Slow Cooker Cranberry Pecan Stuffing
The best and easiest stuffing ever made right in the crockpot, making Thanksgiving prep just that much easier!
Okay, so I have the most amazing stuffing for you guys today.
It has all kinds of fun goodies, from those crunchy pecans to those sweet cranberries. And best of all, you have KING’S HAWAIIAN sweet bread rolls as your base.
I told you. This stuffing is epic. You have all the flavors of savory-sweet goodness in every single bite.
Oh and it comes together in a slow cooker too! All you have to do is prep everything on the stovetop and throw it right in the crock-pot when you’re ready for it.
You save on oven space and you can keep it on the warm setting until you’re ready to serve.
Now who said Thanksgiving prep had to be stressful?
Slow Cooker Cranberry Pecan Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 12-count package KING’S HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls, cubed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound Italian sausage, casing removed
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ½ cup raw pecan halves
- 2 cups chicken stock, or more, as needed
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until crisp and golden, about 4-5 minutes; set aside and let cool.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add leek, celery, carrots, sage and thyme. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 3-4 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Remove from heat. Stir in cranberries, pecan halves, chicken stock, butter and bread cubes until well combined.
- Place bread mixture into a slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 3-4 hours.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by King’s Hawaiian. All opinions expressed are my own.
Amazing!! Made it today for a friendsgiving and I couldn’t stop eating it. I highly recommend.
First time I ever cooked and loved it. I have to make a double recipe next time!! All my family gobbled up and I don’t have enough left overs. This will be my family recipe years to come.
I love this recipe and so does my family! Our crockpot is housing another recipe this year. Any tips on baking it in the oven instead?
Thanks
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this ourselves, we cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let us know how it turns out! Good luck! 🙂
Hi there! Did this work for you? Looking to make this in an oven instead of a slow cooker this year.
This is fantastic! What recommendations would you provide for cooking an an Instant pot instead of slow cooker?
I have waited 37 years to find a stuffing to love and here it is! Easy and tasty, with compliments for days!
Awesome!
This is the only stuffing recipe I use for thanksgiving! I stumbled upon this recipe 4 years ago trying to find crockpot recipes. I was hosting thanksgiving for the first time with limited oven space….I’m talking about a 70’s retro small wall oven that barely fits a 20lb turkey!
This will be the 5th year hosting and my guests are asking for this stuffing! Perfect balance of sweet and savory. Highly recommend!
I make ahead everything the night before except for combining the breadcrumbs. All I have to do thanksgiving is combine the bread crumbs and turn on the crockpot. So easy!
The flavors in this are amazing, but I think next time I would reduce the sausage and BAKE it in the oven. It came out too soggy in the slow cooker. I did broil the top to get it crispy and that helped (but you have to watch it, otherwise it will burn quickly with all that soft bread!)
Super disappointed that this recipe did not turn out for me. It smelled delicious but looked like soup when I took the lid off. I have double and triple checked the ingredients and steps. I feel like it needs 24 rolls instead of just 12. I’m still a huge fan of damn delicious because it is very rare for for the recipes to not be spot on, but probably won’t be trying this one again.
If I’m taking to a dinner party , what is the best way to do this?? Cool night before and reheat in microwave or make earlier the same day ? Don’t want mushy or cold…
I recommend making this the day of to avoid any kind of mushiness. Hope that helps!
I’d prefer to use dried French bread stuffing from a local bakery. How many oz should I buy? Since it will be drier than the Hawaiian break do I need to make any adjustments to liquids? Thanks!
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment regarding substitutions and modifications.
And made this as is following the directions The Taste was great it was really mushy though I’m not sure what happened I’m going to try it again not in the Crock-Pot and see if that makes a difference and cut and let my Hawaiian rolls sit overnight to get them nice and stale and see if that helps.
Did you toast the cubed sweet rolls first
Yes, please refer to steps #1 and 2.
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Place into oven and bake until crisp and golden, about 4-5 minutes; set aside and let cool.
My family don’t usually eat stuffing but they enjoyed this recipe last Thanksgiving. My crock pot broke so I baked it in the oven. It was a big hit with all our guests as well. Thank you!
This came so mushy and watery. It was kind of disgusting! I think the grease of the sausage plus the butter were too much. By the way, I drained the excessive fat when I browned the sausage. I don’t know what happened. It was such a bummer because stuffing is my favorite side dish on Thanksgiving day. I guess I’ll stick to the stuffing bag recipe next year.
What about fresh herbs instead of dry? Or will it be too powerful?
Not at all! The ratio for fresh to dry herbs is typically 3:1.
Can I use Carmelized pecans? I have them in my pantry. Can’t wait to try this!
Yes! That sounds amazing.
I made this exactly as directed. The flavor was really quite good, but the consistency was extremely mushy – not my preference.
Pet peeve: comments on recipes that say, “This recipe is so amazing!! I can’t wait to try it.” or “This recipe is amazing!! I substituted every ingredient and completely changed it. It’s so good!”
I made this last year for Thanksgiving and it was so delicious. We missed it this year so I am making it for Christmas. I do think this is a great option to bring as a guest to someone’s house/party. I would recommend to anyone and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Would spicy breakfast sausage work for the italian sausage?
Yes, absolutely.
If I double the recipe do I cook it longer in the crock pot?
Yes, cooking time may have to be adjusted as needed.
I made this for my company Thanksgiving potluck this week—it was a huge hit! I used regular Trader Joe’s dinner rolls, turkey dry rub, and turkey stock to make it a bit different. The only issue: it got a bit too mushy for my taste. Not sure if that was my fault or just because I made it overnight and it soaked through the next day. Thanks for your delicious recipe!
2 questions: if I prep all the ingredients the night before, do I need to add extra time to the cooking process? Also, can I substitute fresh cranberries for dried? Thanks!
Michele, if the ingredients are prepped beforehand and stored in the refrigerator overnight, it may be best to let the mixture come to room temperature first. Also, I have never used fresh cranberries in stuffing so I cannot really answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Can you use brown bread or any other kind if you don’t have the bread the recipe calls for? Grocery store doesn’t carry that kind.
Yes, absolutely.
I made this for Christmas dinner and everyone loved it. I was a little nervous about how all the flavors would come together, but it was perfect. I did not have the Hawaiian rolls available, but I used sweet rolls from a Filipino bakery, which seemed to work very well. Thanks for a GREAT recipe!! Will make it again for sure.
Can this be put in a turkey?
I haven’t tried it myself but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work!
Hello again – I am going to make this tomorrow for a large group and am thinking of doing all ingredients x3 (or x4) in my large crockpot… If you can think of anything that I should decrease or add because of the quantity, please feel free to comment. So happy I found your site! Wow
Patricia, feel free to triple or quadruple all ingredients.
Looks GREAT and I will be trying it next week. However, I have never heard of the KING’S HAWAIIAN sweet bread rolls … I see they are available at Publix near me. Are they THAT good? I had another recipe using rye bread … tell me that these rolls will be THE correct bread to use (and will make all the difference~?) Thanks for a great sounding recipe … will send feedback afterwards.
Yes! King’s Hawaiian bread rolls are absolutely amazing!
Where do u find these rolls at? Is it a States thing?
Crystal, these rolls are available pretty much everywhere in the U.S. But if you cannot find these rolls, ciabatta or even French bread would be a great substitute.
It can cook in as little as 3hrs correct? I’m making it now!
I’m going to use veggie sausage and veg stock see what happens.
Can I make this recipe without the sausage? How can I make it vegetarian
You can omit the sausage to make this vegetarian-friendly.
Haven’t even gotten the stuffing to the table yet, it is without a doubt the BEST stuffing I have ever tasted! I followed the recipe, no changes or substitutions. Thank you for such a winning recipe!
What’s not to like – a great stuffing recipe AND it cooks up in a slow cooker !!
I’m definitely making this one! Will frozen cranberries get too soggy in this? It’s nearly impossible to find dried cranberries in Norway
It’s really best to use dried cranberries! If not, you can omit it entirely or substitute something sweet.
I’m not understanding the nutritional info. If total calories is listed as 394.5, is it possible for the calories from fat to be 407.7?
Thank you for catching that, Leslie! The grams of fat should read 36.3.
Hi,
My name is Alex, I love your writing style about pecans
OK, those people who pick on every single thing (“you didn’t list water as an ingredient”) do annoy me BUT (always the caveat)…when I asked my fiancé to help with the ingredients, he diced an entire stalk of celery and went delving in the fridge for the second stalk (gotta love a man who’ll cook with you!). So…a single piece of celery is a RIB and the whole bunch of attached ribs is a STALK. Not to be a nitpicker (cuz I knew what you meant), but some folks might do the same thing- cut up two whole STALKS, so maybe a correction to using two RIBS is in order. Sorry to be the bearer! And oh, the stuffing is great with pork and chicken too! Thanks for the “keeper” recipe!
Burma, thank you so much for comment but there seems to be a controversy versus the use of stalk versus rib. Here’s an article that you can check out: http://seattletimes.com/html/foodwine/2017500054_web15cookqanda.html.
When does the bread go in?
Silvia, it goes in along with the cranberries and pecans.
Raw pecans?? How about regular sausage?
Yes, raw pecans are used in this recipe. And regular sausage can certainly be substituted, although I highly recommend using Italian sausage to obtain the best results possible.
Anything with hawaiian bread is a winner in my book!!
can you leave out sausage? not a fan of sausage? if not, is it sweet or spicy sausage? and what if you don’t want to use crockpot? how would you finish cooking? in oven?
Such a great recipe!! PINNED
Health food, smealth food on Thanksgiving I say!
I love ALL of the ingredients in here, and the idea of using sweet KH bread is GENIUS! I have never made stuffing in a slow cooker, but that needs to change! Pinned!
This look SO good! I had no idea there was so much bread in stuffing, it all tastes so savoury and meaty to me, making the most of what meat you actually use I suppose ^ ^ This looks fantastic Chungah! x
Oh my gosh! I am completely in love with the idea of a slow-cooker stuffing. I just recently made a mini-version of Thanksgiving dinner and I started to get that familiar feeling of “how am I gonna manage my stove real estate on Thanksgiving this year?!” Great idea to utilize the slow-cooker! : )
I love Hawaiian bread and can only imagine what great stuffing it makes! And those cranberries! Where did you get those? They are THE most vibrant cranberries ever! Just beautiful!