Low-Fat Stuffing: 4 g of Fat a Serving, Still Moist Inside and Crisp on Top
Traditional stuffing starts with a stick of butter and goes on from there. Add pork sausage meat and you are at 20–22 g of fat a serving before anything else reaches the table — and stuffing is rarely the only rich thing on the plate.
Take the butter out without thinking it through and you get the two classic failures: a dry, sandy middle, or a pale soggy top that never crisps. Butter was doing three different jobs, and each one needs its own answer.
This version comes in at 4 g of fat and 190 calories a serving, makes ten portions, and the top still crackles.
Why this version works
Job one was sweating the aromatics. Onion and celery give up their sugars in any liquid, not just fat — cook them covered in a splash of stock, then take the lid off and let the pan dry out. The edges caramelise the same way, and you have lost nothing but the butter.
Job two was moisture. This is where most low-fat stuffing goes wrong, and the fix is counterintuitive: the bread has to be drier, not wetter. Properly oven-dried cubes act like a sponge and drink stock all the way to the centre. Soft fresh bread cannot — it takes liquid on the surface and turns to paste. Two eggs beaten into the stock then set the whole thing so it slices instead of slumping.
Job three was the crisp top. Browning there comes from a dry surface under direct heat, not from fat. Twenty-five minutes covered steams the inside through; twenty minutes uncovered at 190 °C dries and browns the top. Lean turkey sausage, browned in a dry pan and drained, keeps the savoury weight without the pork fat.
Ingredients
Serves 10.
- 500 g day-old crusty white bread, cut into 2 cm cubes
- 250 g lean turkey sausage meat (93% lean), skins removed
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 4 celery sticks, diced
- 900 ml low-sodium chicken stock, plus a little extra
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage (or 2 tsp dried)
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
- a large handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp olive oil, for the dish
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 160 °C (325 °F). Spread the bread cubes over two trays and dry them for 25 minutes, until they rattle and snap rather than bend. Turn the oven up to 190 °C (375 °F).
- Brown the sausage meat in a dry non-stick pan over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it goes, for 6–8 minutes. Tip it into a sieve to drain, then into a large bowl.
- Put the onion and celery into the same pan with 150 ml of the stock. No fat. Cover and cook for 8 minutes, then uncover and cook for about 5 more, until the pan is dry and the edges are catching gold.
- Stir in the sage and thyme and cook for 30 seconds, then scrape the lot into the bowl with the bread and sausage. Add the parsley.
- Beat the eggs into 750 ml of the remaining stock and pour it over. Fold gently and leave it for 10 minutes. The cubes should be damp all the way through but still holding their shape — add more stock 50 ml at a time if the middle is still dry.
- Rub a 2.5-litre baking dish with the teaspoon of oil and pack the stuffing in loosely. Pressing it down makes it dense.
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- Uncover and bake for 20 minutes more, until the top is crisp and browned and the centre reads 74 °C.
- Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
Per serving (one tenth of the dish):
- Total fat: 4 g
- Saturated fat: 0.9 g
- Calories: 190
- Protein: 9 g
- Carbohydrate: 29 g
- Fibre: 3 g
- Sodium: 420 mg (with low-sodium stock)
Almost all of the 4 g comes from the turkey sausage and the eggs. Leave the sausage out and replace it with 200 g of chestnut mushrooms cooked dry until browned, and a serving falls to about 1.5 g.
Variations
- Meat free. Swap the sausage for 200 g of dry-browned mushrooms and 100 g of chopped dried apricots, and use vegetable stock.
- Apple and sage. Add two diced eating apples with the celery. They hold their shape and keep the middle moist.
- Cornbread version. Use dried cornbread cubes instead of white bread and cut the stock to 700 ml — cornbread drinks less.
- Baked in muffin tins. Twelve portions, 30 minutes uncovered at 190 °C. More crisp surface per serving, which some people prefer.
Storing and making ahead
Assemble it a day ahead, cover and refrigerate unbaked. Let it stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking and add ten minutes to the covered stage. Baked stuffing keeps three days in the fridge and reheats, loosely covered, at 180 °C for 20 minutes — take the cover off for the last five to bring the top back.
It freezes well baked, in portions, for up to two months. Reheat from frozen at 180 °C for 35 minutes.
What to serve it with
Roast turkey breast is the obvious partner, but it is just as good alongside baked chicken thighs with the skin removed, or a tray of roast squash. Put it next to a green bean casserole that is not built on tinned soup and the two heaviest dishes on a holiday table are both under 5 g of fat a serving.
Questions People Ask
My stuffing came out dry in the middle. What went wrong?
Almost always not enough liquid, or not enough resting time before it went in the oven. Dried bread keeps absorbing for a good ten minutes — what looks wet when you pour the stock on can be dry by the time it reaches the dish. Squeeze a cube after ten minutes: it should be damp right to the centre.
Can I cook it inside the bird?
Food safety guidance is to cook stuffing to 74 °C, and in a bird the centre usually reaches that temperature long after the breast is overcooked. Baking it separately is safer and, for this recipe specifically, it is the only way to get the crisp top — which is the whole point of the method.
What bread works best?
A plain crusty white loaf or a baguette, a day or two old. Soft sliced sandwich bread collapses, and heavily seeded or sourdough loaves fight the herbs. Whatever you use, dry it in the oven first even if it already feels stale.
Is turkey sausage really lower in fat than pork?
It depends entirely on the packet. Some turkey sausage is made with skin and dark meat and lands close to pork. Look for a stated lean percentage of 93% or higher, or buy turkey breast mince and season it yourself with sage, fennel seed and black pepper.
— Sophia
Written by
Sophia W. Whitman
Recipe developer and author of the Pancreatitis Diet Cookbook for Beginners. Cooking has been my life’s work, and low-fat cooking is the corner of it I know best. Every recipe here lists fat per serving, so you don’t have to guess.