The Crispy, Spicy-Sweet Stuffing for People Who Don’t Like Stuffing

This article is brought to you by our friends at Electrolux as part of an ongoing series focusing on seasonal ingredients. Today: No whole turkey, no problem—this is the stuffing to serve at Friendsgiving.

We know better than to convince folks to try a new stuffing recipe on Thanksgiving. More than the turkey, or sweet potatoes, or green beans, families cling to their version dearly, whether it’s with oysters or chestnuts, sage or cornbread, or cream.

But what if you won’t be at home, hugged by familiarity and a family tree, for the holiday? It’s a chance to carry traditions to a new space, with new people—or to start anew. For those of us who are creatures of habit (hey!), this can take some getting used to. Figuring out the whole Thanksgiving meal, with help from Mom only by phone, seems like a lot, until you remember that you don’t have to make the dishes you don’t like. You get to make what you want now!

For those who never cared for the stuffing (hi, friend)—who find it too dense, too monotonous, too beige—this is our stuffing. This is the stuffing, adapted from Suzanne Goin's, that I make for friends, the one I took on a train last year when Thanksgiving didn’t even happen at a table.

It takes stuffing, which typically resembles bread pudding, closer towards a jagged bread salad. That’s partly because there aren’t any eggs, but also because the bread and all the add-ins are sturdy: In texture, and in taste.

• The bread: Not stale or day-old, but rather oil-slicked and baked into croutons. Suzanne uses sourdough as a nod to San Francisco, but I quite like the flavor a nutty wheat brings.

• The meat: Where you might expect a pork sausage, you’ll find turkey: crisped to bits, its rendered fat used to cook a whole heap of onions and kale.

• The liquid: The bread, sausage, and kale is plumped (but not sogged) by sherry in addition to your usual stock—adding acid where it usually isn’t.

• The dried fruit: Dates are more earthy and grounding than the go-to dried cranberries. And in a casserole of greatest hits—instead of one coagulated mass–I find myself picking out the dates, even before the sausage. Don’t underestimate how much good the dates are doing here.

• Vroom: Heat is here, too—Suzanne’s go-to chile de árbol—along with salad’s favorite crunch: nuts. (I went for almonds instead of Suzanne's choice of hazelnuts.)

It’s good, too, to finally say that I like stuffing—okay, a stuffing. And that I have a tradition in infancy. Thanksgiving with friends is like Thanksgiving with training wheels. Here are some other tips I try to remember each year, now that Thanksgiving—whatever the form, traditional, atraditional, or somewhere in between—is mine to corral:

• Don’t make a whole turkey. Just a turkey breast—or the sausage in this stuffing—counts.
• Let everyone bring a dish, but let everyone play to their strengths. I got the stuffing.
• Unless someone offers, take the turkey yourself. If you host and make the main event, you did great.
• Be vigilant about the oven space: Not everyone can plan to use it right before dinner. Just because you’re doing Thanksgiving without family doesn’t mean it can’t be without some rigor.

• Have wine, but also put thought into a cocktail. Because if all goes wrong, at least you did that.
• Do a platter check: Make sure you have something to put everyone’s dishes in. This is a holiday, after all.
• Stock up on to-go containers. If it’s a good Friendsgiving, there will be leftovers.
• Let Thanksgiving be a chance to also start decorating the Christmas tree. The crunch between the November holiday and the December holidays has a lot of parties and functions, so get your friends in on the Christmas decorating while they’re already over.

This article was brought to you by Electrolux, Food52's test kitchen partner. Electrolux is all about great taste and the appliances to help you make beautiful meals in your own kitchen. Learn more here.