Some name it stuffing, some name it dressing, however all who’ve tried it agree that this sausage & herb stuffing is a vital a part of a Thanksgiving meal. You’ll love the comforting medley of herbs, sausage, mushrooms, apples, and bread. So many textures and flavors in a single dish!
One reader, Carla, commented: “A staple Thanksgiving stuffing for our household! Completely excellent. No vacation could be full with out it. ★★★★★“
This sausage & herb stuffing is the exact same one I’ve loved yearly at each Thanksgiving vacation for so long as I can bear in mind. Mother prepped it the evening earlier than, stuffed some into the turkey, and served the remainder as dressing alongside candied candy potatoes and inexperienced bean casserole. This humble Thanksgiving aspect dish stole the present every yr, to the purpose the place we simply started making it recurrently for dinner.
Whereas this sausage & herb stuffing is an absolute must-have aspect dish on my household’s Thanksgiving desk, who says it’s a must to restrict this comforting casserole to Thanksgiving? And even to the aspect dish class, for that matter. With its mixture of sausage, greens, and bread, this stuffing recipe makes an excellent all-in-one meal, no turkey required!
One reader, Danielle, commented: “I made this tonight—it was AMAZING! I might eat an entire plate of simply this. ★★★★★”
Why You’ll Love This Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe
- Comfortable within the center with crisp toasted edges
- So many flavors and textures multi function dish
- Customizable—swap mushrooms for butternut squash, or make it vegetarian
- As scrumptious all by itself as it’s as a aspect dish
- Simply double or halve to scale it up or down
- Egg-free stuffing recipe—merely not wanted
- You may make it forward of time! And that’s gold on the subject of vacation meals.
With its cozy herby flavors and contrasting textures, it is a savory recipe you may make any time you crave consolation meals with a aspect of nostalgia. It warms the soul, similar to rooster pot pie.
Use These Components for Sausage & Herb Stuffing:
- Bread:I often use complete grain bread right here, however you’ll be able to actually use any sort of bread on this stuffing recipe. From customary sliced sandwich bread to crusty sourdough or artisan do-it-yourself bread… complete grain or white… or attempt cornbread stuffing!
- Herbs: Thyme, sage, and parsley brighten up the stuffing and add heaps of aromatic taste. You should use dried or recent or a mixture of each.
- Sausage: This provides savory richness to the dish. I like to make use of candy Italian sausage—similar I often use for sausage stuffed peppers—however spicy Italian sausage works simply as properly. For a vegetarian choice, substitute the sausage with extra mushrooms or diced butternut squash. You may as well use vegetable broth as an alternative of rooster broth.
- Mushrooms: For hearty taste and texture.
- Apples: The fruit’s sweetness provides a pleasant distinction to the wealthy sausage and much more texture. I often use 1 Granny Smith and 1 Honeycrisp apple, for a mixture of tart and candy, however you should use whichever apples you might have readily available.
You additionally want some rooster (or turkey, or vegetable) broth, just a little butter, onion, celery, and salt & pepper. Dried cranberries are non-obligatory, however I like the sweetness and shade they add.
Let Me Present You The right way to Make This Sausage & Herb Stuffing
For BEST texture, toast the bread cubes: Unfold bread cubes out on baking sheets, and bake for quarter-hour. Flippantly toasting the bread helps it take in a few of the liquid components, which prevents your stuffing from tasting soggy. I do the identical factor after I neglect to go away the bread out to get stale for pumpkin French toast casserole.
Cook dinner the greens, herbs, & sausage: Now it’s time to get issues cooking on the range in a big skillet. Begin by softening the onion and celery in some butter. That is the flavorful base of the stuffing. Then add the mushrooms and herbs, adopted by the sausage and apples.
The sausage will evenly brown, the apples will barely soften, and all of the unimaginable flavors will mix collectively in good concord:
Mix all the pieces: Combine the cooked components along with the evenly toasted bread (all the pieces can nonetheless be heat at this level), and pour over some rooster broth. The broth serves to bind the stuffing components collectively, and to maintain the stuffing from drying out.
Bake. Bake the stuffing in a big baking dish, or stuff it into an unbaked turkey. If you happen to’re stuffing the turkey, cool utterly earlier than utilizing.
Sure, completely. You may flip this right into a vegetarian stuffing recipe by changing the sausage with extra mushrooms, or some diced butternut squash. The cooking directions stay the identical. You may as well use vegetable broth as an alternative of rooster broth.
The right way to Make Stuffing Forward of Time
It can save you time (and treasured oven house) the day of the large meal by making this sausage & herb stuffing upfront.
Probably the most fantastic half about this Thanksgiving stuffing recipe is that, like a straightforward breakfast casserole, it’s really BEST ready forward of time. All of the savory herbs, browned sausage, and candy apples soak collectively in a single day to maximise taste. Nevertheless, the bread loses plenty of texture should you make the stuffing utterly forward of time, so I like to recommend you wait to mix the bread, sausage combination, and broth and bake till the day you intend to serve it.
Right here’s what I do: Retailer the cooked sausage/apple combination within the fridge in a single day, and retailer the toasted bread cubes at room temperature. Mix and bake the next day.
Extra Thanksgiving Aspect Dish Favorites
Sausage & Herb Stuffing
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook dinner Time: 45 minutes
Whole Time: 1 hour, half-hour
Yield: serves 8-10
Class: Aspect Dish
Technique: Baking
Delicacies: American
Description
Some name it stuffing, some name it dressing, however all who’ve tried it agree that this sausage & herb stuffing is a vital a part of a Thanksgiving meal. You’ll love the comforting medley of herbs, sausage, mushrooms, apples, and bread. It tastes greatest ready forward, so save your self time on the large day.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300°F (149°C). Unfold bread cubes out on two massive baking sheets and bake for quarter-hour, or till evenly browned and crisp. Switch to a big bowl.
- Place butter in massive skillet over medium-high warmth. Add onion, celery, salt, and pepper. Sauté for about 4 minutes till greens start to melt. Add mushrooms, thyme, sage, and parsley. Proceed cooking for one more 3 minutes. Squeeze the sausage meat out of the casings into the skillet. Break up with spoon, then add the apples. Cook dinner for about 4 minutes, till sausage meat is nearly cooked by.
- Take away from warmth and stir the sausage/apple combination in with the toasted bread. Pour the broth on high, then the cranberries, if utilizing. Stir to mix all the pieces.
- If utilizing to stuff a turkey, permit to chill utterly earlier than stuffing. If baking the stuffing individually like I did in these images, warmth oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×13-inch or any 3- to 4-quart baking dish (pictured). Spoon stuffing into the dish, then bake for 40-45 minutes or till evenly browned and crisp on high.
- Garnish with recent herbs earlier than serving, if desired. Serve heat.
- Cowl leftovers tightly and retailer within the fridge for as much as 5 days. Reheat within the microwave.
Notes
- Make Forward & Freezing Directions: If you happen to make this stuffing forward of time, be ready for max taste! The stuffing is definitely BEST made forward and right here’s the right way to do it. The bread loses plenty of texture should you make the stuffing utterly forward of time. As an alternative, put together the recipe by step 2. Retailer the cooked veggies/apples/sausage within the fridge in a single day and retailer the crisp bread cubes evenly coated at room temperature. Proceed with step 3 the subsequent morning. For lengthy storage, freeze the baked stuffing as much as 3 months. Thaw in a single day within the fridge, permit to come back to room temperature, then reheat it in a 350°F (177°C) oven for 20-25 minutes, or till warmed by, earlier than serving.
- Particular Instruments (affiliate hyperlinks): Baking Sheets | Glass Mixing Bowl | 9×13-inch Baking Pan or any 3- to 4-quart Oven-safe Baking Dish (pictured)
- Can I Make This Vegetarian? Sure, completely. You may flip this right into a vegetarian stuffing recipe by changing the sausage with extra mushrooms, or some diced butternut squash. The cooking directions stay the identical. You may as well use vegetable broth as an alternative of rooster broth.
Key phrases: sausage Thanksgiving stuffing
