This sausage stuffing recipe is a savory blend of Italian sausage, bread, vegetables and herbs, all baked to golden brown perfection. The perfect hearty side dish for your holiday meal.
Stuffing is a must have on my holiday table, I typically make cornbread dressing, crock pot stuffing, classic turkey stuffing or this sausage stuffing which always gets rave reviews. You can even make this recipe in advance and then bake it when you’re ready to eat!
Roast turkey is great and all, but I really come to Thanksgiving for all of the fabulous side dish recipes as well as drinks like Thanksgiving punch. This sausage stuffing is one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes – I have to admit, I always go back for seconds!
Table of Contents
Sausage Stuffing Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need sausage, butter, yellow onion, celery, garlic, bread cubes, chicken broth, eggs, sage, parsley, salt and black pepper.
How Do You Make Sausage Stuffing?
Preheat the oven and coat a baking dish with cooking spray. Brown the sausage in a large skillet with butter, breaking it up with a spatula into small pieces. Add more butter to the pan, along with onions and celery. Cook until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Place the bread cubes in a very large bowl. Add the sausage and veggie mixture, chicken broth, eggs, sage parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Stir everything together, then pour it into the prepared pan. Bake until golden brown. Add some extra fresh parsley on top, then serve.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- You can use pre-prepared unseasoned stuffing cubes, or make your own stuffing cubes by cutting your favorite variety of bread into pieces and leaving it out overnight to get stale.
- Sausage stuffing can be assembled up to 8 hours in advance, then covered and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it.
- If the top of the stuffing starts to brown too quickly in the oven, you can cover the dish with foil until it is completely cooked through.
- Serve your stuffing alongside main course options such as Instant Pot turkey breast, rack of lamb, Easter ham, slow cooker turkey breast and Instant Pot ham.
Quick Tip
Leftovers will stay fresh in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can also freeze leftovers for 2 months.
Recipe FAQs
I like to use mild Italian sausage for this stuffing. You can use turkey or pork based sausage, I typically use turkey because it cooks up with less grease. If you like a little heat, feel free to use a spicy sausage. You can also use breakfast sausage if you prefer. Regardless of the type of sausage you use, you’ll want to remove it from the casings or buy bulk sausage.
Sausage stuffing is made with sausage, bread, vegetables, butter, eggs, herbs and broth. It can also contain other ingredients such as fruit or nuts.
Stuffing is best when eggs are included. The eggs help to bind the stuffing together, and they also add flavor and moisture to the dish.
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Flavor Variations
This recipe is delicious as written, but you can easily customize the ingredients to suit your tastes.
- Protein: Swap out the Italian sausage for bacon or smoked chicken apple sausage.
- Bread: Try using half cornbread, half white bread. You can also use a loaf of sourdough bread or an herb focaccia with good results.
- Fruit: Stir in some sauteed apples or pears, or add up to 1/4 cup of dried cranberries or apricots.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add more veggies to your stuffing. Some great choices include water chestnuts, mushrooms, kale or carrots.
- Flavorings: Try using different herbs such as thyme or rosemary. You can also stir in some chopped pecans.
Everyone always goes crazy for sausage stuffing, it’s one of the first dishes to disappear at Thanksgiving! That combination of crispy buttery bread, savory sausage and tender veggies just can’t be beat.
More Great Holiday Recipes
Herb Roasted Turkey
4 hrs 20 mins
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
1 hr 20 mins
Crock Pot Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze
3 hrs 5 mins
Butterflake Rolls
2 hrs 20 mins
Corn Pudding
50 mins
Love This Recipe?
Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
Sausage Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 pound mild Italian sausage casings removed
- 1/2 cup butter divided use
- 1 cup onion finely diced
- 1 cup celery sliced
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 8 cups stale bread cubes can use store bought unseasoned stuffing cubes, or bread you cut yourself
- 2 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves minced
- 1/4 cup parsley leaves minced, plus more for garnish
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook for 5-6 minutes or until done, breaking up the meat with a spatula.
- Add the remaining 7 tablespoons of butter, onion and celery to the pan. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Place the bread cubes in a large bowl. Add the sausage mixture, chicken broth, eggs, sage, parsley and salt and pepper to the bowl.
- Gently stir until everything is well combined. Pour the stuffing into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 60 minutes. If the top starts to get overly browned before the cooking time is over, then cover the pan with foil.
- Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with additional parsley, then serve.
Notes
- You can use pre-prepared unseasoned stuffing cubes, or make your own stuffing cubes by cutting your favorite variety of bread into pieces and leaving it out overnight to get stale.
- Sausage stuffing can be assembled up to 8 hours in advance, then covered and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it.
- If the top of the stuffing starts to brown too quickly in the oven, you can cover the dish with foil until it is completely cooked through.
Do you mean store bought like the stuffing box mix stuff? 8 cups of that dry
Yes that will work! Look for a mix that’s basically just dry bread cubes since you add your own salt and seasonings in this recipe.
Definitely the best stuffing recipe I’ve ever made!
Can this be made in a crock pot?
This recipe has not been tested in a crock pot, you might want to use this one instead and add sausage to it: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/crock-pot-stuffing/
When you make this for your family what bread do you use? Trying to figure out what to use.
Can I use sandwich bread and leave the garlic out
You can omit the garlic. It’s fine to use sandwich bread just remember to let it go stale first.
Duo you drain the sausage or just leave in pan when you add celery onions etc?
I leave the grease in the pan and use it as the fat to cook the veggies in!
How many servings? I have 15-20 people
It serves 12, you can adjust the number of servings in the recipe card and the ingredient amounts will automatically recalculate!
When making the stuffing in the Turkey , do I decrease the liquid amount?
Yes use 1 less cup of broth!
Made this yesterday for my family Christmas celebration and it was awesome. I didn’t have fresh sage or parsley so I just used poultry seasoning and it was great. I will keep this and use it again. Thanks so much for sharing!!!!
Sorry I’m trying to get the terminology right here. Obviously it’s going to be “Ground” sausage correct. I know a dumb question right. Whose going to chop it up. Just want to make sure it’s ground.
Can this be made without the eggs? We have a egg allergy
It can but the texture will be different without the eggs.
Made enough for 18 people and it was loved. My family either ate it for dinner or took it for left overs. Nothing left at end of Turkey Day.
Can you prepare it 24 hrs in advance before cooking. The recipe says up to 8-hrs in advance.
You can but the bread will continue to soak up the liquid as it sits, so it might be a little drier when baked, or you can try adding a little more broth right before you bake it.
I always make it like 24 or even 48 hours in advance. Make sure it sits at room temp for like an hour before reheating.
Hi Celeste! I hope you see this. When you make it up to 48 hours in advance, do you add more liquid to it or should I just leave as it is on the recipe. Thanks!
This is AMAZING! We made our own bead cubes with gluten free rosemary sourdough bread. My daughter and I were so impressed at the taste. This will be part of our Thanksgiving tradition.
Thank you for the recipe!
Where are the eggs used in this recipe!?!?!
Add the eggs in step 5.
Is this ok to use as stuffing in the turkey? Or does it need to bake in a dish?
You can stuff a turkey with it, just make sure the turkey and the stuffing come to the proper temperature!
Do you have to use Italian sausage?? Or can you use breakfast sausage?
That’s fine too!
I use sage sausage and lessen the seasons…. youm. Great recipe