-thanksgiving-and-christmas-tradition/
This is the sweetest story – casserole hasn’t always been my speciality either, but it has honestly grown on me in the last few years. There’s something so wonderful about creating a dish in one pot and and throwing it in the oven! Cheers to delicious holiday casseroles! 🙂 Xo, Alison
I could just picture your husband panicking – wait, where’s the rest!? Stuffing is perhaps my favorite dish on a holiday table and this recipe looks just perfect!
I think I’d rather eat the stuffing than turkey – esp. this stuffing, which is loaded with lots of yumminess !!
It’s so interesting to hear what thanksgiving food means to different people. In my family we HAVE to have fried artichokes in breadcrumbs. And the.boy has never heard of green bean casserole. So weird! I have gone without stuffing many a thanksgiving, but am so excited for this veggie-stuffed version!
I love that there’s kale in your stuffing! I have got to get this on our table this year!
Holidays and traditions are such tricky things! We sure get stuck in our ways sometimes. Thanks for pushing us to think outside of the bag 😉
Saw this baby on IG last night and swooooooned. Stuffing is the only side dish this girl really needs.
Such a delicious stuffing – I love the carrots in there!
Love this post! Stuffing is my favorite part. 🙂 And good luck!!!
I’m not the biggest fan of turkey (blasphemy I know…) so I eat a lot of stuffing and pie on Thanksgiving 🙂 Your recipe looks amazing!!!
That looks wonderful! Your photos make it look so pretty and elegant. Love the use of cranberry walnut bread, that sounds like a fantastic addition! 🙂
That sounds exactly like my fiance! He is a very traditions oriented guy so he would miss all of those things if they weren’t on the table : )
i love seeing everyone’s stuffing recipes lately. it’s such a basic thing with so much room for personal touches. yours is beautiful!
Looks YUMMY!! Im drooling thanks!
Your post made me laugh! We don’t do casseroles either- that may become a problem. 🙂 But since we all gather together for Thanksgiving everyone brings their own dish to share (and make sure their favorite is represented on the table).
This looks delicoius!!!
I love stuffing. I made savoury bread pudding this year instead of stuffing for our Canadian Thanksgiving and it was a real hit.
Could corn casserole be the same as Corn Pudding? We make that traditionally for Thanksgiving or Christmas. I did a post a while back on it: http://www.audrey74.com/2012/11/08/corn-pudding-our-thanksgiving-and-christmas-tradition/
This is the sweetest story – casserole hasn’t always been my speciality either, but it has honestly grown on me in the last few years. There’s something so wonderful about creating a dish in one pot and and throwing it in the oven! Cheers to delicious holiday casseroles! 🙂 Xo, Alison
http://www.simplyfairbyalisonjeanine.com
I could just picture your husband panicking – wait, where’s the rest!? Stuffing is perhaps my favorite dish on a holiday table and this recipe looks just perfect!