Add more flavor to your Thanksgiving dinner with this Italian Sausage Stuffing Recipe. It has all the elements of a standard stuffing plus crumbles of Italian sausage.
Make-ahead
Beginner-friendly
You’ll Learn: How to layer flavor and texture
Worth It: It builds a freezer stash for stress-free meals later
Bonus: Customizable with a variety of ingredients
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Thanksgiving staple – Stuffing is an absolute must-have on the Thanksgiving table. A Thanksgiving spread simply doesn’t feel complete without a delectable stuffing dish like this sausage stuffing recipe.
- Updated twist on stuffing – This dish seamlessly combines the beloved traditions of classic stuffing with a delightful Italian sausage twist. The result is a flavor-packed dish that is sure to be a hit for every guest.
- Enjoy all holiday season – This Italian sausage stuffing can also be a fantastic addition to your Christmas or New Year’s dinner. You could even serve this sausage stuffing for an ordinary winter evening meal to bring a warm, nostalgic element to a dark and dreary day.
Serving Suggestions
Whether you roast it in the oven or you slow-cook it, turkey is always stuffing’s number one companion. Enjoy this easy sausage stuffing recipe with a savory portion of turkey breast.
This dish would also be delicious paired with a flavorful kale cranberry quinoa salad or creamy mashed potatoes. Green bean casserole or green beans almondine would also be a great addition. This combination of starches and vegetables will give your guests a good mixture of all flavors and textures.
For dessert, try this cheesecake with sweet potatoes.
Ingredients
- Italian bread – I love using a soft loaf of Italian bread for this recipe
- Mild Italian sausage – I like to use pork sausage but you can use any sausage you prefer
- Celery – the celery adds the best flavor and texture to your stuffing
- Yellow onion – onion adds to the amazing aroma in this recipe
- Unsalted butter – I use unsalted butter so I can control the amount of added salt
- Turkey broth or chicken broth – I like using turkey broth at Thanksgiving, but any broth will work
- Parsley – the herbs complement the flavors of the sausage stuffing
- Salt – you just need a little salt to enhance all of the amazing flavors in this stuffing
Ingredient substitutions
While this is an Italian-flavored recipe and the goal is to use Italian bread and Italian sausage, you can customize this sausage stuffing recipe to your personal preferences or what you happen to have on hand. It will be delicious regardless.
If I don’t use Italian sausage and Italian bread, I personally like this recipe with sourdough bread and apple sausage. The sweetness of apple pairs wonderfully with the savory sausage. I like to use lots of fresh sage and rosemary in that version. Store-bought stuffing cubes are also a great short cut.
Another fun switch-up would be to use jalapeño sausage with cornbread. You can even use diced jalapeño peppers in place of the celery. For a sweet element, you could add some dried cranberries.
The only herb that I use in this stuffing is a couple tablespoons of fresh parsley, but you can use a teaspoon or so of dried parsley or poultry seasoning. Basically any of the usual Thanksgiving side dish herbs like sage, rosemary and thyme will work.
I chose to keep this recipe garlic free, but feel free to add a few cloves of minced garlic into the pan when you are sauteeing the onions and celery. You can also add an egg to help with the moisture, but I find this recipe doesn’t need it.
How to make
Step 1: Prepare bread, veggies, and preheat oven
If the bread is stale, you will want to cut it into cubes, place in a large mixing bowl and set it aside but if the bread is fresh, you will cut it into cubes and place it on a baking sheet. Bake the bread at 225F for 30 minutes and then remove and set aside.
Next, finely dice the celery and onion and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350F and rub butter inside a 9×13 baking dish.
Step 2: Cook all ingredients
Next, take the casing off the sausage and crumble and brown in a large pot or large skillet over medium heat for about 7 minutes, stir frequently. Remove sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and reduce heat to medium-low.
Then, melt butter in the pot with the sausage drippings and pour in the celery and medium onion diced, and saute until onions are translucent and celery is soft about 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the sausage back into the pot along with the cubed bread from the large bowl, twelve ounces of broth, parsley, and salt.
After that, toss to mix all of the ingredients together. The bread should be damp from the broth but if you see lots of pieces of dry bread you can add up to ½ cup more broth to the pot.
Step 3: Bake and serve
Pour the stuffing mix into the greased casserole dish and cover with a piece of foil and bake at 350F for a cook time of 45 minutes covered. Then, uncover and bake for another 20-25 minutes until the top of this sausage stuffing is golden brown. The total time might vary depending on your oven.
Serve and enjoy! If you like more of a crisp on top you can broil for just a minute or two before serving. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Storage, reheating and Make Ahead
Allow the stuffing to cool completely. Then, either cover in the casserole dish or transfer leftover sausage stuffing to an airtight container and place in the fridge.
Store in refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in a skillet on the stovetop, in the oven or in the microwave.
Cut down on your Thanksgiving prep time by making this dish ahead of time. Just follow all of the assembly steps and then instead of baking, cover the stuffing and place in the fridge. When you are ready to bake it, just add an extra 10 minutes onto the bake time and bake directly from the fridge.
If you want to freeze this sausage stuffing, wrap tightly and place in the freezer before the baking step. Bake from frozen at 325F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Then, remove the foil to crisp the top layer.
Check out these other Thanksgiving Recipes
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Italian Sausage Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb Italian bread
- 1 lb mild Italian sausage
- 3 stalks of celery
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 stick of unsalted butter ½ cup
- 1 and ½ cups turkey broth or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- If bread is stale, cut into cubes and set aside. If bread is fresh, cut into cubes and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 225F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Finely dice the celery and onion and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350F and rub butter inside a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Taking casing off sausage. Crumble and brown in a large pot over medium heat for about 7 minutes. Remove sausage from the pot with a slotted spoon and reduce heat to medium-low.
- Melt butter in the pot and pour in the celery and onion. Saute until onions are translucent and celery is soft about 8-10 minutes. Turn off heat and add the sausage back into the pot along with the cubed bread, broth, parsley and salt.
- Toss to mix all of the ingredients together. The bread should be damp from the broth. If you see lots of pieces of dry bread you can add up to ½ cup more broth to the pot
- Pour into the greased casserole dish. Cover with a piece of foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes covered. Then uncover and bake for another 20-25 minutes. The top should be golden brown. If you like more of a crisp on top you can broil for just a minute or two before serving.
Recipe Notes
- You can use any bread and any sausage that you like. I personally like a sourdough bread with apple sausage or a cornbread with jalapeño sausage
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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