Sausage & Bacon Stuffing With Apricot & Pine Nuts

This sausage & bacon stuffing is the perfect addition to Christmas dinner! Full of smoky bacon, toasted pine nuts, dried fruit & fresh herbs.

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This sausage & bacon stuffing makes a fantastic addition to Christmas dinner! It’s meaty, slightly sweet & full of fresh herbs, dried apricots, orange zest & toasted pine nuts.

To make our stuffing even better, we are pressing it to set, slicing it thick then pan frying to serve. This gives it a crisp, golden crust! This stuff’s great served with roast turkey, on its’ own or in a impressive Christmas sandwich…

What Is Stuffing?

Stuffing tends to be made with either a meat or bread base & is traditionally eaten with a roast dinner, as a side dish or when it has been used to stuff a piece of meat.

For our Christmas stuffing, we’re using a mixture of sausage meat & streaky bacon which we’re cooking in a loaf tin. This is then set in the fridge before being sliced & fried/roasted.

What You’ll Need To Make Sausage & Bacon Stuffing

• Sausages
  For this stuffing, we’re using Cumberland sausages. These tend to be flavoured with black pepper & nutmeg which works brilliantly with the other flavours in our stuffing. Feel free to use another type of sausage if you’d prefer.
• Bacon
  Make sure to use streaky bacon for this recipe. I like to use smoked bacon for extra flavour but unsmoked would also work.
• Onions
  A couple of large, white onions are needed for our stuffing. If you’d prefer a sweeter flavour, you could use 4 banana shallots instead.
• Garlic
  For a mild garlic flavour, we’re grating 3 cloves into our stuffing mix.
• Brandy
  Two tablespoons of brandy are used to deglaze the pan of onions. This is optional so feel free to leave this out if you’d prefer.
• Apricots
  Dried apricots add a touch of sweetness to this stuffing. If you’d like to use a different dried fruit, cranberries, raisins or dried figs would be good alternatives.
• Pine Nuts
  Pine nuts add a subtle nutty flavour to our stuffing. Feel free to swap these out for hazelnuts or walnuts.
• Herbs
  We’re using two different herbs in this recipe. Chopped thyme leaves are added to the onions once they are cooked & finely chopped sage leaves are added to the pork mix.
• Brioche
  Adding breadcrumbs to a meat based stuffing helps stop it from drying out as it cooks. We’re using brioche because it adds a touch of richness & sweetness.
• Egg
  Adding a small amount of egg to the pork mix helps bind it all together.

How To Make Sausage & Bacon Stuffing

The full, printable recipe card for this stuffing can be found at the bottom of this post!

Step 1 – Cook Onion & Garlic

The first step is to cook finely diced onion in a frying pan, over a medium heat until softened. This will take around 10 minutes & they will need stirring regularly.

Once cooked, we add in some grated garlic & chopped thyme leaves, cook out for 30 seconds then deglaze with brandy. Once the alcohol has cooked off, we transfer the onions to a bowl & leave them to cool completely.

Step 2 – Prep The Sausages & Bacon

Onto the meat. First, we need to remove the sausages from their skins. To do this, run a sharp knife down one side then peel the skin off. Discard the skin then place the meat into a large mixing bowl.

Next, chop the bacon into a small dice. I’ve found that the ideal bacon size is around 6-8mm wide.

Once diced, add the bacon to the sausage meat & mix together

Step 3 – Add Apricots, Pine Nuts & Herbs

Now to add the remaining ingredients. To the stuffing mix, we add in roughly chopped dried apricots, finely chopped sage, the zest of an orange, brioche breadcrumbs, an egg & roughly chopped, toasted pine nuts. We then season the mix with sea salt & freshly cracked black pepper.

Step 4 – Mix The Stuffing

Next, give the stuffing a really good mix, making sure all the of the ingredients are well combined. You can do this with a spatula or with clean hands.

Step 5 – Check The Seasoning

Now that the stuffing is all mixed together, we need to cook a small amount off in a frying pan. We then taste it, to check the seasoning, adding more salt & pepper to the stuffing mix as needed.

Step 6 – Transfer To A Loaf Tin

Once we’re happy with the stuffing’s flavour, we can transfer it to a lined 900g/2lb loaf tin. Making sure to press the stuffing down so that it’s level on top. Next, place a piece of baking parchment on top of the stuffing then cover with tin foil.

The best way that I found to line the loaf tin, is to cut a large rectangle of baking parchment, scrunch it up, press into the tin then trim the edges with a pair of scissors. Don’t worry about getting this too perfect!

How To Cook Stuffing

To cook the stuffing, first place it into a deep baking tin then fill up with warm water so that it comes halfway up the sides of the loaf tin.

Carefully transfer the roasting tin to a preheated oven (@ 160°c/140°c fan (320°f/284°f) & cook until the stuffing has reached an internal temperature of 75°c/167°f.

A digital food probe comes in super handy here. I use a Thermapen, which I have linked below!

Pressing & Setting The Stuffing

Once the stuffing is cooked, we take it out of the roasting tin & place the loaf tin onto a separate baking tray. We then remove the foil from the top of the tin then place another 900g/2lb loaf tin on top. Next, we place something heavy (like a bag of flour) into the loaf tin. This presses the terrine as it cools which will give it a more uniform shape once it has set.

When the stuffing has cooled enough to go in the fridge, it is then chilled overnight, to set. We can then remove the stuffing from the tin, cut into portions, reheat & serve.

How To Reheat Stuffing

To reheat your slices of stuffing, you have two options….

Option 1 – Frying In A Pan

This is my preferred method of reheating because it gives the stuffing a crisp, golden brown crust!

To fry the stuffing, place a large frying pan over a medium heat & add in a splash of veg oil. Once hot, cook the stuffing for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown & crisp. Season with salt & pepper then serve.

Option 2 – Roasting In The Oven

This option is good if you want to reheat several portions of stuffing at once!

To do this, first preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (356°f/320°f). Next, place the stuffing onto a lined baking tray, drizzle over a small amount of veg oil & season with salt & pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Stuffing Tips & Tricks

• Let the stuffing set in the fridge overnight. This will make portioning it a lot easier!
• For the cleanest slices, use a sharp serrated knife.
• Fry a small amount of raw stuffing to taste it before cooking the rest.
• Press the cooked stuffing with another loaf tin (plus something heavy) for a uniform shape.
• Use sausages with plenty of fat in!

Cooking Stuffing In An Aga

With all of my recipes, I include cooking instructions for conventional ovens, fan ovens & also Agas.

To cook the stuffing in an Aga, place the roasting tin on the bottom set of runners in the baking oven & cook as per the recipe.

Equipment Used

Please note that these are affiliate links & I may make a small commission if you make a purchase using these links, at no extra cost to you. For more information, click here.

• Digital Food Probe
• 900g/2lb Loaf Tins
• Food Processor
• Roasting Tin

More Recipes To Try!

• Pigs In Blankets With Honey & Mustard
• The Best Yorkshire Puddings
• The Ultimate Roast Potatoes
• Braised Red Cabbage
• Red Wine Gravy
• Roasted Cauliflower Cheese
• Leftover Pigs In Blankets Mac & Cheese

If you have enjoyed this stuffing recipe, it would mean a lot if you could leave a review & rating!