Oyster Stuffing With Fennel, Tarragon, and Sausage Recipe

By
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Daniel Gritzer
Editorial Director
Daniel joined the Serious Eats culinary team in 2014 and writes recipes, equipment reviews, articles on cooking techniques. Prior to that he was a food editor at Food & Wine magazine, and the staff writer for Time Out New York's restaurant and bars section.
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Updated November 04, 2020

Why It Works

  • Oysters add a savory, briny flavor to the stuffing without making it overly seafood-y.
  • Drying the bread allows it to absorb more flavorful moisture, like chicken stock and oyster liquor.
  • Fennel and tarragon blend beautifully with the oysters.

Adding oysters to Thanksgiving stuffing may sound like an odd choice, but it's a practice with a long history and delicious results. Here, raw chopped oysters are mixed with oven-dried wheat bread, sausage, and aromatic vegetables and herbs. The oysters add a wonderful savory flavor and subtle brininess.

20151102-oyster-dressing-vicky-wasik-13.jpg
A classic stuffing made with oysters. . Photograph and video: Vicky Wasik

Recipe Details

Oyster Stuffing With Fennel, Tarragon, and Sausage Recipe

Active 60 mins
Total 2 hrs 30 mins
Serves 8 to 10 servings
Cook Mode (Keep screen awake)

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds (1 kg; about 2 loaves) high-quality sandwich bread or soft Italian or French bread, cut into 3/4-inch dice, about 5 quarts

  • 1 stick unsalted butter (113g), plus more for greasing dish

  • 1 pound (500g) sweet Italian sausage, removed from casing

  • 1 large onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups; 300g)

  • 2 large stalks celery, finely chopped (about 1 cup; 200g)

  • 1/2 medium fennel bulb, finely chopped (about 1 cup; 200g)

  • 2 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons; 10g)

  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

  • 3 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium broth (700ml), divided

  • 3 large eggs

  • 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon

  • 1/4 cup minced flat-leaf parsley leaves (about 1/4 ounce; 8g), divided

  • 2 cups raw oysters and their liquor (470ml; about 32 medium oysters), oysters chopped (see notes)

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Adjust oven racks to lower-middle and upper-middle positions. Preheat oven to 275°F. Spread bread evenly over 2 rimmed baking sheets. Stagger sheets on oven racks and bake until bread is completely dried, about 50 minutes total, rotating sheets and stirring bread cubes several times during baking. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Increase oven temperature to 350°F.

  2. In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat until foaming subsides, without allowing butter to brown, about 2 minutes. Add sausage and mash with stiff whisk or potato masher to break up into fine pieces (largest pieces should be no bigger than 1/4 inch). Cook, stirring frequently, until only a few bits of pink remain, about 8 minutes. Add onion, celery, fennel, garlic, and thyme and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add half of chicken stock.

  3. Whisk remaining chicken stock, eggs, tarragon, and 3 tablespoons parsley in a medium bowl until homogeneous. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, slowly pour egg mixture into sausage mixture. Add bread cubes, oysters, and oyster liquor and fold gently until evenly mixed. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

  4. Transfer stuffing to a buttered 9- by 13-inch rectangular baking dish (or 10- by 14-inch oval dish) and bake until browned on top and an instant read-thermometer reads 150°F when inserted into center of dish, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, sprinkle with remaining parsley, and serve.

Special equipment

Two rimmed baking sheets, 9- by 13-inch rectangular baking dish (or 10- by 14-inch oval dish), stiff wire whisk or potato masher, instant-read thermometer

Notes

You can shuck your own fresh oysters (see the video above for instructions), ask your fishmonger to do it, or buy containers of raw shucked oysters. Our tests showed that the stuffing tastes just as good with pre-shucked oysters as with freshly shucked. The easiest way to chop the oysters is to snip them in a container using kitchen shears; that way you don't lose their juices to the cutting board.

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
591Calories
21gFat
63gCarbs
37gProtein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 10
Amount per serving
Calories591
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g27%
Saturated Fat 9g46%
Cholesterol 175mg58%
Sodium 1387mg60%
Total Carbohydrate 63g23%
Dietary Fiber 3g12%
Total Sugars 7g
Protein 37g
Vitamin C 17mg86%
Calcium 116mg9%
Iron 12mg69%
Potassium 727mg15%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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