A deliciously easy to make Sausage & Herb Stuffing recipe, perfect for the holidays!
Our stuffing recipe is soft and buttery on the inside with crispy, golden edges and vibrant flavours. Onions, celery, garlic and herbs are sautéed in butter, tossed with bread and baked in a full flavoured stock.
A classic stuffing is the quintessential Thanksgiving side dish. Easy to make for your holiday dinner table and unlike plenty of other stuffings out there, this recipe isn’t stodgy and overbearing.
STUFFING RECIPE
The perfect accompaniment to Crispy Turkey and Gravy, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Apple Bacon Salad, Green Bean Casserole, Soft Dinner Rolls, and our Sweet Potato Casserole, this stuffing can carry both salty and sweet notes thanks to the combination of sausage and cranberries (which are optional) mixed throughout.
HOW TO PREPARE STUFFING
- Pan fried sausages — casings removed. You can use chicken, beef, pork or turkey sausages. We love to use sausages with spicy Italian flavour.
- Bread — white, wholewheat or grain bread all work well.
- White wine — YES! If you’ve never tried white wine in your stuffing before, try it! We reduce it down before adding it in, and the flavour is incredible! Of course, you can swap it out with extra chicken broth or leave it out all together.
- Herbs — I use fresh sage, parsley and rosemary. If you don’t like these, you can also use basil, oregano, thyme or any other herbs.
HOW TO MAKE STUFFING
To get the best stuffing with those irresistible crispy golden edges, it’s best to use dry bread. You can dry fresh bread out in the oven until it just begins to toast, or use day old bread.
I usually prefer to dry day old bread in the oven to ensure the best result.
Any bread is fine, however we prefer using a French stick or baguette torn or cut into 1-inch pieces.
SAUSAGE STUFFING
While your bread is drying out in the oven, quickly brown the sausage, breaking it up with a fork or the end of a wooden spoon while cooking.
Mix the browned sausage through the bread cubes. We always add the pan drippings for extra flavour!
The rest comes together in minimal steps:
SAUTE veggies and herbs in butter.
ADD the wine
MIX in the stock
POUR over bread
BAKE until browned.
The cranberries are an optional ingredient, as mentioned above. You can leave them out all together, or substitute with raisins or carrots!
FAQ’S
Leftover stuffing? Perfect! Leftover stuffing can be just as good, if not better than fresh stuffing and can be adapted into a bunch of different meals. Think Ross from Friends with his famous Moist Maker sandwich made with Thanksgiving leftovers. A hot three-tier turkey sandwich with stuffing and gravy… we’re drooling.
If you have a lot of stuffing leftover, refrigerate in air tight containers for up to 2-3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
To reheat, thaw it out first, then bake at 350°F (175°C) for roughly half an hour. You may need to add ¼ – ½ cup stock to prevent drying it out.
LOOKING FOR MORE SIDES? TRY THESE!
Loaded Thanksgiving Cheeseboard
Scalloped Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
Garlic Mushrooms
Mac And Cheese
Sausage Herb Stuffing
Ingredients
- 16 ounces bread cut into 1-inch pieces, day old bread if possible
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound sage pork sausage or sweet or spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
- â…“ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups yellow onions finely chopped , from 1 large onion or 2 small onions
- 1 cup celery chopped from 2-3 stalks
- 5 large cloves garlic minced, or 1 ½ tablespoons minced garlic
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh sage chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ cup dry white wine optional — sub with ¼ cup of broth
- 3 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1 egg lightly whisked
- ¾ cup dried cranberries optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Place the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 7-10 minutes, or until dried and toasted. Transfer the bread cubes to a very large bowl.
- Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the sausages over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, breaking up the sausage with a fork while cooking. Add to the bread cubes.
- In the same pan, melt the butter and add the onions, celery, garlic, parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add the wine (if using) and allow the wine to reduce down to half (about 4 minutes).
- Take off the heat and mix in the stock to combine all of the flavours. Add the beaten egg and cranberries, and pour into the bread, mixing really well with a wooden spoon until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Pour the bread stuffing into a 9×12-inch baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, until browned on top and hot in the middle. Serve warm.
Notes
- Don’t forget to dry out your bread before using it. Dry it out in the oven or toast it.Â
- Choose whichever sausage flavour is your favourite.
Kristin says
Best stuffing ever! 2020 Thanksgiving everyone said- best they ever had. This recipe starting a tradition! With doing from scratch. Fresh herbs and toasting bread best advice!
Sara says
I make it vegan with beyond hot italian sausage and vegetable broth and it has been one of my favorite things to make the last 2 years.
Sarah says
Made this stuffing last Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. It was so delicious! I’m making it again this year and probably every year after that.
Cindy says
So looking forward to trying this tomorrow!
lorraine says
I made the delicious sausage bread stuffing to go with my pre Christmas dinner along with the creamy Brussel sprouts and carrot recipe. My dinner was absolutely delicious with these recipe additions..thank you. I will be trying more for sure! The prime rib makes my mouth water!
MRoca says
Omg good. Lots of work but worth it
Dee says
This is a delicious hearty stuffing! My sons raved about how good it was:) When they were leaving, I didn’t have to ask if they wanted to carry some leftovers with them…they “helped themselves”;)
This will be in my rotation of food several times a year and not just Thanksgiving and Christmas!
George says
Excellent results, I made it for the Christmas party at my work for the residents and they loved it.
Ann Baker says
Made this for Thanksgiving yesterday and it was amazing! Used a loaf of challah bread that I cubed and let dry out overnight. I also used a box of Trader Joe’s “Stuffing Starter Mix” (onions, celery and herbs), assembled in the morning and then chilled until baking just before dinner. It was so flavorful and light. Really wonderful recipe!
Kim Emrich says
I made your version yesterday. One of the best stuffings i have ever made. I left out the cranberries since i dont like sweet in my stuffing. It was nice and moist, top got crispy and buttery flavour was so good. This was delicious. Thank you.