The BEST Thanksgiving sausage stuffing with apples and sage that'll seriously become your family's new favorite. Grandma's comfort food stuffing with sausage made easy! It's a Whole Lotta Yum!
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Best Sausage Stuffing Recipe Ever!
Elevate your Thanksgiving stuffing beyond Stove Top by using store-bought buttery bread crumbs combined with ground Italian sausage, apple cubes, and fresh sage. Everyone will be begging you to make this every year!
We've been making this sausage meat stuffing recipe for decades and it is always the favorite dish on the table for guests! So many people have told us that this is the BEST stuffing recipe they've ever had and we know you'll agree 😉
Start with a store-bought dried stuffing mix or you can make your own easy dried bread for stuffing, and add hearty ingredients that'll give you a mouthful of flavor in every bite.
Perfectly balanced between savory, buttery, and a touch of sweetness from the apples. You can even add a spicy kick if you use spicy Italian sausages.
If you have low carb or gluten-free guests, we have a keto stuffing recipe very similar to this one!
Ingredient Notes for Sausage Apple Stuffing
- dried stuffing mix
- vegetable oil
- Italian sausage, mild or spicy
- onion
- celery stalks
- medium apples
- chopped fresh parsley
- chopped fresh sage
- eggs
- chicken broth or turkey broth
- salt
- ground black pepper
- unsalted butter
** Please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the exact quantities **
Supplies You'll Need
- 11"x16" pan - this makes a large batch of stuffing, larger than a 9x13 pan. You could also divide it between two smaller casserole dishes if needed and freeze one for later!
- Large skillet for cooking the Italian sausage
Substitutions
- Vegan- use vegan approved margarine like Earth Balance in place of butter and swap the Italian sausage for soy crumbles
- Whole30/Paleo- swap the butter for olive oil and use zucchini or palm noodles instead of pasta
- Gluten Free- swap with your favorite gluten-free pasta variety
- Keto/Low carb- make this a keto stuffing recipe by swapping out the bread crumbs with keto bread
How to Make Stuffing with Sausage
There's just a couple of simple steps for making homemade Italian sausage stuffing. Sauté the Italian sausage, combine it with the remaining ingredients, add to a pan, dot with butter, and bake!
Prep Ingredients
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the seasoning mix from the stuffing.
Step 2: Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Brown the Italian sausage and then set aside in a large bowl once it's cooked. Add the onion and celery to the skillet and cook for 1 minute, add the apples and cook the onion, celery, apple mix for an additional 2 minutes. Add the mix to the sausage in the bowl.
Step 3: Add the bread cubes, parsley, and sage to the sausage veggie mix and combine.
Step 4: In a separate small bowl, mix the eggs, broth, salt, and pepper. Pour this over the sausage mixture and gently combine all of the ingredients.
Bake
Step 5: Generously butter a 16" baking dish with 2 tablespoon of the unsalted butter. Spread the sausage, apple, sage stuffing mix into the pan and dot with the remaining 4 tablespoon of butter.
Step 6: Bake for 50 mins-1 hour, until it's heated through, and the top has a nice golden-brown crust.
Stuffing with Sausage and Apples Recipe Tips
- We used a dried stuffing mix from our grocery store deli, not something like Stovetop. The deli mix comes in larger bread cubes instead of the fine bread cubes in Stove Top stuffing. Drying out bread for stuffing, is actually super easy with a loaf of bread cubed and dried in the oven.
- We did not use the seasoning mix from the dried stuffing, if you prefer, you could leave out the parsley, sage, salt, and pepper but we have not tested this version. Season to taste.
- A ¼ cup of dried cranberries or dried cherries can be added to the mix before cooking for a sweet touch.
- This recipe does make a lot of stuffing, more than a 9x13 pan will hold. We used an 11x16 pan.
Recipe Variations
- Different Types of Sausage: Experiment with other kinds of sausage like spicy chorizo or mild chicken sausage for variety.
- Add Nuts: Walnuts or pecans can add a nice crunch.
- Bread Variations: Try using cornbread or a mixture of whole grain and white bread for different textures since it's easy to dry your own bread for stuffing.
- Use Other Fruits: Diced fresh pears or dried cranberries can be a great substitution to apples.
- Herb Variations: Besides sage, consider adding or substituting with fresh thyme or rosemary.
- Make it Vegetarian: If you want a meat-free option, replace the sausage with a vegetarian alternative, and use plant-based margarine instead of butter.
- Spice it Up: Add a touch of heat with red pepper flakes or a smoky flavor with a dash of smoked paprika. Or use a spicy Italian sausage.
What to Serve with Stuffing
Here's an entire Thanksgiving menu!
- Turkey breast
- Sweet potato casserole
- Mashed potatoes
- Pureed butternut squash
- Make-ahead gravy
- Cranberry sauce
- Green bean casserole
- Jiffy corn casserole
- Broccoli salad
- Pumpkin pie
- Apple crisp recipe (no oats)
Storing & Reheating
- Store: leftover sausage stuffing can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days when stored in an airtight container.
- Freeze: You can freeze leftover stuffing
How to reheat stuffing?
To reheat stuffing (when you still have quite a bit leftover!), bake it in a preheated oven at 350 F for 20-30 minutes. Add a little chicken or turkey broth and a pat of butter. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until heated through.
FAQ's for Italian Sausage Stuffing
Eggs are used in stuffing as a binder to help hold the ingredients together, plus they add moisture, a touch of richness and just give the dressing an overall better texture!
Yes, you can make stuffing ahead of time! Prepare the stuffing the day before and bake it in the oven the day of serving.
Using mild or spicy Italian sausage is the most common choice, crumbled breakfast sausage is also popular. You could also use ground pork, ground Italian sausage, or diced precooked sausage.
More Stuffing Recipes
If you love our stuffing with sausage recipe or perhaps are looking for something a little different, check out our other stuffing recipes!
- Keto stuffing
- Zucchini stuffing casserole
- Sage and onion stuffing (vegetarian)
- Dry bread for stuffing
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Sausage Apple Stuffing
An easy stuffing with sausage and apples that really makes the best sausage stuffing recipe ever!!
Ingredients
- 11 oz dried stuffing mix, (preferably the larger dried cubes from the bread department)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 lb Italian sausage, mild or spicy
- 1 large onion, cut into ½" pieces
- 5 celery stalks, cut into ½" pieces
- 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ½" pieces
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fresh sage
- 4 large eggs
- 2 ⅔ cups chicken broth or turkey broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Remove the seasoning mix from the stuffing.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet. Brown the Italian sausage and then set aside in a large bowl once it's cooked. Add the onion and celery to the skillet and cook for 1 minute, add the apples and cook the onion, celery, apple mix for an additional 2 minutes. Add the mix to the sausage in the bowl.
- Add the bread cubes, parsley, and sage to the sausage veggie mix and combine.
- In a separate small bowl, mix the eggs, broth, salt, and pepper. Pour this over the sausage mixture and gently combine all of the ingredients.
- Generously butter a 16" baking dish with 2 tablespoon of the unsalted butter. Spread the sausage, apple, sage stuffing mix into the pan and dot with the remaining 4 tablespoon of butter.
- Bake for 50 mins-1 hour, until it's heated through and the top has a nice golden brown crust.
Notes
We used a dried stuffing mix from our grocery store deli, not something like Stovetop. The deli mix comes in larger bread cubes instead of the fine bread cubes in Stove Top stuffing. Drying out bread for stuffing, is actually super easy with a loaf of bread cubed and dried in the oven.
We did not use the seasoning mix from the dried stuffing, if you prefer, you could leave out the parsley, sage, salt, and pepper but we have not tested this version. Season to taste.
A ¼ cup of dried cranberries or dried cherries can be added to the mix before cooking for a sweet touch.
This recipe does make a lot of stuffing, more than a 9x13 pan will hold. We used an 11x16 pan.
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