Everyone has their favorite holiday side dish. Stuffing tends to be a big draw for me. I’m calling this Dressing with Apples, Bacon and Caramelized Onions “stuffing” since that’s what we called it when I grew up (regardless of whether or not we stuffed the turkey with it or cooked it by itself!) The apples and caramelized onions add a little sweetness to the stuffing. The bacon just makes it more delicious!
How to make Dressing with Apples, Bacon and Caramelized Onions:
You’ll need a loaf of rustic-style white bread. Anything you can find in your market’s deli section is fine. I like to use a rustic French bread. The (day old) bread is cut into cubes and spread out on a baking sheet to get a little bit stale while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. I like to do this early in the day, giving the chunks of bread a chance to get good and stale (not hard, but crusty). The bacon is chopped and fried in a skillet. Then you’ll remove the bacon from the pan and save all of the bacon grease that the cooked bacon generated.
Chopped onions are cooked in some of the bacon fat with a little bit of sugar. Then the onions are removed from the pan.
Next, you’ll sauté apples, celery, parsley, sage, thyme, salt and pepper- again in a little bit of the bacon fat.
And finally, in a large bowl you’ll combine the bread cubes with the cooked vegetables and bacon. Eggs, chicken broth, salt and pepper are mixed in. Because this is dressing (and not stuffing), this Dressing with Apples, Bacon and Caramelized Onions is baked in a casserole dish.
And the result is a delicious holiday side dish that is brimming with all kinds of amazing flavors!
Serve it with roasted turkey or chicken. Drizzle a little homemade gravy on it, if you’d like. Enjoy, and happy holidays!
Here are a few more recipes using caramelized onions that you might like to try:
Potato Casserole with Caramelized Onions Bacon Burgers with Balsamic Caramelized Onions Spaghetti with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms and Pancetta Filet Mignon with Marsala Caramelized Onions Smoked Caramelized Onion Butter Crostini with Gorgonzola, Caramelized Onions and Fig Jam Caramelized Onion Hummus Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onions, Brie and Sage
