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Here is a classic Stuffing recipe to add to your Thanksgiving spread — Sausage and Sage Stuffing!
Growing up, my mom always made a rendition of this and it was a personal fave on the table for the holidays. It was a recipe that my grandma would always make and would include *even more* butter than I include here — which is definitely what made it so delicious! And I know not all of us grew up with sausage in their stuffing, but I highly recommend starting a new tradition this year. The inclusion of hot Italian sausage also makes this even more flavorful and exciting in my opinion.
Also, we have to talk about stuffing vs dressing. I talked about this on my Instagram a few weeks back and did not realize how divisive the topic would be! I always thought stuffing was what actually went inside a turkey then dressing was the delicious bread, sausage and veggie mixture I grew up loving. Then I thought maybe it was a regional thing because Cady was confused by me calling it dressing. But then, a lot of you let us know that maybe it has to do with the type of bread you use? Honestly, I am still confused as I write this and I am sure you all will let me know.
Regardless if you call this stuffing or dressing, this Sausage and Sage Stuffing (Dressing) is a classic that I hope is on your Thanksgiving table for years to come!Â
Sausage and Sage Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 loaf sourdough bread 1 pound
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cups finely diced yellow onion or 1 medium onion
- 1 cup halved lengthwise and thinly sliced celery or 4 stalks
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves about 8 sprigs of thyme, removed from the stem
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 pound hot italian sausage mild is fine too! Or even pork and sage breakfast sausage
- 10 to 12 fresh sage leaves finely chopped
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 3 eggs whisked
- ¼ cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tsp dried sage
- ½ tsp dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (convection) and lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Cut the bread into ½ inch cubes (it ends up being around 12 cups total) and spread evenly across 2 large baking sheets. Transfer to the oven and bake until completely dry and it is beginning to crisp, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat and melt 9 tablespoons of the butter. Add the onion, celery, garlic, thyme, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the onions and celery are very tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
- Increase the heat in the same skillet to medium-high and add the italian sausage and sage. Cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is cooked through, about 6 minutes.
- To the sausage, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and toss until coated. Add the wine, stir to combine, and reduce by half, about 2-3 minutes. Add to the large mixing bowl with the onions and celery.
- Add the toasted bread to the mixing bowl and toss until well combined. Add the parsley, dried sage, dried thyme, whisked eggs, chicken broth and the remaining 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and toss again to combine.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish and bake, uncovered, for about 20-25 minutes, until the bread is browned.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’m calling it stuffing if it’s in the bird and dressing if it’s not. Final answer. As long as it’s delicious, who really cares?
true that!! Let’s just eat and be happy haha
Can I prep this through step 6 the day before Thanksgiving and then not put into the oven until closer to serving? I didn’t know if the bread and eggs would get weird in the fridge? Thanks for your insights!
Yes this works great to prep-ahead!
I have sweet Italian sausage..will this work?
Definitely!
Looking forward to making this! Do you have a substitution for eggs? We have someone with an egg allergy. Thanks!
I haven’t tried it, but typically I recommend swapping in a “Flax egg” for eggs in recipes when you have an allergy! I find it works the best.
This is the 2nd year making this stuffing for Thanksgiving. It was my very favorite side dish and I am so excited to make it again. It is everything stuffing should be. SO delicious!!
Of I’m using sage and pork sausage so I also need to add the 10 sage leaves to it? Will that be too much sage?
Thank you!
I think it will still be amazing
Hi Alex, any suggestions for an egg substitute? I’ve used flax and applesauce in other recipes, but wanted to get your expert opinion. Thanks in advance!
Would it be possible to make a substitution for the butter to make it DF?
vegan butter would be the best alternative
This was incredible. Which is not surprising because all of Alex’s stuff is incredible but holy cow. I’ve been struggling along with crappy gf boxed stuffings the past few years and this was such a game changer. It is so flavorful and delicious. Unless someone needs to know for allergies, don’t even tell anyone its gf!! They’ll never know. I’m still battling the stigma that gf food isn’t good with some friends and family and this stuffing leaves people speechless when they do find out its gf. Thanks for finally giving us gf folks an AMAZING stuffing!! (note: i used TJ gf white bread since I couldn’t find a good gf sourdough in time and it worked beautifully)
This was absolutely amazing! So much flavor! Best stuffing I’ve ever had!