Traditional Sausage Stuffing

Traditional Sausage Stuffing is full of fresh sage and herb flavor, has a pudding-like consistency with a crisp topping and is loaded with ground sausage.  Learn how easy it is to make the best and most classic Thanksgiving and Christmas side dish completely from scratch.

Traditional Sausage Stuffing Recipe

Whether you call it stuffing or dressing, this broth-soaked bread cube casserole is one of the BEST and most iconic Thanksgiving side dishes!

It’s full of fresh sage, rosemary, and thyme, baked in the oven until still moist but crisp, and tastes phenomenal alongside that juicy turkey and creamy gravy.

While some prefer it sans-meat, the addition of crumbled sausage makes it even more hearty and delicious.

(And if you prefer your stuffing made from cornbread, check out this Southern Cornbread Sausage Dressing!)

We’ll be going over all of the nitty-gritty details of how to make this dish completely from scratch, but you’ll also learn a few shortcuts if you’d prefer to save a little time.

Also, this stuffing recipe can easily be made gluten-free, so make sure you don’t miss that tip!

Ingredients

To make a sausage stuffing recipe from scratch these are the ingredients you’ll need and are pictured above:

• 1-pound loaf of bread – see below for the best type of bread to use.
• Ground sausage – read more below on the different types you can use.
• Broth – Chicken or vegetable broth can be used.  If using a low-sodium broth, make sure to adjust the amount of salt you use.
• Fresh Herbs – Sage, rosemary and thyme are all used to give this dish tons of herbal flavor.  If using dried herbs, use 1 teaspoon of dried for every 1 tablespoon of fresh called for in the recipe.
• Onion
• Celery
• Garlic
• Eggs

Best Bread for Stuffing

There are quite a few types of bread you can use when making stuffing and cutting your own bread cubes.

Here are a few of the best breads to use:

• Baguette – This is what was used when testing this recipe.  Has a nice crust and soft middle giving the finished stuffing a delightful crisp.
• White bread – Easy to find.  Will come out a little bit more mushy, but does come together into a cohesive dish easily.
• Challah bread – A little on the sweet side, but forms a great bread pudding-like texture.
• “French” bread – Can be used, but it has a tendency to turn into mush after baking.
• Bread cubes – These are the easiest to use since they are already dried out and prepared.

Read more from Serious Eats about the different types of bread for stuffing.

Cutting Bread Cubes

It’s best if you can cut your bread into similarly sized ½-inch cubes of bread.  Too much larger and they won’t stick together and form a casserole, too much smaller and they’ll become smooshy instead of pudding-like.

1. Cut your loaf of bread into slices using a serrated bread knife.  (If it’s not already.)
2. Cut each slice of bread into ½-inch slices.

How to Dry Out Bread for Stuffing

Whether you’re in a time-crunch or you’re planning ahead, there are two different ways you can dry out bread for stuffing.

• On Counter:  Place bread cubes on a large baking sheet and let sit at room temperature for 24-48 hours.  This is the most traditional way to dry out bread but does take a bit of foresight.
• Bake in Oven:  Place bread cubes on one or two large baking sheets and spread out until they’re almost in a single layer.  Bake in a 275°F oven for 40 minutes, tossing halfway through.  The cubes should be dried out but not as hard as a crouton.  Let cool completely before using in the stuffing recipe.

Types of Sausage

There are a ton of different types of sausage you can use when making stuffing.

The type you use depends on whether you want the dish to have a bit of a spicy kick or be more on the mild side.

• Ground Italian-style spicy sausage
• Ground Italian-style mild sausage
• Ground breakfast sausage
• Andouille sausage links (more of a Cajun flair!)

How to Make Stuffing

Once your bread cubes are dried out, it’s time to get to stuffing making!  The process is relatively simple and consists of the following steps:

1. Add butter or oil, onion, celery, crushed garlic, and ½ teaspoon salt to a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat. (step 1 above)

2. Sauté for 7-8 minutes, or until vegetables become tender.

3. Push vegetables to the side of the skillet and add ground sausage.  Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through. (step 2 above)

4. Crumble sausage using a potato masher so there are no large clumps remaining.

5. Whisk together eggs, herbs, paprika, 1 cup chicken broth, remaining salt, and black pepper in a medium-sized bowl. (step 3 above)

6. Add dried bread cubes to an extra-large bowl and toss together with egg mixture. (step 4 above)

7. Pour in sautéed veggies and sausage.  Mix until well combined.  (step 5 above)

8. Lightly coat a 13×9-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and pour in stuffing mixture.  Pour 2 more cups of broth over the entire dish. (step 6 above)

9. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Remove the aluminum foil and check stuffing to see if it needs more broth.  If it does, pour remaining ½ cup to 1 cup of broth over the stuffing and return to oven for 20-30 minutes.

Cook’s Tip: To get the top extra crispy, brush with an additional 2 tablespoons of butter and broil for an additional 2-3 minutes.

Prep-Ahead Directions

You can make this sausage stuffing up to 2 days in advance.

To do this simply follow all of the directions until you would pour the 2 cups of broth over the bread cubes.  Stop at this point and cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to cook.

On the day of serving, pull the stuffing out of the refrigerator at least 1 hour in advance so it can come to room temperature before baking.  Follow the directions from the point you left off.

Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes

Turkey day wouldn’t be complete without these other side dish recipe!

Fresh Cranberry Orange Sauce

Green Bean Casserole Recipe from Scratch

Cauliflower au Gratin

Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Oat Crumble

Roasted Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

5 from 2 votes

Sausage Stuffing Recipe

Traditional Sausage Stuffing is full of fresh sage and herb flavor, has a pudding-like consistency with a crisp topping and is loaded with ground sausage.  Learn how easy it is to make the best and most classic Thanksgiving and Christmas side dish completely from scratch.

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Course Dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword gluten free, holiday, side, Thanksgiving

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings 12 servings

Calories 274 kcal

London Brazil

Ingredients

• 1 lb. bread 10-12 cups bread cubes*
• 1 large sweet onion finely diced
• 3 stalks celery finely diced
• 4 Tbsp. butter or oil
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 lb. ground sausage mild or spicy Italian sausage
• 1 Tbsp. each rosemary sage, thyme, fresh
• 2 eggs
• ½ tsp. paprika
• 3 - 4 cups chicken broth regular sodium
• 1 ½ tsp. salt divided
• ½ tsp. black pepper

Instructions

1. Cut bread into ½-inch cubes using a serrated knife.

2. Either let bread cubes sit out for 24-48 hours to dry or add to a 275°F oven for 40-45 minutes on a large sheet pan.

3. Once breadcrumbs are done drying out, change oven temperature to 375°F.

4. Add butter or oil, onion, celery, crushed garlic, and ½ teaspoon salt to a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat.

5. Saute for 7-8 minutes, or until vegetables become tender.
6. Push vegetables to the side of the skillet and add ground sausage. Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through.
7. Crumble sausage using a potato masher so there are no large clumps remaining.
8. Whisk together eggs, herbs, paprika, 1 cup chicken broth, remaining salt, and black pepper in a medium-sized bowl.
9. Add dried bread cubes to an extra-large bowl and toss together with egg mixture.
10. Pour in sautéed veggies and sausage. Mix until well combined.

11. Lightly coat a 13x9-inch baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray and pour in stuffing mixture.  Pour 2 more cups of broth over the entire dish.
Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Remove the aluminum foil and check stuffing to see if it needs more broth.  If it does, pour remaining ½ cup to 1 cup of broth over the stuffing and return to oven for 20-30 minutes.

12. Serve with a sprinkle of fresh herbs and enjoy!

Recipe Notes

• To get the top extra crispy, brush with an additional 2 tablespoons of butter and broil for an additional 2-3 minutes.
• White bread, baguette, Challah, and store-bought bread cubes will all work great.

Nutrition Facts

Sausage Stuffing Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 274 Calories from Fat 144

% Daily Value*

Fat 16g25%

Saturated Fat 6g38%

Cholesterol 65mg22%

Sodium 1231mg54%

Potassium 317mg9%

Carbohydrates 20g7%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 3g3%

Protein 11g22%

Vitamin A 337IU7%

Vitamin C 11mg13%

Calcium 76mg8%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.