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Sausage Stuffing has every festive flavor of Thanksgiving baked into one savory, sweet, and very satisfying dish. You’ll love the cranberries, apples, sausage, and fresh herbs in each bite.
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This is the best sausage stuffing recipe for a Thanksgiving turkey. In fact, I would say it is the best stuffing recipe of all stuffing recipes. The recipe is a basic herb stuffing enhanced by the flavor of sausage. It’s loaded with all the textures and flavors that make Thanksgiving a favorite fall meal.
My very favorite thing about this stuffing is the little sweet surprises baked within. Dried cranberries and crisp, Golden Delicious apple chunks lighten the savory sausage and herbs flavors beautifully. It’s really a meal all on its own.
Ingredients for Sausage Stuffing
Thanksgiving without stuffing is like Christmas without cocoa! This Cranberry Sausage Stuffing is the perfect dish to serve alongside a plump, juicy bird and all the fixings. Oven-baked bread cubes, succulent sausage, and a hint of sweet cranberries and apples make this a treat your guests will ask for again and again.
- Bread loaf – Day-old bread is the best! It has a crunchy outer layer and soft inside. We used both whole wheat and white bread cubed.
- Sage pork sausage – We love Bob Evans brand. It already has the flavor in the premium pork and has the best protein percentage. Jimmy Dean also a sage sausage as well. Italian sausage can be used, but we love the extra sage flavoring in sage sausage.
- Vegetables – Chop your onion and celery stalks the same size to help cook it evenly.
- Seasonings – Combine together fresh sage leaves, fresh chopped rosemary, flat-leaf parsley, and fresh thyme – dried or freshly chopped seasonings work well.
- Golden Delicious apple – Core and chop an apple to add to the pan.
- Cranberries – Dried cranberries or craisins add in a sweet and soft texture to the stuffing.
- Unsalted butter – Melt in the microwave for the stuffing mixture.
- Turkey stock – Adds in moisture and helps bring flavor when stirred together.
- Nuts – Almonds or walnuts or any kind of nut, need to be chopped in a food processor.
- Salt and black pepper – Add to taste!
Substitutions and Additions to Sausage Stuffing
- Bread Varieties – Pick your favorite bread that is in your home. French bread, Italian bread, sourdough bread, brioche, or challah bread. These are all high-quality breads that are crunchy and add flavor to the stuffing.
- Apple varieties – We like using golden delicious apples but you can also use Fuji, pink lady, Jonagold, or even Granny Smith apples.
- Egg – Try adding and egg to the mix, eggs are binding and can hold the stuffing together nicely.
- Chicken broth – Chicken broth is a great liquid to substitute for turkey stock.
- Mushrooms – Add some sautéed mushrooms to the stuffing for another flavor profile
- Garlic – Roast up some garlic cloves, mash them, and add it to the stuffing for a brighter, more garlic-y flavor.
How to Toast the Bread for Sausage Stuffing
In my mind, there’s nothing worse than soggy, flavorless bread stuffing. This sausage stuffing is gloriously golden brown with just the right amount of flavor and texture. The secret? Toast the bread cubes in the oven for a little bit!
This will give your bread a crispy outer crust with a tender inside and allows the herbs and flavors to adhere to the bread pieces. It is so delicious and never soggy!
The method is so easy, and it is cheaper than buying bread cubes that have already been dried. All you have to do is cut bread into cubes. I like to use a combination of white and wheat bread. Spread the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan. Bake 5-7 minutes at 350-degrees or until evenly toasted. That’s it!
“Absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to make this again this year!?”
-Gina
Make Sausage Stuffing Ahead of Time
This stuffing is one of a kind and the best holiday side dish! It is perfect to make ahead and you can prepare the stuffing in a baking dish. Place all the ingredients into a casserole or baking dish. Wrap with plastic wrap or cover with foil and store in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Once you are ready to bake, let thaw to room temperature, then bake.
More Delicious Stuffing Recipes
Thanksgiving Side Dishes
We have loads of Thanksgiving side dishes like this cranberry sausage stuffing. Here are some of out favorites:
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Frequently Asked Questions
This Sausage Stuffing recipe serves a huge crowd! So you could either cut the recipe in half if you’re hosting a smaller gathering, or keep those delicious leftovers in the fridge. Use it the next day to make Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole or Pilgrim Sandwiches. So yummy!
It all boils down to personal preference, but we love using a sage sausage (Bob Evans brand is delicious). But you could use regular breakfast sausage, Italian sweet sausage, or a spicy sausage. Beef, pork, turkey, or chicken sausages are all delicious options.
This recipe uses regular white and wheat bread, so therefore, not gluten-free. However, we have an absolutely delicious Gluten Free Stuffing that your whole family will love! Low calorie, but so high in festive flavors. Try this Bacon Stuffing too!
Seasoning always helps add flavor as well as more flavors in the sausage and other ingredients. When using fresh or dried herbs make sure to add more to the fresh ingredients. Dried herbs have a 1 to 3 ratio to fresh herbs.
How to Make Sausage Stuffing
Sausage Stuffing
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups whole wheat bread (cubed)
- 8 cups white bread (cubed)
- 2 pounds sage sausage (Bob Evans brand works great)
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 1 1/2 tablespoon dried sage
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 golden delicious apple (cored and chopped)
- 1 1/2 cups dried cranberries (Craisins work great!)
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 2/3 cups turkey stock (chicken stock works great too!)
- 1/2 cup butter (melted)
- 1 cup slivered almonds or walnuts or any kind of nuts, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 5-7 minutes at 350-degrees or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.
- In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onion over medium heat, stirring until evenly browned. Stir in the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in apples, cranberries, parsley and almonds (optional). Drizzle with turkey stock and melted butter and toss until evenly coated.
- Spoon into two 9×13 baking dishes and cook, covered for 40 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.
Why can’t I print out the cranberry sausage stuffing recipe?
It looks like there’s a lock on it.
It is working for me, so I’m not sure! Maybe try using a different browser? Sorry!
Hands down best dressing ever!!!! this was the first time ever using a different stuffing recipe than the always used family recipe and everyone raved, we will not be going back to the old recipe. the flavors blend so deliciously seriously amazing!!!!! Thank you for sharing
Oh so glad you liked this! It is hands-down our favorite stuffing recipe 😀
Do you recommmend day old bread or
Does the baking in the oven take
Care of getting it dry enough ?
You don’t need to use day old bread– the baking should toast it up enough. Hope this helps!
Could this recipe be used to stuff a turkey? Any modifications suggested?
You should totally be able to use this to stuff a turkey. You will just want to stuff it loosely and then bake whatever doesn’t fit in the turkey as directed in the recipe. Hope this helps!
How many servings does this recipe make?
It should make 10-12 servings depending on how big of eaters you have!
how many bags of already made stuffing bread should i use?
We usually just make this with actual bread… our best guess with the pre-made stuff is to eye-ball it. I think they try and make one loaf of bread per bag of stuffing bread, but I could be wrong.
How much fresh sage or rosemary would you use in place of dried
The general rule is to use three times the amount of fresh herbs as you would dried herbs. So, in this recipe, I would use about 3 Tablespoons fresh rosemary and 4-5 Tablespoons fresh sage. Fresh herbs will be delicious in this recipe!
Can I make this with corn bread instead?
Absolutely! It will have a different consistency and flavor but it will still taste great!
Hi,
I am not having any luck finding dried sage, is using ground sage ok?
Hi Allison, YES! Ground sage or Rubbed Sage will work great and taste just as good! Thanks for asking!
how much ground sage should I use? They say ground is more potent
I really love the flavor of sage in my stuffing, so the more sage the better in my opinion! I honestly don’t think you will notice much of a difference. Thanks for asking!
At what temperature should the stuffing be cooked at?
Can I make this in a slow cooker or small Nesco?
We haven’t tried it in a crock pot before, so I can’t definitively say how it would differ from the original.
This looks great, and I can’t wait to try it! I noticed that is says 8-10 servings, but then it says to bake it in two 13×9 pans, which seems like a lot more servings to me. Is this more than 10 servings? I’m having a big group over for Friendsgiving this year, so I don’t want to run out! Thanks!
When this is part of a BIG meal and this is just a small portion of it, it can probably go further. You can probably stretch this to 10-12 servings. You aren’t layering on the stuffing really thick in the pans, they are pretty thin layers so it gets cooked evenly without drying out (and when it cooks it settles a little so it’s not as “full” as you might think. It’s tough to say with Thanksgiving sides because you will always get people who LOVE stuffing and pile it on and others don’t care for it and won’t take any.
Would this still be good without the sausage?
It will still be good without it.. just not AS good 😉
Is it possible to make this the day before and bake it on Thanksgiving?
We haven’t tried it that way– but it could be possible. Let us know if you do it and how it turns out!
I made this stuffing this year and it is amazing! The best homemade stuffing over ever had! Everyone loved it, and I’m adding this recipe to my thanksgiving feast every year going forward! Thanks!
Hi, This looks GREAT but the only thing you left out was whether or not the sausage should be drained after cooking it. Thanks
Yes, I always drain the sausage. Thank you for asking!
I can’t wait to make this dressing. It sounds so good
It is! You are going to love it!
Best ever!!@@
I really want to make this except I won’t have chicken or turkey stock. Would chicken broth work, do you know?
Walmart sells chicken Stock.
I have made this for the past 2 Thanksgivings (and Christmas!) We will never go back to anything else!!!! SO YUMMY!
Second year making this. I use whatever I can find for unseasoned stuffing mix. We like cashews and at the end adding cubed guada cheese. So delicious!
I too made this last year for Thanksgiving and loved it!!! I am making it again this year but I am going to leave out the almonds ( my husband didn’t like them). Thanks for this amazing recipe!
I made this last year for Thanksgiving and it was a HUGE hit! I will definitely be making it again this year! (Hence the reason why I am on this page… looking at what ingredients I need for my grocery trip!)
This DOES look delicious! I don't believe I'll be waiting until Thanksgiving to try it out!