Thanksgiving Dressing with Apples and Walnuts

This Thanksgiving dressing is a lighter version of the classic, made with whole wheat bread, egg whites, reduced sodium broth, and just 2 tablespoons of butter for the whole recipe. Each ½-cup serving has 209 calories, 7 grams of protein, 4 grams of fiber, and only 1 gram of saturated fat. Boxed stuffing mixes are often high in sodium, so making it from scratch gives you much more control over what goes into it. Every recipe on our site is approved by our registered dietitians, so you can feel good about serving it.

This dressing is already lower in sodium, with 369 mg per serving, thanks to reduced sodium broth and no added salt. To lower it even more, use unsalted chicken or vegetable broth and look for a lower sodium whole wheat bread, since the bread is the biggest source of sodium in this recipe. Sage, garlic powder, apples, and black pepper add plenty of flavor without the salt.

Our apple and walnut dressing uses simple ingredients you may already have on hand:

• Whole wheat bread, cut into ½-inch cubes and dried
• Granny Smith apples and chopped walnuts
• Onion and celery, cooked in a little unsalted butter
• Reduced sodium chicken broth
• 1 egg plus 2 egg whites to hold it together
• Sage, garlic powder, and black pepper for classic holiday flavor

Tart, firm apples like Granny Smith are best for stuffing, since they hold their shape during baking and balance the savory flavors. Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, and Braeburn also work well if you’d like a little more sweetness. Skip softer apples like McIntosh or Red Delicious, which can turn mushy in the oven. Leave the peel on for extra fiber and a pop of color.

You can assemble this dressing up to 1 day ahead, which frees up your oven and your schedule on Thanksgiving. Mix everything together, press it into the baking dish, cover it tightly, and refrigerate it unbaked. You can also toast the bread cubes up to 3 days ahead and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. When you’re ready, bake the dressing straight from the fridge, adding 10 to 15 extra minutes since it’s going in cold. It’s done when the top is golden brown and the center reaches 165°F.

A few simple steps help you get a dressing that’s crisp on top and moist in the middle:

• Use dried bread cubes, since fresh bread soaks up too much broth and turns soggy.
• Cook the onion and celery until soft before mixing them in so they don’t stay crunchy.
• Choose firm apples that hold their shape during baking.
• If the mixture seems dry before baking, add a splash more low sodium broth.
• Bake the dressing in a separate dish until it reaches 165°F in the center. Cooking it inside the turkey makes it harder to reach a safe temperature.

Swap the whole wheat bread for the same amount of gluten free bread, and dry the cubes the same way. Every other ingredient in this recipe is naturally gluten free, including the apples, walnuts, eggs, and seasonings. Just check that your broth is labeled “gluten free,” since a few brands use wheat-based flavorings.