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Side Dishes

Sage and Onion Stuffing

Sage and onion stuffing: breadcrumbs, soft onion and fresh sage bound with egg and baked until crisp on top, for the Christmas roast.
Recipe Sage and Onion Stuffing
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Preparation 15 minutes
  • Cooking 35 minutes
  • Servings for 8 people

Sage and onion stuffing is the oldest and simplest of the British stuffings: breadcrumbs mixed with soft-cooked onion and plenty of sage, bound with egg and baked until golden. It goes with the roast turkey or goose of Christmas Day, and with roast pork and chicken the rest of the year.

It was once always cooked inside the bird; today most cooks bake it separately in a dish or roll it into balls, so it gets a crisp top and the turkey cooks more evenly. Sage, a robust herb that stands up well to rich meat, gives it its unmistakable aroma.

Ingredients for 8 people

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Method

  1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, add the onions, cover and sweat them for about 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft but not colored.
  2. Add the garlic, the bay leaf and the thyme leaves and cook for 3 minutes more. Take the pan off the heat, remove the bay leaf and let the onions cool completely.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) and butter a shallow baking dish of about 1.5 liters (6 cups). Tear the bread into pieces and blitz it in a food processor with the sage and parsley leaves to coarse crumbs.
  4. In a large bowl, mix the cooled onions with the herby breadcrumbs and season with the salt and pepper. Add the eggs and the egg yolk and mix until the mixture is evenly moist and holds together when pressed.
  5. Spread the stuffing in the dish without pressing it down too hard and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp and the center is piping hot. Serve with roast turkey, goose, chicken or pork and plenty of gravy. Finally, remember to download our App with exclusive content and fewer ads!

Variations and Alternatives

Shape the mixture into 12 balls and bake them on a lined tray at 190 °C (375 °F) for about 25 minutes, until golden. For a richer stuffing, add 300 g of pork sausage meat, or 200 g of chopped cooked chestnuts and the grated zest of a lemon. Many family recipes use 2 teaspoons of dried sage instead of fresh, for a stronger flavor.

Tips

Use day-old bread: very fresh bread turns gummy in the food processor. Let the onions cool before adding the eggs, or the eggs will start to set. Baking the stuffing outside the bird is safer and quicker; if you stuff the neck end of the turkey, the center of the stuffing must reach 74 °C (165 °F).

Storage

The uncooked stuffing keeps covered in the fridge for up to 1 day. Cooked, it keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month; reheat it in the oven until piping hot.

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