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This Sausage Stuffing is a hearty, flavor-packed upgrade from the usual—loaded with savory sausage, sweet apples, onions, and herbs for a perfectly cozy, delicious holiday side dish! It’s so good, it might even make you forget boxed stuffing ever existed!
Boxed stuffing has a time and a place (like my chicken stuffing casserole)….but when it comes to the holidays, forget the box mix!! This sausage stuffing really ups the ante and the little bit of extra work is worth every single delicious bite!
My favorite thing about this sausage stuffing is the variety of flavors and texture. There’s sweet (from the apples) and savory (sausage)….soft (bread pieces on the bottom) and crispy (the golden brown top layer)! My mouth is already watering….
Ingredients Needed
- Ground Sausage – You can use breakfast sausage (mild, medium or hot) or sweet Italian sausage. If you can’t find ground sausage, you can remove the sausage from link casings.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted butter is fine.
- Diced Onion – White or yellow onion is best; I don’t recommend red onion for this.
- Diced Apple – I recommend using a sweet variety, but whatever you have will work great!
- Minced Garlic
- Chicken Broth
- Seasonings – Fresh parsley, ground sage, dried thyme and salt
- Egg – This will help hold the stuffing together.
- Cubed Bread – You can cube your own bread or buy the pre-packaged cubed bread you see in stores around the holidays. Additional detail in the recipe card below.
How to Make Sausage Stuffing
You’ll start by browning the sausage in a skillet. Then remove the sausage to a bowl and use the same skillet to cook the apples and onion in butter.
Let it cook, stirring occasionally until the apples and onions are tender.
Then you’ll add them to the bowl with sausage and stir in the seasonings, egg and broth.
Then you’ll add the cubed bread and gently stir. I like to use sort of a “folding” motion…scoop from the side of the bowl to lift and flip the ingredients. This will help keep the bread cubes together instead of mushing them all together!
Once all the bread is moistened, you’ll pour it into a greased baking dish. Bake uncovered for about an hour. The top will be golden brown and crispy and the center will be soft and tender. SO DARN GOOD!
Frequently Asked Questions
You want a bread that is fairly sturdy so it holds its shape and doesn’t get mushy from the broth. Dried cubed bread works great (like the Pepperidge Farms bread cubes you see around the holidays), but you can also cube your own bread and let it set out overnight to dry a bit.
I prefer to use breakfast sausage or sweet Italian sausage.
Use a square baking dish or a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish. You’ll also want to check to see if the stuffing is done around 45 minutes – if not, add more time!
Yes! Simply skip the egg. You may notice that it doesn’t stay together quite as nicely, but it’ll still be delicious!
Yes! You can make the recipe a day ahead of time. Prepare the stuffing, pour it into the baking dish then cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until you’re ready to bake it (up to 24 hours later). When ready to bake, discard the plastic wrap and let the stuffing set out at room temperature for an hour. Bake uncovered as directed!
Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze stuffing, though it may be softer after the freeze-thaw process.
Other Side Dishes You’ll Love
- Macaroni Corn Casserole
- Buttery Mashed Potatoes
- Cornbread Pudding
- Homemade Dinner Rolls
- Calico Beans
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Topping
Sausage Stuffing
Equipment
- 1 9×13-inch baking dish
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground sausage*
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup peeled and diced apple
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 cups cubed bread*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish; set aside.
- Add the sausage to a skillet over medium heat, using a spatula to crumble it until fully cooked.
- Remove the sausage to a bowl.
- In the same skillet, melt the butter.
- Add the apples and onion and cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are softened.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for one more minute; remove from the heat.
- In a large bowl, add the sausage, the apple/onion mixture, broth, egg, fresh parsley, sage, thyme and salt; stir to combine, making sure to incorporate the egg.
- Add the bread and stir gently until the bread is all moistened.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread to an even layer.
- Bake uncovered for 60-70 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the center has reached 165℉.
- Serve warm.
This stuffing recipe is similar to my recipe.this is delicious a must try you won’t be disappointed 😛😋😋😛
Can this recipe be used to stuff the turkey?
Hi Ann – I’ve never used this to stuff a turkey, but I’m guessing it should work just fine!! Let me know if you try it – I’d love to know how it turns out! ~Kelsey