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If you were to ask my son what his favorite thing was about Thanksgiving, he would tell you it’s sausage stuffing. Sausage stuffing is a classic and it has to be on our table every time we have a roast turkey. It just isn’t Thanksgiving dinner without it!
This family favorite takes your traditional bread stuffing and adds another layer of flavor from the browned Italian Sausage. While some of the herbs are things you only get around Thanksgiving time, most cooks will already have them as well as the other ingredients on hand.
Classic Sausage Stuffing
This is enough sausage stuffing to stuff an 18-20 lb turkey.
1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage, taken out of the casing
1 onion, diced
4 ribs of celery, diced
1 stick of butter, cut into chunks
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp rubbed sage
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried oregano
salt & pepper to taste
1-2 cups chicken broth
16 cups of bread cubes and/or croutons
In a large frying pan, brown off the Italian sausage. You want to cook it through until it is no longer pink, and starts to caramelize a little on the edges. Use a wooden spoon or a potato masher to break apart the sausage into smaller crumbles.
Once the sausage is cooked through, add the stick of butter. Stir everything together until it melts. Then, add the celery and onion. Cook the celery and onion until softened. Add all of your herbs and spices, then stir to combine.
Put your bread cubes and croutons into a large bowl. I use whatever leftover bread I have available – wheat, white, rye, hamburger buns, leftover garlic bread. I keep a bag in the freezer throughout the year and save the random bits of leftover bread for just this reason. You can also use the prepackaged bread cubes or stuffing croutons from the store.
Dump the sausage, celery, and onion mixture onto the bread cubes. Add anywhere from 1-2 cups of chicken broth to the stuffing mixture as you stir to combine. You want your stuffing to be moist but not soggy.
Cook your stuffing inside your turkey until the turkey is fully cooked & the stuffing reaches a temperature of 160º.
If you choose to make dressing instead of stuffing (in a casserole dish instead of in the bird), mix 2 beaten eggs and up to another cup of chicken broth into the sausage stuffing mixture. Place the mixture into a buttered casserole dish and bake at 350º for 30-45 minutes.
Classic Sausage Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage taken out of the casing
- 1 onion diced
- 4 ribs of celery diced
- 1 stick of butter cut into chunks
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 3/4 tsp rubbed sage
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1-2 cups chicken broth
- 16 cups of bread cubes and/or croutons
Instructions
-
In a large frying pan, brown off the Italian sausage. You want to cook it through until it is no longer pink, and starts to caramelize a little on the edges. Use a wooden spoon or a potato masher to break apart the sausage into smaller crumbles.
-
Once the sausage is cooked through, add the stick of butter. Stir everything together until it melts. Then, add the celery and onion. Cook the celery and onion until softened. Add all of your herbs and spices, and stir to combine.
-
Put your bread cubes and croutons into a large bowl. I use whatever leftover bread I have available – wheat, white, rye, hamburger buns, leftover garlic bread. I keep a bag in the freezer throughout the year and save the random bits for just this reason. You can also use the prepackaged bread cubes or stuffing croutons from the store.
-
Dump the sausage, celery, and onion mixture onto the bread cubes. Add anywhere from 1-2 cups of chicken broth to the stuffing mixture as you stir to combine. You want your stuffing to be moist but not soggy.
-
Cook your stuffing inside your turkey until the turkey is fully cooked & the stuffing reaches a temperature of 160º.
-
If you choose to make dressing instead of stuffing (in a casserole dish instead of in the bird), mix 2 beaten eggs and up to another cup of chicken broth into the sausage stuffing mixture. Place the mixture into a buttered casserole dish and bake at 350º for 30-45 minutes.
Recipe Notes
This is enough stuffing for an 18 lb turkey.
Changes to USDA Agricultural Zones
Stephanie, just like my Mama’s stuffing! And she always stuffed the turkey. But I’ve never quite trusted myself not to kill people that way, so have always cooked it separately and called it dressing! But either way, we do not put eggs in it. Never have, never will. But my mother-in-law *did*, whether cooked in the bird or separately. And one time when I was cooking the meal, she snuck in the kitchen and stirred in a couple of eggs when I wasn’t watching! I didn’t hold it against her, but I’ve never forgotten it all these years later. 🙂
Got to keep an eye on those mother-in-laws. They can be sneaky when it comes to preparing holiday meals! 🙂
Thanks for a great recipe for stuffing, it’s one of my favorites at Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing at Merry Monday!
I’ve never used Italian sausage in stuffing but it sure sounds like a good idea. I love the simplicity of your recipe too. Thanks for sharing at the What’s for Dinner party – and have a wonderful week. Hope we see you next Sunday too!
Sounds a lot like my mother’s T-Day stuffing, except she’d cook and chop up and add the chicken innards (not the liver, as that would be too bitter). Although sometimes those parts were in the gravy. Yummy!!! Thanks! I believe she used Jimmy dean sausage.
The other bits of the chicken & turkey (except the liver) were always used in the gravy. My gran would soak the chicken liver in milk (maybe it was buttermilk) and then dredge and fry it. I never ate it, but she sure seemed to enjoy it.
Oh my goodness!! This sounds so tasty! I have never used Italian sausage in a stuffing recipe before, but it sounds awesome!
Try it out and let me know what you think!
Pinning this! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for sharing your recipe with us at the Snickerdoodle Link Party! This will be one of my features this Saturday!
Thank you for the feature! I hope your readers enjoy the recipe as well. It’s a staple of our Thanksgiving meal.