This Sausage Stuffing Recipe is a family favorite recipe that we look forward to every Thanksgiving! A savory, comforting sausage and apple stuffing that’s sure to compliment your holiday main course. We think you’re going to find that you love this stuffing so much, you won’t want to wait until Thanksgiving to make it!
Why You’ll Love This Sausage Stuffing Recipe
Of course we’re making this sausage stuffing to go with our Roast Turkey for Thanksgiving, but it’s so good we crave it all year long!
- Make Ahead Side Dish: You can make this stuffing ahead of time and bake it when you’re ready. Make ahead recipes make holiday planning so much easier.
- Moist & Flavorful: Toasted bread cubes are tossed in a flavorful chicken broth mixture that’s simmered with fresh herbs, seasonings, onion and sausage.
- Customizable: Adapt the flavors in this recipe to your liking. Try different herbs or spicy sausage or switch up the bread to sourdough or honey wheat.
- Secret Ingredient: Our secret ingredient in this stuffing recipe is a diced green apple. Slightly tart but also sweet, it imparts a delicious flavor into this recipe.
What Kind Of Sausage Is Best To Use For Stuffing?
In the many years that we’ve been making this sausage stuffing, our go is Italian sausage – mild or spicy. You can also use a combination of both, but it’s the flavors and spices in Italian Sausage that really work best for this stuffing recipe.
How To Make
We’ll go over the basic steps here, but for a complete list of instructions scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- STEP 1 – Add butter to a large, deep skillet to melt. Brown and crumble the sausage, when mostly cooked through, add the onions and diced apples. Add seasonings, (listed in the recipe card) pour in chicken stock and bring to a simmer.
- STEP 2 – While the sausage and chicken broth is simmering, toast the bread. Tear or cut the toasted bread into cubes and add them to a very large bowl. Pour the broth mixture from the skillet into the bowl along with beaten eggs and parsley. Toss gently to combine.
- STEP 3 – Pour the stuffing into a heavily buttered casserole dish, top with cubes of butter and bake for 30 minutes covered with aluminum foil. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes uncovered to finish the stuffing.
Can You Make Sausage Stuffing Ahead Of Time?
Yes, you can make this stuffing a day or two ahead of time ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator until you’re ready. I actually think it tastes better if you make it the day before. The flavors will have time to blend together in the refrigerator and the flavor after baking it is unbelievable.
Any leftover stuffing (if there is any) usually becomes a main course for me. Pour on a quick brown gravy or homemade turkey gravy if you have it. Add a slice or two of leftover turkey and you’ve got dinner.
Can You Freeze Stuffing Before Baking?
Yes! This is my favorite make ahead tip, especially if you’re making this recipe for a holiday like Thanksgiving when you have tons of meal prep going on. Here’s how to do it:
- Make the stuffing and then let it cool to room temperature. Wrap it with plastic wrap and then foil, and freeze.
- Remove the stuffing from the freezer a day before you need it and let it defrost in the fridge. See the recipe card below for instructions on cooking time and temperature.
How To Store and Reheat Sausage Stuffing
Let the leftover stuffing cool completely. Wrap the dish with aluminum foil, or transfer leftover stuffing to a covered container. Leftover stuffing will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days.
Reheat the stuffing easily in the microwave until warmed through. Or place in an oven proof dish, covered with foil at 350 degrees. The stuffing is ready when it’s warmed though, the time for reheating will depend on how much stuffing you’re heating up and what type of dish that you’re using.
Tips For Best Results
- Don’t stack the slices of bread after toasting. This will cause the toasted bread to get soft instead of staying crisp. Instead, tear the bread into cubes right after toasting and place into a large bowl.
- Use a good quality chicken stock or broth. Many canned or boxed brands are very watery, meaning not a lot of flavor. Find the best quality stock that you can or make your own!
- Taste the stuffing for seasonings before adding the eggs. A cube of bread soaked in the broth will give you an idea of how the end product is going to taste.
- Let the stuffing crisp up on top before taking it out of the oven. This way you’ll have soft bread cubes on the inside and slightly toasted cubes on top!
Looking For More Stuffing Recipes?
- Hot Dog Bun Stuffing
- Pecan, Fig & Pear Vegetarian Stuffing
- Waldorf Chicken Sausage Stuffing
- Upside Down Pineapple Stuffing
- Italian Stuffing Muffins
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Best Sausage Stuffing Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeOur favorite Sausage Stuffing Recipe for Thanksgiving and everyday meals! We love this flavorful stuffing recipe so much, we don’t just save it for the holidays. It’s a delicious, make ahead side dish that we crave all year long.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage, sweet or spicy, casings removed
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 large green apple, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3 – 3 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 20–22 slices white sandwich bread (*see note)
- Extra butter for buttering the dish and for the top of the stuffing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet, then add the sausage, breaking up with a spoon or spatula until browned. NOTE: you’ll need at least a 13″, deep skillet to hold the sausage and broth mixture.
- When the sausage is almost all browned, add the diced apple, onion, poultry seasoning and thyme and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups of chicken broth, salt and pepper and let simmer for 10 minutes.
- While the broth is simmering, toast the bread, tear into cubes and add to a large bowl. After the chicken broth has cooled slightly, pour it over the bread and toss gently until all the cubes are moistened. If the bread seems on the dry side, you can add the additional 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
- Beat the eggs together with the parsley and add to the bowl. Toss gently to combine.
- Pour the stuffing into a buttered, 9″ x 13″ baking dish and then top the stuffing with small pieces of butter all around, (about 2-3 tablespoons).
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
- Take the foil off and bake another 15 minutes until the stuffing is crispy and brown on top.
Recipe Notes
If you prefer to not have a crispy stuffing then leave the foil on for the entire cooking time. You can make this stuffing recipe ahead of time, cover and keep in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Bring the dish out about 30 minutes before cooking to let it come to room temperature first.
To Make Ahead and Freeze: Make the stuffing, let it cool and then wrap it and freeze it until you’re ready to bake! Put the frozen stuffing, covered with foil, into a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes and then uncover for 15. Perfect, make ahead stuffing!
You’ll need to buy 2 regular loaves of white sandwich bread (you’ll use about 1 1/2 loaves) or you can buy and extra large 24 ounce loaf. Toast the bread and then cut or tear into cubes.
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stove Top / Oven
- Cuisine: American
I make this as the main course for supper every so often. It’s just so yummy ! It’s addicting, lol 😂
Very happy I found this recipe. I used to have another reciped that was similar, but I deleted that one. The apples in this one just take it up a notch. And it’s so easy to add onions and raisins or whatever else you like.
Coming back again! Year 4 of making this stuffing for Thanksgiving ITS THE BEST! Its my families favorite and have shared this recipe with friends. Id give it more than 5 stars if possible. 2 tips that take it over the top is 1) let marinate for 24hrs and 2) using fresh spices is a must! Its what takes it from good to holy @*#!
Thanks so much!!! We’re so glad you like the stuffing, it’s a family favorite that we’ve been making for years. And yes, you’re tips are spot on!
I have a funny story to share… I have been married to my husband for 36 years and this recipe (or a version of it) is the recipe that his mother taught me to make when we first married in 1985. Even though his mother’s recipe is the family favorite and was passed down by her own mother, I have been wanting to make changes to her recipe for years. My husband loves his mother’s recipe and is determined to help me every year so that he can make sure it is made right (One year his mother added cranberry and his father had a fit, not kidding. Until she pulled out another dish just the way he liked it). I would love to replace the celery with apples as I think it would be so much better. Except for the fact that my mother-in-law used half a loaf of white and half a loaf of wheat bread (which she dices up and toasts the night before), and celery instead of apples and one other tiny addition, I don’t see much of a difference in the two recipes.
Her Recipe: The night before she starts by simmering the neck and gizzards of the turkey with watered-down chicken stock with added spices. Then in the morning, she starts out by cooking the sausage (breakfast variety, although I have seen her use Italian before) in a separate pan until it is crispy. She removes the sausage from the pan and adds a bit of unsalted butter to the sausage fat and sautees a mirepoix with added bits of meat from the neck, heart, and kidney of the turkey (that is cut up so tiny you never even know they are there). She combines the mirepoix, sausage, liquid from the simmered gizzards & neck (she will taste this beforehand and add more Better-Than-Bouillon if needed and pours it over the toasted bread in a large bowl and mixes it until combined (not too much or it gets mushy). Then part of this goes into a cheesecloth bag to stuff the turkey and the remainder goes into a casserole dish with butter pats on top to cook in the oven during the last 30-minutes of cooking time for the turkey. Her recipe is delicious, but how much better it would be if I could omit the celery and add those granny apples… Yum.!!
I may have to try it this Thanksgiving if I can keep my husband and adult son (our youngest) out of the kitchen…. any suggestions??
Finally made this after bookmarking this page years ago. Hands down the best apple and sausage stuffing! Gonna bake it up tomorrow! Thank you for posting.
Great! Happy Thanksgiving!
My mom makes this stuffing every year, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without it!
Nice!!!!!!!!!!
I just had to take a moment to say that I love the voice I hear in the narrator! Such a cute husband! I love the story about the oven stuffer in the bread at the grocery store! So cute! That deserves a snuggle for sure!
I’m telling you, he really is, thank you for noticing that! It’s so funny how a guy that I married 20 years ago that ate about 4 things was all of the sudden the biggest foodie and craving sausage stuffing. It’s one of our most favorite stories! Thank you for your support!
Year 6 and still this is a staple on my table! This is SO GOOD I’d eat it out of the garbage. Lol You won’t be disappointed! Just use fresh herbs and you must let it marinate for 24hrs in the fridge b4 you bake it. Gobble til you wobble! Happy Thanksgiving everyone
SO glad you like it! I totally agree on making it a day ahead of time!