Newfoundland Dressing a.k.a Summer Savoury Stuffing

Newfoundland Dressing. A traditional savoury stuffing for poultry and game birds made with breadcrumbs, onions and summer savoury, a delicious, fragrant herb.

Newfoundland Dressing stuffed chicken breasts

Newfoundland savoury dressing as a stuffing for poultry is about as Newfoundland as it gets. The scent of savoury stuffing or “dressing” as it is more commonly called, wafting from a Sunday morning Newfoundland kitchen is a universal experience for every born and bred Newfoundlander.

For many people there is no other kind of stuffing; it is that pervasive in our food culture.

It just wouldn’t be Christmas for us without Newfoundland Dressing

Summer savoury is the annual herb that gives this stuffing it’s unique aroma and flavour. This herb is not nearly as commonly found in other parts of the country, or in North America.

However, it has been grown by Mt. Scio Farm in St. John’s for longer than most, if not all, can remember.

Mt Scio Savoury

Try the recipe in roast chicken or turkey or as shown here, in stuffed chicken breasts.

You will notice small flecks of carrot in the dressing in this photo. While I like to add a little garlic for flavour in my dressing, my mom and dad have used a little grated carrot for years both for sweetness and moisture.

You can still make the dressing without either ingredient to be purely traditional. I also like to mix up the onions for other versions. In this one I’ve used red onions instead of the traditional yellow but thy sweet onions or shallots to keep this simple recipe interesting.

NEW! I’ve used the basic Newfoundland Dressing recipe as a base to create this new flavourful Herb Cranberry Stuffing.

UPDATE Newfoundland Dressing:

I very rarely cook this dressing inside the bird nowadays, especially with chicken where now I prefer to use this 1 hour method for juicy roast chicken. Instead I now make it in a small casserole dish in a low oven.

The warming drawer in our stove is also hot enough on high to do this. You just need to ensure that it hits 175 – 185 degrees F on a meat thermometer if you are adding chicken stock as we do.

I increase the chicken stock to about 3/4 cup in this instance and cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil before adding the lid. This is in order to help keep the moisture in. Give the dressing a toss, once or twice during the cooking time.

Pre-cooking the onions and/or garlic is also essential in this method. Nobody wants to bite into raw onion in dressing. I sure don’t.

Newfoundland Dressing Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Making Newfoundland Dressing Stuffed Chicken Breasts.

When using the stuffing inside chicken breasts as pictured, I like to use the largest breasts I can find and preserve as much of the skin as possible.

Usually, I debone the breasts myself, then I butterfly cut the breasts in order to open them up into as close a rectangular shape as possible. Then, I add the stuffing, fold it all together and use 3 pieces of butcher string to hold it all in place.

I rub the outside with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and open roast at 400 degrees F for about 40 – 45 minutes depending upon the size of the breasts. Always use a meat thermometer to ensure the inside middle temperature is 175 to 185 degrees F.

Deboned chicken breasts for Oven Fried Chicken Nuggets.

The reason I like to debone my own chicken breasts is so that I can roast the bones and skins for stock later. I freeze them until I have enough to cover a baking sheet then use the instructions in my post on making Chicken Stock here.

Looking for more Newfoundland-inspired recipes?

If you’d like to see more traditionally inspired recipes from our province, please check out this collection on some of our Most Popular Newfoundland recipes.

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Newfoundland Dressing

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Yield: 8 servings (1/2 cup each aprox.)

Newfoundland Dressing

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Newfoundland Dressing. A very simple to prepare, traditional Newfoundland savoury and onion dressing (stuffing) for poultry.

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Ingredients

• 4 cups coarse bread crumbs
• 2-4 tbsp dried savoury
• ½ small onion chopped
• 1 clove minced garlic, optional
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• ½ cup chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to season

Instructions

1. In a small skillet, slowly sauté the chopped onion (and garlic if desired) in the butter over low heat until the onions are soft. Meanwhile combine the bread crumbs, savoury, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the cooked onions and chicken stock and toss well to combine all the ingredients.
2. Use as a stuffing for any poultry including game birds.
3. To cook in the oven just place in a small covered casserole dish and bake in a low oven 250-300 degrees F for about ½ hour. You may want to add a little more stock when using this method.
4. The photo shows the dressing used to stuff chicken breasts but you will notice that I have added a little finely grated carrot to the mix...one of my Mom's ideas.

Notes

I very rarely cook this dressing inside the bird nowadays, especially with chicken where now I prefer to use this 1 hour method for juicy roast chicken. Instead I now make it in a small casserole dish in a low oven. The warming drawer in our stove is also hot enough on high to do this, You just need to ensure that it hits 175 - 185 degrees F on a meat thermometer if you are adding chicken stock as we do.

I increase the chicken stock to about 3/4 cup in this instance and cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil before adding the lid in order to help keep the moisture it. Give the dressing a toss, once or twice during the cooking time.

Making Newfoundland Dressing Stuffed Chicken Breasts.

When using the stuffing inside chicken breasts as pictured, I like to use the largest breasts I can find and preserve as much of the skin as possible. Usually, I debone the breasts myself, then I butterfly cut the breasts in order to open them up into as close a rectangular shape as possible. Then, I add the stuffing, fold it all together and use 3 pieces of butcher string to hold it all in place.

I rub the outside with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and open roast at 400 degrees F for about 40 - 45 minutes depending upon the size of the breasts. Always use a meat thermometer to ensure the inside middle temperature is 175 to 185 degrees F.

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Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.

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  Rock Recipes: The Best Food From My Newfoundland Kitchen

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1/2 cup approximately
Amount Per Serving Calories 273Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 16mgSodium 500mgCarbohydrates 40gFiber 3gSugar 4gProtein 8g

The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.

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