Stuffing With Mushrooms, Leeks and Bacon
Updated Oct. 4, 2024
- Total Time
- 2 to 2½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
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Ingredients
- 3tablespoons melted butter, more as needed for greasing pan
- 1½pounds sliced white bread or corn bread
- ½pound thick-cut bacon
- 2large leeks, trimmed and sliced (3 cups)
- 1½pounds mixed mushrooms, cut into bite-size pieces
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt
- ¾teaspoon black pepper
- 2tablespoons chopped sage
- ½cup dry white wine
- 1¼cups chicken stock, more as needed
- ¼cup apple cider, if using white bread
- 3tablespoons chopped parsley
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
359 calories; 16 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 575 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 250 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Trim the crusts from the white bread and cut into 1-inch cubes; if using corn bread, coarsely crumble it. Spread the bread pieces out on one or two large baking sheets. Toast in the oven, tossing occasionally, until very dry, about 30 minutes for white bread, 1 hour for corn bread. Transfer to a large bowl to cool. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees.
- Step 2
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the bacon strips until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain, leaving the fat in the pan. Add the leeks to the bacon fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, tossing frequently, until mushrooms are tender and most of their juices have evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the sage and cook 1 minute. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates, about 2 minutes.
- Step 3
Spoon the mushroom mixture over the dried bread. Stir in stock. If using white bread, stir in the cider. Add parsley, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. The mixture should be moist and very soft. If you like your stuffing extremely moist, add enough stock to make it seem slightly soggy but not wet. (Think pudding.) Crumble bacon and stir it in.
- Step 4
Transfer the bread mixture to the prepared baking pan. Drizzle 3 tablespoons melted butter over the stuffing. Bake until golden, 35 to 45 minutes.
Private Notes
Comments
To make the cooking less hands-on and dirty fewer pans, I laid the bacon in the bottom of the casserole dish and topped it with the leeks and mushrooms. I cooked it at 400 until the bacon was crispy and the vegetables cooked, stirring occasionally and adding chopped pecans during the last 5 minutes. I also used hard cider rather than the wine and regular cider.
I brought it to the teacher Thanksgiving lunch today and have already had several requests for the recipe.
In 40+ years of either making bad stuffing or begging someone else to bring it, I have finally found THE PERFECT recipe. And here's the bonus: I assembled but not baked it a day ahead of time, then brought it to room temp and cooked as directed. This is a wonderful recipe.
I made this and was surprised to find I didn't like it with bacon. I did like adding celery.
This was a huge hit! Everyone loved it. I made it gluten free by using one bag of Bob's Red Mill Corn muffin mix. I made it the day before and then added more chicken broth and the butter before baking. Definitely will be making again.
Prepared recipe mostly as listed. I foraged for chanterelles a few days prior which are best prepared as a dry saute. I dry sautéed the mushrooms separately for 20-30 minutes on low then set them aside while I prepared everything else. Did a short saute once added chanterelles to the bacon fat and leeks… just enough to give them some added flavor. Opted to prepare AM of Thanksgiving and then reheated right before dinner. It turned out delicious! Only wish was that we had made the bacon a little crispier. We use an external oven roaster so did not need to worry as much with the timing with the oven, but it definitely seemed like several of the steps could be done ahead of time. It reheated easily so may be able to prep day prior.
Cooked exactly as directions and ingredients listed. Prepped to Step 3 a day before and cooked on Thanksgiving. I should have added some chicken broth the day of cooking. I liked it but the other 13 people felt there was just “too much” in it. All the more leftovers for me!