What to serve with your stuffing?
Classic Sausage Stuffing: Everyone’s Favorite Gravy Soaker-Upper.
Of all the Thanksgiving side dishes, stuffing (AKA dressing) is arguably the most classic, the most beloved. That ideal sausage and sage stuffing recipe, the one you’ll pass down, the one that’s the first thing you crave when you remember that Thanksgiving is around the corner—that is THIS Thanksgiving stuffing recipe! You can even make this stuffing a day ahead of time! Bonus, if you have any leftovers, add them to our Turkey Hand Pies or serve with the rest of your leftovers on top our Herby Rhodes Rolls! Make your Pumpkin Pie and check out our 40 Best Thanksgiving Recipes for even more inspiration.
Classic Stuffing Ingredients
Our favorite Thanksgiving side dish is a really, really good pan of homemade sausage stuffing. We want pure, classic, bready, herby goodness. And that’s exactly what this recipe yields. Oh, and it’s easy, too! Here’s everything you’ll need to make it:
Ground Italian sausage
Butter
French bread
Yellow onions
Celery
Fresh sage, rosemary, parsley and thyme
Nutmeg
Chicken broth
Eggs
What Is the Difference Between Dressing and Stuffing?
If we’re really being sticklers about it, the difference between stuffing and dressing is that stuffing is literally “stuffed” inside the turkey to be cooked, and dressing is when you cook it outside of the bird in a baking pan. So yes, that means that this recipe actually, technically, should be called sausage dressing because it is not cooked inside the turkey. However, stuffing has become most people’s go-to word for the bready stuff that has sausage and herbs in it and so we’re calling it that.
What Is the Best Bread for Stuffing?
And the best bread for stuffing is... old, dry bread! Why? Because you need the bread to be nice and dry and ready to soak up all of the liquid you’re going to pour into it to make a sausage stuffing that’s moist and almost custard-y inside. Not only do we want you to use day-old bread, but you’ll also toast it in the oven a bit just to be sure that it’s really dried out. All of this should be really good news. We like to make stuffing with old-fashioned French bread—and no, we don’t mean a long, thin baguette. We mean soft-on-the-inside, decidedly un-fancy, oval-shaped loaves from the grocery store—the kind you might use to make garlic bread. As far as we’re concerned, there’s no better bread for making stuffing! If you’re looking for more great ways to use day old bread, pop over to our Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding.
How Do You Make Sausage Stuffing From Scratch?
Making sausage stuffing from scratch is pretty darn easy, and since you can make it a day ahead of time, it’s really a breeze! Even on Thanksgiving! We’ll walk you through it—you’ve got this.
Rip up the day old loaf of French bread into a bunch of pieces.
Dry out the bread by baking it at 300° for about 45 minutes.
Brown the sausage. When it’s starting to brown, add butter, onion and celery and sauté.
Toss the sausage and bread with parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with broth and mix again.
Whisk more broth into the eggs, and toss that with the rest of the stuffing mixture.
Pour the stuffing mixture into a baking pan, cover and bake for 30 minutes!
Take the foil off and give the stuffing another 45 minutes in the oven until the top is lovely and golden.
Tools You’ll Need
More Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes You’ll Love
It’s Never Too Early To Start Thanksgiving Menu Planning!
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