"A traditional family recipe passed down for years in my family. Delicious authentic East Coast Portuguese stuffing. Mmm… I can taste it now!"
Nana's Portuguese Stuffing
"Why stress so much over their Thanksgiving Turkey? Ok, I guess it IS the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal. And that usually means you have a table full of people not to disappoint. Ok, I get it. It’s a big deal! By trying my simple recipe your fears will be gone!"
Servings - 16 Prep Time - 30 Minutes
Cook Time - 45 Minutes
Ingredients:
1 large Onion diced
1 large Whole celery stock diced
4 cups Chicken broth
1 lb Ground breakfast sausage browned and drained
1 lb Linguica sausage diced, browned and drained
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 Stick Butter
1/4 cup Bells Seasoning
4 or 5 loaves Day old Portuguese, French, Italian bread, or rolls ripped or cut into cubes
Instructions:
On medium heat, saute ground sausage in large skillet. Remove and drain. Add to large mixing bowl.
Using same skillet add Linguica, cook for 15 min stirring occasionally. Remove and drain excess fat. Add to large mixing bowl with cooked sausage.
Again using same hot skillet, over medium heat, add 1/2 stick of butter. Melt. Add in diced onion and celery. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. Halfway had additional stick of butter and cook until onions and celery are translucent. Remove from heat and pour over cooked meats in large mixing bowl.
Add half of your cubed or ripped bread.
Pour in 2 cups of chicken broth.
Sprinkle half of the Bells seasoning over mixture.
This is the best part! Using your hands, mix all ingredients together until well incorporated.
Start adding handful by handful the remaining cubed/ripped bread and sprinkle with remaining Bells seasoning. Add remaining chicken stock as needed to moisten the bread. You want the consistency of bread pudding, and you want the bread to soak up the broth, but not make it to dry. Mix well.
Taste the stuffing and add salt or seasonings to your taste. (Everything is cooked so it’s safe.)
Spray or grease with margarine, a souffle, or baking pan which is at least 4 inches deep and big enough to hold all of the stuffing.
Pour in the stuffing and cover with foil. Cook for at least 45 minutes at 350. If you want a crispy top remove foil during the last 15 minutes.
Notes:
You can stuff your cleaned turkey with this stuffing. Both turkey and stuffing have to be ice cold, so you will have to make this stuffing the day before cooking your turkey. To do so, clean your turkey, unhook one side of the legs and spoon in desired amount, lightly packing it inside your turkey. Once stuffed using clasp that came with your turkey re-close and clamp the legs together.
Covering with tinfoil: Start with the bird uncovered. Once the skin gets golden brown, tent the bird with a large piece of tinfoil. If you have a roasting pan, you can use the lid to the roasting pan instead.
PLEASE READ:
Never rely on the plastic pop up turkeys come with from the grocery store. They will pop within the first 30 minutes of cooking a turkey... The turkey is raw. Please use the rule of thumb. 13-15 minutes per pound (internal temperature of 165 degrees.)
"Add a little to a turkey sandwich… Tastes fantastic! One of my favorites later Thanksgiving evening!"
CWT is not a certified dietician or nutritionist. Any nutritional information shared on this site is an estimate counted through measurements and package nutritional information used in each recipe. If calorie, macro counting and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through your choice of nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary depending on national brands used per recipe.