Thanksgiving Stuffing

This delicious classic Thanksgiving Stuffing features onions, celery, garlic, pork sausage, and apples, all seasoned with fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, and sage. It is a family favorite and a must-have holiday side dish.

This side dish is elegant enough for your holiday meal with garlic mashed potatoes, honey-roasted carrots, and fresh cranberry sauce. Yet, it is easy enough for a weeknight dinner with slow-cooker turkey breast. Use a variety of fresh herbs for an over-the-top traditional homemade stuffing with tons of flavor.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.

• Bread: For this recipe, choose good-quality bread with a neutral taste, like white, challah, or brioche. Remember to plan ahead and dry the bread out.
• Sausage: Use pork sausage with mild flavors like Jimmy Dean All Natural or Bob Evans Naturally. Or better yet, maybe your butcher has his own fresh blend.
• Butter: Unsalted or salted. If using salted butter, reduce the added salt to 1/4 teaspoon.
• Apple: I like to use a Granny Smith, but any good baking apple, such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or Pink Lady, will work. 
• Herbs: Fresh herbs such as parsley, rosemary, thyme, and sage are essential. Reserve a couple of pinches of each herb and sprinkle over the top of the dressing before baking.

How to make Thanksgiving Stuffing

This is the summary version; see the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and the instructions.

Either dry the bread several days in advance or spread it on a baking sheet in a single layer and place it in the oven at 275 degrees for about 45 minutes, tossing it several times.

Start browning and breaking up the pork sausage in a large pan over medium heat. Add butter, onion, celery, and apple about halfway through the browning process. Continue cooking and stirring with a wooden spoon until the vegetables are soft. Then, reduce the heat and add the garlic, parsley, rosemary, thyme, and sage. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Toss the dried bread, sausage mixture, chicken broth, salt, black pepper, and beaten eggs in a large bowl. Pour into a greased baking dish, cover, and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the cover, raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees, and continue baking for 15 minutes or until the top browns. If more browning is desired, place under the broiler for a minute.

Preparation Tips

• Cut your celery and onions fine so every bite has a little bit.
• If you use prepackaged, unseasoned stuffing cubes, omit salt. They usually have a high sodium content, and salt can quickly take over the dish.
• Add the right amount of broth. Because of its salt content, use low-sodium chicken broth. The key here is to moisten the bread. It should not be soggy or dry. Add about 1/2 cup at a time until lightly moistened. You can always add more, but you can not take it back.
• Brown the stuffing under the broiler on low for about 1 minute. Stay very close by, as broilers are very unpredictable, especially in older ovens.

Two Ways to Prepare It In Advance

The Day Before: Cook and mix all the ingredients except for the eggs and chicken broth in a big bowl. Then, cover it and place it in the refrigerator. Before baking, add the chicken broth and beaten eggs and stir to combine. Spoon into a casserole dish sprayed with nonstick spray, top with some fresh herbs, and bake.

A Week Before: Prepare the recipe up to and including spooning it into the casserole dish. Stop short of sprinkling with fresh herbs and baking. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and foil. Place it in the freezer for a week.

Remove from the freezer and remove any plastic wrap. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 60-75 minutes or until warmed. Then remove the foil, raise the oven temperature to 375, and bake until the top is browned or about 15-20 minutes.

Storage and Reheat

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave at reduced power or in the oven covered at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until warm. Add a little low-sodium chicken broth if the stuffing seems dry before reheating.

Freeze for up to 3 months in a sturdy, airtight container. Bake from frozen. Remove from the freezer and remove any plastic wrap. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 60-75 minutes or until warmed. Remove the foil, raise the oven temperature to 375, and bake until the top is browned for 15-20 minutes.

More Holiday Dishes

Cranberry Sauce

Pumpkin Pie with Graham Cracker Crust

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potato Pie

Homemade Green Bean Casserole

Dutch Apple Pie

Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe

A delicious traditional Thanksgiving Sausage Stuffing made with onions, celery, apples, and pork sausage with a perfect blend of fresh herbs and spices.  

5 from 8 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: side

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 478kcal

Author: Beth Pierce

Ingredients

• 1 lb. loaf quality white bread challah, or brioche cut into 1 inch bread cubes and dried
• 1 lb. pork sausage or Italian sausage
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 medium sweet yellow onion finely chopped
• 2 ribs celery stalks chopped
• 1 granny smith apple peeled and diced small
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoons fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves
• 2 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth or chicken stock
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 eggs warmed to room temperature and beaten

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray for easy cleanup. 
• Prepare by drying out the bread several days in advance or spread the bread out on baking sheets and place it in the oven at 275 degrees for about about 45 minutes tossing it several times. 
• In a large skillet over medium heat, brown the sausage breaking it up as it cooks. About halfway through the browning process, add the butter and melt it. Add the onion, celery, and apple. Continue cooking until the onions and celery are soft. Reduce the heat to low. Add the garlic, parsley, rosemary, thyme and sage.  Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. 
• In a large bowl, toss together the dried bread, sausage mixture, chicken broth, salt, black pepper, and beaten eggs. Spoon into a greased casserole, cover, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover, raise oven temperature to 375 degrees, and continue baking for 15 minutes or until the top begins to brown. Place under the broiler for a minute if more browning is desired.

Notes

• Use a pork sausage with mild flavors like Jimmy Dean All Natural or Bob Evans Naturally. Or better yet maybe your butcher has his own fresh blend.
• For this recipe choose a good quality bread with a neutral taste like white, challah, or brioche. Don’t forget to plan ahead and dry the bread out.
• Cut your celery and onions fine so that there is a little bit in every bite.
• If you plan to use prepackaged seasoned bread cubes omit any salt.  They usually have a high sodium content and salt can quickly take over the dish.
• Add the right amount of broth. Use low sodium chicken broth because of the salt content.  The key here is to moisten the bread.  It should not be soggy or dry.  Add about 1/2 cup at a time until lightly moistened.  You can always add more but you can not take it back.
• ProTip – reserve a couple pinches of each herb and sprinkle over the top of the dressing before baking.
• To brown the stuffing place under the broiler on low for about 1 minute. Stay very close by as broilers are very unpredictable especially in older ovens.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
• Freeze for up to 3 months in a sturdy airtight container. 

Nutrition

Calories: 478kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 112mg | Sodium: 825mg | Potassium: 379mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 649IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 3mg

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