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Chicken Stuffing

A healthy stuffing packed with anti-inflammatory ingredients without skipping on the flavour!
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Course: Christmas Food, Christmas Menu, Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish
Cuisine: American, British, Christmas
Keyword: Anti-inflammatory, Chicken, Christmas, Christmas Sides, Holiday, Holiday Food, Low Carb
Servings: 6

Equipment

  • 8 x 4" loaf tin (or cookie sheet if doing balls).
  • Meat thermometer
  • Meat grinder if preparing your own mince.

Ingredients

  • 600 g Ground chicken Ideally from skin-on breast meat; approx. 4 medium breasts.
  • 1 Portobello mushroom
  • 1/2 Brown (white) onion
  • 2 Cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup Walnuts
  • 1/4 cup Pine nuts Substitute: cashews.
  • 1/4 cup Cranberries Ideally fresh/frozen; if using dried, rehydrate for 5 minutes before chopping.
  • 1 Mandarin Or other sweet orange; zest only
  • 1/2 tbsp Fresh rosemary
  • 1 tbsp Fresh parsley
  • 1 tbsp Fresh thyme
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 tsp Extra virgin olive oil

Optional

  • 2 tbsp Breadcrumbs for topping I use gluten-free
  • 1/4 cup Cooked barley or brown rice

Instructions

The Grind.

  • If grinding the chicken yourself, use the coarsest grind, a fine grind will likely go mushy.
  • Chop the chicken into roughly 1.5 - 2" cubes, sprinkle with the finely chopped herbs, zest, some salt & pepper and grind together.

Prep.

  • Preheat oven to 180C; lightly grease your baking pan or sheet with olive oil, and place your mince into a medium mixing bowl.
  • Finely chop all of your herbs, onion and garlic, sprinkling each ingredient evenly over the top of your mince.
  • Roughly chop the walnuts, mushroom and cranberries (and cashews if using) and add onto the mince mixture - also the barley if using.
  • Gently fork the ingredients through the meat until well incorporated, but not turning into a mushy mess!

The Cook.

  • Pan stuffing: transfer the whole mixture to your baking tin. Ensure evenly spread but take care not to press it down to firmly into place. Cover with breadcrumbs if using and bake for 25 minutes or until desired temperature is reached (see below).
  • Stuffing balls: roll roughly a heaped tablespoon of mixture into a ball and place them onto your baking sheet. Sprinkle each ball with a little breadcrumbs if using. Bake for 20 minutes or until safe internal temperature is reached (see below).
  • “Stuffing" stuffing: set aside until ready to stuff into your bird; this can rest for up to 24 hours in the fridge. When testing the temperature of your bird, also test to see if your stuffing has reached the desired temperature (see below).

Temperatures!

  • The USDA states that chicken should be cooked to a minimum internal temp. of 74C (165F) to ensure it is safe to eat. However, if you can maintain a temp. of 63C (145F) for 8-9 minutes, any harmful bacteria will be killed and therefore your chicken shall be safe to eat and not resemble a dried out husk!
  • The cooking times suggested here have proven to work to achieve these temperatures for me, however to be certain, whip out that invaluable meat thermometer.

Leftovers

  • Good luck finding any - but if you do find a sliver left on the table, this works incredibly well in a grilled cheese with cranberry jelly...yum.