Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls - My Gorgeous Recipes (2024)

Published: Nov 10, 2020 · Modified: Dec 13, 2022 by Daniela Apostol · This post may contain affiliate links · 6 Comments

Sage and Onion Stuffing Balls, a delicious vegetarian side dish for your Thanksgiving or festive dinner. Or even a good old Sunday roast. The classic combination of sage and onions might be simple, but heavenly tasty. The stuffing balls can be made from scratch in about 30 minutes.

Some classic recipes never fail to impress. And stuffing is usually simplicity at its best. And if it can be done from scratch with minimal prep or effort, it would be quite a shame to use the boxed stuff when you can get the real deal as easily.

MySausage Stuffing Balls are more than delicious, but if you'd rather go for a simple vegetarian option, this sage and onion stuffing recipe is for you. I made breadcrumbs from some 2-3 day old granary bread that I had around, but any kind of bread would do.

White bread is probably the more popular option, but do use anything you like. To make the breadcrumbs, simply cut the slices of bread in chunks, add them to a blender, and blitz. It's that easy! If you don't have a blender or food processor, you can grate the bread, and get the same good results.

This classic dish can also be cooked as a casserole, my Old-Fashioned Bread Stuffing Recipe is pretty similar taste-wise, and as easy to make. Another great option is my Chestnut and Cranberry Stuffing Balls.

Ingredients needed

• breadcrumbs- 4-5 bread slices
• onion
• egg
• fresh sage leaves
• ground black pepper & sea salt
• butter
• vegetable oil - to drizzle on the roasting tray
• cooking oil spray - for the stuffing balls

Step-by-step photos and instructions

Unlike the sausage stuffing which didn't need any binding ingredients, the vegetarian ones do need one, otherwise they would crumble and it would be impossible to get a good shape. And eggs are usually the best biding ingredients for so many dishes.

• add the bread slices to a food processor and blitz until you get breadcrumbs
• in a large bowl, add the breadcrumbs, chopped fresh sage, egg and black pepper - if you don't have fresh sage, the dried one can be used instead
• chop the onion finely
• melt the butter over a medium heat, add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt, and fry gently for 2-3 minutes until soft, but not brown
• leave the fried onion to cool, then add it to the other ingredients
• mix everything well, then with wet hands shape balls out of the mixture - I got 12, but you might get more or less depending on the size of the balls

Baking the stuffing balls

Baking the stuffing separately rather than inside the bird brings even better results. The stuffing balls become golden and crunchy on the outside, but deliciously moist and baked to perfection on the inside.

To get that gorgeous golden colour, oil the roasting tray well with 2 tablespoon of oil, arrange the balls on the tray, then spray them generously with cooking oil spray.

There is no need to turn the balls around during baking, then will be baked through and crispy all over. I absolutely love them, and the pictures don't make justice really - they taste even better than they look. They are great with any kind of roast - from turkey, to chicken, goose, you name it!

A side dish for every occasion

While a regular Sunday roast definitely deserves the best dishes, the biggest holidays of the year get the best food on the table.

For Thanksgiving, I have this delicious Thanksgiving Menu put together for small families, where huge amounts of food aren't required.

Also for Christmas, I have put together a similar Christmas Menu, again with smaller portions that won't leave mountains of leftovers behind.

And these delicious sage and onion balls are absolutely perfect for these 2 occasions, do give them a go!

If you’ve liked mySAGE AND ONION STUFFING BALLS or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can alsoFOLLOW MEonFACEBOOK, andPINTERESTto see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.