Chorizo-Fig Sourdough Stuffing

A sweet, smoky and tangy twist on a Thanksgiving classic, with the familiar flavors of sage, celery and more. Bonus: Make it ahead and reheat the day of serving!

Stuffing is one of my favorite things to prepare on Thanksgiving. I like to switch it up every year. It’s extremely versatile — and most importantly — pretty hard to screw up.

To me, a good stuffing is herby, savory, moist and a little bit sweet. I’m also partial to the mouthwatering tang of a sourdough loaf. It adds a whole new dimension to this holiday classic.

This stuffing has all the cozy and familiar flavors of Thanksgiving — sage, celery, carrots, chicken stock — but with a sweet and smoky take thanks to dried figs and chorizo sausage. It’s got a nice crunch on top with a moist underbelly.

It’s the ultimate comfort food, with an upscale flair!

In a time crunch on Thanksgiving Day? This is definitely one of those dishes that you can make ahead the day before and reheat before serving. If you go this route, you’ll definitely want to use the oven, as all of that steam will zap the crispy upper layer of the stuffing.

This recipe doesn’t require any added butter, oil or salt. Just let the fat from the chorizo serve as the base for sauteing your veggies. Chicken stock should give you all the salt you need, but you may always add more.

It’s a perfect pairing with my 30-minute Instant Pot turkey. With just 30 minutes in a pressure cooker and a quick trip to the broiler, you can have the moist and tender turkey breast with a beautiful browned skin! It’s cooked with herbs and beer, and comes with a bonus side of stewed veggies.

Get the turkey recipe here.

Ingredients

Sourdough loaf (ideally stale)
Carrot
Onion
Celery
Chorizo sausage
Dried figs
Sage
Chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Cooking spray/butter/oil (for greasing pan)

Note: When it comes to buying chorizo, be sure to get the uncured kind, which should be located with breakfast and other sausages in the grocery store. I prefer the classic pork over beef. If you have multiple options, I’d stick with a milder sort of sausage, unless you want a bigger kick.

Instructions

First things first: We want to make sure the bread is nice and dry so it can soak up all of those tasty flavors. If your bread is already stale, it just needs to be cubed in pieces that are about one square inch.

If you’re using fresh bread, preheat the oven while you cube the bread, then spread the cubes out on a baking sheet. Toast them in the oven for about 15 minutes, until they’re crunchy.

Place the bread cubes into a buttered casserole dish.

On the stovetop, squeeze the chorizo out of the tube and break the meat up into smaller pieces. After the chorizo cooks for a bit and the grease drips out of the meat, add carrots, since these take the longest to cook. Stirring occasionally, let these two ingredients cook together briefly before adding the onion and celery.

After these ingredients cook together for a bit, add some chicken stock and the figs, then cover and continue cooking. Stir in the sage until fully combined.

Pour everything over the bread cubes and give the ingredients in the casserole dish a stir to ensure the stovetop mixture is mixed evenly with the bread cubes. Add some extra chicken stock to lock in the moisture, and give the dish a taste. Add more salt and pepper, if desired.

Bake for at least a half-hour, until bread cubes are golden brown.

Serve when hot, or refrigerate until the day you intend to serve the stuffing. Reheat in the oven to ensure the top of the stuffing retains its satisfying crunch.

Garnish with fresh sage leaves, if desired. Dig in!