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.
Brittany says
Hi, I wanted to see about many cups of toasted bread crumbs this is? Thank you!
Esther says
I made this for my church Thankgiving dinner, None left! It was just so yum & I followed all your advice & recipee to a tea! Thank you so much! I have shared this everywhere & to loved ones. I’m a pork girl fan!
Karina says
Hi Esther, I’m so glad to hear that the pork recipe was a hit at your church Thanksgiving dinner and that there were no leftovers! Your dedication to following the advice and recipe to a tee paid off, and I appreciate you sharing the love with others. Being a pork fan myself, I’m delighted it brought joy to your celebration!
Krista says
Made this for a Friendsgiving and it was a hit! So delicious.
Sarah says
My boyfriend asked me to make stuffing from scratch. I have no clue what I’m doing. Followed this recipe and it was a hit! I will make it again. Plus, I felt proud of myself for cooking from scratch
Colleen Whelan says
Love this and I added celery and mushrooms!
Jay says
Made this on Christmas and it was a real hit. It is the best stuffing recipe. I made it the night before and put it in the fridge. Cooked on Christmas Day and came out so delicious. Thank you.
Janet says
This is the best stuffing! I made it twice and everyone enjoyed it and thought I was an awesome cook! I told them that I am not a good cook, but I know someone who is…and shared your recipe! I have tried a few of your recipes and have enjoyed each one! Thank you so much!!
Jenie says
I made this for thanksgiving & everyone loved it! This recipe is a keeper. I’ll definitely make it again next year.
J says
My new go-to stuffing recipe!
I couldn’t find sage pork sausage. Went to my garden and grabbed some fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme instead.
The recipe sounded so good I decided to double it. Glad I did too, our friends were fine with taking a whole pan of leftovers for themselves 😆
Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Alyson Murphy says
Best stuffing ever, absolutely delicious fair play.