This easy meat stuffing with ground turkey and bacon is a delicious side dish, perfect for the holiday season. It is full of festive flavours, simple to make and ready in under an hour.
Meat stuffing ingredients
This simple ground turkey stuffing contains the classic festive season ingredients including cranberries and chestnuts. There are only a few simple steps involved and you'll have a delicious stuffing casserole ready in about an hour.
I don't use a lot of fat in everyday cooking but I've made an exception with this baked stuffing recipe. The holiday season is not about everyday cooking after all! A certain amount of fat (in this case streaky bacon) is necessary to keep the stuffing moist as well as to add more flavour. Though I do recommend using lean bacon slices.
I used parsley in addition to traditional sage and rosemary, bread to soak up the moisture, a splash of wine, as well as fried onion and celery for more flavour.
Step-by-step recipe instructions
1.Start by frying the onion, celery and cranberries in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the wine and continue cooking for another minute or so. Add the sage and rosemary and stir to combine.
2. Add the bread pieces, season lightly and stir thoroughly to combine. Set aside. In the meantime preheat the oven to 190 C/ 375 F/ gas mark 5.
3. In a pan heat up 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the bacon until it starts changing colour, stirring often.
4. Combine the bacon with the meat, parsley, chestnuts, spices, seasoning and onion mixture, stir thoroughly and transfer into your casserole dish.
5. Drizzle over a little oil and bake for 35-40 minutes until nicely browned and crispy on top.
6. Remove from the oven and serve!
Top tips
- Meat: I recommend using dark turkey meat (thigh meat) rather than turkey breast which is too dry for a stuffing recipe. I chose lean streaky smoked bacon as it adds a bit of nice smoky flavour as well as moisture into the stuffing. You can discard the fat after frying the bacon or add it into the casserole along with the bacon if you prefer. Alternatively use the fat to drizzle over the casserole instead of oil.
- Best served immediately.
- Refrigerate the leftovers, covered, for up to 3 days.
- Freeze the casserole, unbaked, covered, for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen.
Substitutions
- Turkey: Use pork if preferred.
- Bacon: Use either smoked or unsmoked.
- Herbs: You can use your own combination of herbs rather than my recommendations.
Serving suggestions
This easy stuffing with meat makes a fantastic Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner dish. It tastes delicious served with this spiced healthy cranberry sauce as well as cranberry beetroot chutney. Try it also with festive roasted brussels sprouts or sweet and moreish honey glazed carrots. This stuffing casserole can also be enjoyed throughout the festive season as a main dish served with potatoes.
You might also like
- Quick Vegetarian Christmas Stuffing
- Stuffing Meatballs with Cranberries & Chestnuts
- Turkey Wellington with Mushrooms & Chestnuts
- Stuffed Butternut Squash with Quinoa & Mushrooms
Keep in touch!
Have you made this meat stuffing? I'd love to know how it turned out for you. Do you have a favourite stuffing recipe you make every year? Let me know in the comments below, thanks!
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Meat Stuffing with Turkey and Bacon
Equipment
- Medium size casserole dish, approx. 6 cm deep
- Large pan
Ingredients
- 500 g ground turkey approx. 7% fat
- 200 g smoked streaky bacon chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- ½ celery stalk finely chopped
- 4 tbsp white wine
- 90 g chestnuts ready to use, roughly chopped
- 40 g dried sweetened cranberries
- 4 tbsp parsley finely chopped
- 4 tbsp fresh sage leaves, finely chopped or 2 teaspoons dried
- 1½ tsp rosemary leaves finely chopped
- ½ tsp onion granules
- ⅓ tsp nutmeg and allspice powder each
- ⅔ tsp fine sea salt plus a good amount of pepper
- 2 slices of stale bread broken up into chunks
- 4 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C/ gas mark 5.
- Heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil, add the onion and celery and fry over a low/medium heat for 3 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the cranberries, wine and continue frying for another minute stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, stir in the sage, rosemary and bread pieces and leave to cool.
- In a frying pan heat up 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the bacon pieces until they start changing colour. Combine with the meat, chestnuts, spices and seasoning, parsley and the onion mixture.
- Transfer the mixture to a medium casserole dish, drizzle with a little oil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve.
Notes
- Meat: I recommend using dark turkey meat (thigh meat) rather than turkey breast which is too dry for a stuffing recipe. You could also use ground pork instead if you prefer. I chose lean streaky smoked bacon as it adds a bit of nice smoky flavour as well as moisture into the stuffing. You can discard the fat after frying the bacon or add it into the casserole along with the bacon if you prefer. Alternatively use the fat to drizzle over the casserole instead of oil.
- Herbs: You can use your own combination of herbs rather than my recommendations.
- Best served immediately.
- Refrigerate the leftovers, covered, for up to 3 days.
- Freeze the casserole, unbaked, covered, for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen
Nutrition
*Nutritional information is automatically generated and should be considered as an estimate.
Hi, I am Monika, welcome to Everyday Healthy Recipes! This blog is all about creatively simple recipes with a healthy twist, old classics with a modern take, and an occasional Polish dish thrown into the mix - all easy to make, healthy and delicious, perfect for everyday cooking. 
What a lovely sounding stuffing recipe. I especially love how you've added spices into the mix - very Christmassy!! Eb x
Thank you! Glad you like it ☺️
Something new, something to try.
Thanks - Friday Fiesta rocks.
Thanks for stopping by and happy FF!
Love your version of stuffing Monika. I have made a sausage/cranberry stuffing but never added chestnuts. Sage is a perfect herb to use. Thanks for sharing with Fiesta Friday, Jangie and the J Crew 🙂
Thank you Judith! Chestnuts are really nice in a stuffing recipe.
I love stuffing and I love the look of this dish. I will be making this for sure.
Thanks Jacqui! Let me know how it turned out if you do decide to make it:)
I love the idea of the chestnuts and cranberries in the stuffing Monika, like you say they sing out Christmas loud and clear,
Angela x
Thanks Angela! Glad you like it. I've been putting cranberries into everything lately:)
Oh wow, this looks and sounds perfect for Christmas day! Thank you for sharing with #CookBlogShare x
Thanks Kirsty! It is such a quick and easy recipe I am definitely making it again next week ready for Christmas day:)
Ooh yum!! this sounds gorgeous. I am very traditional and make a sage and onion stuffing every year - I really must try something new one day, but the problem with Christmas is it's all about traditions and I've been having the same stuffing at Christmas since I was a child - I'm not sure I can bring myself to change it!! Eb x
Thanks! Traditions are great and we shouldn't discard them, but there is nothing wrong with adding more dishes to the table and keeping the traditional ones too, I think. I've also got a few dishes I make every year, but I add new stuff too. Makes it more interesting:)
Looks like a lovely festive recipe Monika X
Thanks Mandy, I hope I can replicate it well on Christmas day:)