🍞 British & Irish · Chicken
Crispy Sausage, Bacon & Herb Stuffing
A large-batch sausage and bacon stuffing with three breadcrumbs, fresh herbs and a crisp breaded service finish.
Behind the plate
This restaurant stuffing is made to be portioned cleanly. The raw mixture is rolled tightly, steamed, chilled and cut into thick slices before being breaded and fried for service.
Three kinds of breadcrumb create structure without making the centre heavy. Onion butter is strained but saved, then added back slowly so the mixture remains moist while the cook controls its final texture.
Why this recipe works
Cooking onion and bacon separately develops flavour and removes excess raw moisture. Cooling both before mixing protects the sausage texture, while steaming sets the log evenly and the final breading provides a crisp exterior.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg white onions, diced
- 1 kg butter
- 500 g sourdough breadcrumbs
- 500 g panko breadcrumbs
- 1 kg fresh breadcrumbs
- 1.4 kg sausage meat
- 250 g bacon, finely diced
- 10 g fresh thyme, finely chopped
- 10 g fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- 20 g fresh sage, finely chopped
- For breading: plain flour, as needed
- For breading: beaten egg, as needed
- For breading: breadcrumbs, as needed
- Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Method
- Cook the onions gently in the butter until completely translucent. Strain, reserving the onion butter, and cool the onions.
- Cook the bacon until crisp, drain excess fat if needed and leave it to cool.
- In a large clean mixing container, combine the sourdough, panko and fresh breadcrumbs with the sausage meat, thyme, rosemary and sage.
- Add the cooled onions and bacon. Mix evenly while adding only enough reserved onion butter to produce a moist, cohesive stuffing.
- Shape into uniform logs and wrap tightly in heat-safe food-grade film approved for steaming.
- Steam at 80°C for approximately 25–35 minutes, verifying the centre against your kitchen’s approved cooking procedure, then cool rapidly.
- For service, unwrap and cut into 2 cm slices. Coat each slice in flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs.
- Deep-fry until evenly golden and verify a core temperature above 75°C before serving.
Chef’s notes
- Do not add all the reserved onion butter automatically; breadcrumb absorption and sausage fat vary.
- All cooked components must be cold before they are mixed with raw sausage meat.
- Use only film specifically approved for the steam temperature and direct food contact.
- Record the finished log diameter because it controls steaming time and portion size.
At the table
Serve crisp stuffing slices with roast poultry, the linked Rich Onion Gravy and Creamy Mash.