This is our favorite sausage stuffing recipe and we’ve been making it every Thanksgiving for the last five years! It starts with a base of sourdough bread, and has layers of flavor from the aromatics, savory sausage, a creamy and rich broth, and plenty of fresh herbs. We’ll mix it all together and bake the sourdough stuffing until it’s perfectly golden brown. Serve alongside a full roast turkey for a holiday meal or a roasted chicken for a comforting Sunday dinner. It’s turned into a family favorite!
I created this homemade stuffing recipe for Jones Dairy Farm and their Thanksgiving guide (along with hot bacon spinach salad and ham and potatoes au gratin) and they were kind enough to let me share it here with you!
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
What You’ll Love About Sourdough Sausage Stuffing
- Incredible savory flavor with sausage and fresh herbs
- Different textures, some soft pieces of bread and some crunchy
- Made with simple ingredients
- Can be prepped ahead
- Classic Thanksgiving side
- The perfect addition to your holiday table
- Always a big hit on Thanksgiving, it’s our favorite stuffing recipe!
Ingredients
- Bread – The recipe calls for sourdough, which adds delicious flavor to the stuffing, but you could really use any artisan bread here, just make sure it’s high-quality. That is the important piece! And you can even look for day-old bread, we want dry bread.
- Butter – Use high-quality butter for the best flavor.
- Aromatics – We’re using fresh onion, celery, and garlic.
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Sausage – We’re using Jones Dairy Farm pork sausage, which is made with just 3 ingredients and has the best rich and savory flavors. It’s the best sausage.
- Chicken broth – Use your favorite chicken broth, chicken stock, or even turkey broth if you have it. You can use homemade or store-bought.
- Heavy cream – Get the good stuff, we’re looking for rich and full flavor.
- Egg – Use you favorite high-quality eggs.
- Fresh herbs – Sage, rosemary, thyme
How to Make Homemade Sausage Stuffing
This is an overview on how to make stuffing, the detailed instructions can be found below in the recipe card.
FAQs
Can you make sausage stuffing ahead?
Yes! It’s preferred to prep this a day or two in advance.
- Tear bread into small pieces and let sit out for about 12-24 hours to dry out a bit. We want stale bread!
- Dice onion and celery and cook with sausage. Refrigerate the mixture and reheat gently before mixing everything together.
Can you use dried cubed stuffing?
You can use dried stuffing mix, but the fresh takes just a few minutes to prep and can easily be done ahead of time. Using fresh bread creates a rustic sausage dressing and it’s well worth the few minutes.
Can you use dried herbs?
Yes, you can swap out the fresh herbs for dried herbs, though fresh does have better flavor. Instead of the 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs, use 1 teaspoon each of sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Do I have to use sourdough bread?
No, while the sourdough imparts a mild flavor that pairs really well with the rich sausage flavors, you could use any high-quality artisan bread. The kind of bread doesn’t matter as much as the quality. You could use French bread, multigrain bread, or even Brioche if you want a sweeter flavor.
Storage Instructions
Store leftover stuffing in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
How to reheat
Reheat the stuffing leftovers in a 350-degree F oven or the microwave until heated through. You can also crisp it up in a nonstick skillet if you prefer a little crunch.
Can you freeze sage sausage stuffing?
Yes, you can freeze the stuffing in an airtight container (stasher bags and glass storage containers are great) for 2-3 months.
More Holiday Recipes
If you like this sausage dressing recipe, you might also like some of these other holiday-worthy recipes:
- Baked Brie with Fig Jam
- Hot Bacon Spinach Salad
- Haricot Verts (French Green Beans)
- Potatoes Au Gratin
- Hot Honey Glazed Brussels Sprouts
Sourdough Sausage Stuffing Recipe
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 8–10 servings (about 12 cups) 1x
- Category: Side
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
The BEST sausage stuffing recipe! Made with sourdough, savory sausage, and fresh herbs, this side dish will steal the show.
Ingredients
- 16 oz. loaf sourdough bread (about 9 cups cubes)
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 3 stalks celery, diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1 lb. Jones Dairy Farm pork sausage, thawed if frozen
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp. minced fresh sage
- 1 Tbsp. minced fresh rosemary
- 1 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme
Instructions
- The day or night before cooking, tear or cut bread into small cubes (about 1-inch) and place into an extra-large mixing bowl. (We do this ahead so they can get a little stale and dried out.)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When it foams, add onion and celery to skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until soft. (Turn down heat to low or medium-low if they are browning.) Add garlic to skillet and cook 30-60 seconds, until fragrant. Season with sea salt and black pepper.
- Add pork sausage to skillet, breaking up with a spatula, and cooking for 6-8 minutes stirring occasionally, until cooked through. Add to bowl with bread cubes.
- Meanwhile, in a large glass measuring cup (at least 2 cups), whisk together the chicken broth, heavy cream, and egg. Set aside.
- Add fresh herbs to bread cubes and sausage mixture.
- Pour chicken broth mixture over the top of the bread and sausage mixture. Gently fold mixture together so that all of the bread is coated in liquid and transfer to a greased 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, until golden brown.
Notes
- Works best to plan ahead and tear into small pieces and sit out overnight to get stale but you can slightly toast in the oven. We don’t want crispy, crouton-level crispness but slightly dried out.
- Cover stuffing with aluminum foil if it’s getting too dark in the oven.
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