Kittencal's Make-Ahead Stuffing Balls

Kittencalskitchen's Note:

This is a wonderful alternative to stuffing a turkey, the advantage of this recipe is that you can totally prepare the balls a day in advance and they freeze wonderful after baking that is if you have any left which you probably won't lol! --- I sometimes add in some finely crumbled cooked sausage meat or cooked crumbled bacon and chopped cranberries to these, I find that a 1-pound loaf of 2-3 day old bread is just the perfect amount to use for this recipe, although you might have a cup or more left over, I slice the bread into about 1-inch cubes --- don't wait until the holidays to make these they are a wonderful change from potatoes and *SO* good! :)

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 14

• 4 -6 tablespoons butter
• 2 stalks celery , finely diced
• 2 large onions , finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic
• 1⁄8; teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional or to taste)
• 1 (10 ounce) can sliced mushrooms , well drained and chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1 (12 ounce) can corn niblets , drained
• ½ cup chicken broth (can use low sodium)
• 2 -4 teaspoons poultry seasoning (or to taste)
• ½-1 teaspoon seasoning salt (or to taste) or ½-1 teaspoon white salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 2 -4 teaspoons dried parsley (or use chopped fresh)
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)
• 3 large eggs , slightly beaten
• 7 cups coarse fresh breadcrumbs , packed (or use 8 cups packed very small bread cubes)
• 1⁄3; cup melted butter (no subs please!)

Directions:

1. Butter a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
2. In a large fry pan heat butter over medium-high.
3. Add in the onions and celery and cook stirring until soft and translucent but not browned (about 6 minutes).
4. Add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
5. Add in chopped mushrooms, creamed corn, niblets corn, broth, poultry seasoning, parsley, Parmesan cheese, seasoned salt or white salt and black pepper pepper; bring to a medium boil, simmer for 10-15 minutes over low heat.
6. Remove the mixture and transfer to a large bowl; and cool for 20-30 minutes (cool just enough so that the eggs will not cook when added).
7. Add in eggs and mix well.
8. Add bread crumbs or cubes; mix well to combine (I use my hands for mixing).
9. Taste the mixture and then adjust the poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste if needed.
10. At this point you may cover the bowl and refrigerate until ready to shape into balls.
11. With moistened hands shape into golf ball-size balls (I use an ice cream scoop for this) add in more breadcrumbs if needed just to hold the mixture together.
12. Transfer the shaped balls to the prepared buttered casserole dish (at this point they can be covered and refrigerated until ready to bake).
13. When ready to bake drizzle melted butter over the balls.
14. Cover loosely with foil.
15. Bake at 350°F for about 20-25 minutes (do not overbake).

Reviews

[sprue]

this was very good. i have never made stuffing before. i didnt make balls just put it in a pan and cooked it all together and i just put in the cream of corn not the corn niblets or mushrooms, though i should have put the mushrooms i just didnt have them. i also use wheat bread. it came together very nice and tasted delicious. thank you for this.

[Lucky in Bayview]

Turned out great! I used my own sauteed mushrooms instead of canned. I've never used garlic, parmesan cheese or corn in my stuffing before, but it turned out to be a nice change. I made too many and I'm looking forward to freezing the rest and enjoying them in the weeks to come. Thanks for posting the recipe.

[Chef #699448]

I asked my son-in-law what he wanted for Thanksgiving dinner. He told me what he wanted and added "no dressing". I love dressing so I thought I'd find a new recipe and try it. As usual when I look for a new recipe I go to Kittencals cookbook first. Found this recipe made it exactly as stated, took it over for dinner. My SIL tried one, then two then three. He asked that I make them agian for Christmas dinner. Once again kitten came through for me. I also took some to the Mission House that I volunteer at and they loved them also. Thanks Kit.