Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

Make stuffing the star of Thanksgiving! This Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans is my go-to stuffing recipe. Your guests will love it!

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Can you believe it's almost Thanksgiving already? Then it's practically Christmas! I feel so cliche saying that, but it's true! Where does the time go?

My family doesn't typically celebrate Thanksgiving. It feels weird to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving here in the US, and it feels weird to celebrate American Thanksgiving when our Canadian family is already done with the holiday.

In any case, I'm always looking for an excuse to eat stuffing. In particular, my very favorite Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans.

Dried bread cubes on a baking sheet. — Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans starts with bread. Make sure to use high-quality bread, and dry it in the oven yourself for the best results.

I don't love this stuffing because I grew up eating it for every holiday. In fact, I grew up eating a version with no sausage, but mushrooms (and of course, Stovetop).

Don't get me wrong, the mushroom version was good too, but I've been making this version since I started cooking my own holiday dinners. I love the meaty sausage and the pops of sweet tartness from the cranberries.

Plus the fact that it's cooked with chicken wings on top gives it a little extra poultry flavor without the food safety issues that come with actually cooking the stuffing inside your turkey.

Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans with chicken wings on the top. — Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans gets a big dose of poultry flavor from chicken wings, which sit atop the stuffing as it bakes.

How to make Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans:

Making this mouthwatering stuffing is admittedly a bit of a procedure. First you need to dry out your bread cubes in the oven. Can you use the store-bought pre-dried bread from your local grocery store? Yes, but keep in mind that you're paying for old, stale bread, and you don't get to control the type of bread that is used.

I have a designated "old bread bag" in the freezer where I will put bread odds and ends here and there that don't get eaten. When I'm ready to make stuffing (or croutons) I cut it into cubes, put it on a tray, and set it to dry.

Then you need to brown the chicken wings in a skillet, which are later laid on top of your dish of stuffing to infuse delicious poultry flavor into the stuffing while it's baking.

The next step is to brown the sausage and cook the vegetables that you're adding to the stuffing.

Finally, these ingredients all get mixed together and baked so serve as the perfect savory side-dish to accompany your Thanksgiving turkey.

If this sounds like way too much work to take on before your big dinner, don't worry - many of the steps can be performed days before so that the only thing that's left to do on Turkey day is to pop the stuffing dish into the oven.

Close-up photo of Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans in a glass baking dish. — Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans is loaded with flavor and texture from the high-quality bread cubes, cranberries, sauteed onion and celery, Italian sausage, and herbs.

Can you prepare stuffing ahead of time?

Yes. Stuffing can be prepared in advance of your big meal and simply popped into the oven an hour or so before it's time to serve dinner. Here's how:

Dry out the bread cubes anywhere from several days (or even weeks) before the meal to the day before the big meal. Keep the dried bread in a large zipper bag, and if you're storing them for more than a day or two, keep them in the freezer to prevent any mold growth.

One to two days before Thanksgiving, follow the recipe below up to the end of step 7. Then simply place the baking dish into the fridge until you're ready to cook.

Place the baking dish or casserole on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 375°F. Note that because you're cooking your stuffing from fridge-cold rather than warm (if you'd been preparing the recipe continuously), you will need to cook it for a little longer. Plan for 90 minutes, but check it after 1 hr, 15 minutes to see if it's hot all the way through (use an instant-read thermometer to ensure the temperature is at 165°F).

Overhead photo of bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans in a glass baking dish. — Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans will easily be the star side-dish at your next big holiday meal.

Choose high-quality ingredients for your Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

Now of course, like many things that come out of the kitchen, the quality of the dish you're making depends mainly on the quality of ingredients that you use. In this case, the biggest factor is the bread that you choose.

Please don't use the dried-out bread crumbs that you can buy in your grocery store's bakery. You're just paying for bread that was too stale to sell.

Make sure to use bread that you'd actually eat. I like to use my homemade sourdough.

I keep a dedicated zipper bag in my freezer at all times where I store cubes of leftover bread. That way, I'm always ready when I need to make croutons or stuffing.

And here's a little pro tip for you: always transfer a baking sheet with a heavy baking dish filled with food on it to the oven with two hands.

This is what happened to me: I was holding the baking sheet with my Pyrex dish full of stuffing on it in one hand and opening the oven with the other. The baking dish started to slide, and of course, toppled right onto the floor.

Luckily, the aluminum foil on top contained most of the stuffing, and I was able to salvage it (but you'd better believe I'd still have chosen to eat this stuff off the floor). Anyway, use two hands and don't follow in my footsteps.

Homemade bread stuffing with dried cranberries and pecans in a glass baking dish. — Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans can easily be made gluten-free and dairy-free.

Want more Thanksgiving side dish recipes?

Sweet Potato Casserole in a white dish — Sweet Potato Casserole

Roasted brussels sprout on a fork — Perfect Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Lazy cabbage rolls on spoon — Lazy Cabbage Rolls

Bread Stuffing with Dried Cranberries and Pecans Nutrition Notes:

The nutrition info in the recipe does not include the whole chicken wings. It does account for the increased fat that cooks out of the wings.

Added sugars will vary depending on the type of dried cranberries you use. To reduce fat content, try using turkey or chicken sausage instead of pork.