Although you can make sausage and sage stuffing any time, it’s most popularly known as a Thanksgiving side dish. Savory breakfast sausage is mixed with dried bread, vegetables, and fresh herbs for an incredibly flavorful dish to complement your Thanksgiving turkey.
I love a good Thanksgiving stuffing/dressing. They’re like a savory bread pudding that really ties together all the other dishes in a well-rounded Thanksgiving spread. Sausage and sage stuffing is probably my favorite version of stuffing recipes. I literally make this stuffing almost every single year unless I’m doing a themed Thanksgiving.
While you can make sausage stuffings with most any sausages, I prefer to use sage flavored breakfast sausage here. If you’re not a huge sage person, feel free to swap it with regular or a country mild breakfast sausage instead. I enjoy sage in a lot of Fall dishes though, like my pumpkin sage buttermilk biscuits, or in flavoring my roasted butternut squash and apple soup.
This sausage and sage dressing / stuffing pairs incredibly well with my herb roasted turkey and gravy. While you’re at it, don’t forget to make some cranberry sauce, and round out the meal with my cranberry-pear crumble pie.
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📜 Stuffing or Dressing?
Before jumping into recipes or what’s best to use for making stuffing, let’s address the age-old question: is it stuffing or dressing? Yes.
But seriously, the terms are interchangeable these days. Technically, stuffing is what it sounds like, a concoction that is cooked by stuffing it inside another vessel and cooking them together. The term goes all the way back to the Roman Empire where they stuffed animals like poultry and pork with a mixture not too far from what we make now.
Calling it dressing didn’t really start until the 1850s with the Victorians of that time. Apparently “stuffing” seemed a vulgar way to describe it. Sometimes still cooked with the animal but displayed around the outside to “dress” the dish. In the United States, the term dressing is mostly used in the South.
At the end of the day, what you call it doesn’t really matter, and is more likely to reflect what your family called it when you were growing up. On the technical side, stuffing is typically cooked within the animal you’re cooking, while dressing is cooked by itself as a standalone side item. Call it what you like though. I usually call it stuffing and 9 times out of 10 I’ll cook it outside of the turkey.
🥘 Ingredients for Sausage & Sage Stuffing
I prefer making my own dried bread and using fresh herbs here, but feel free to experiment with ingredients and make it your own. Where applicable, I’ll mention alternatives and substitutions as well.
Bread – I typically buy some cheap sandwich bread for this stuffing recipe and dry it out myself. I’ll mix white and whole wheat bread for a balance of flavors, but you can just get one loaf instead. I like to get about 10-12 cups of dried bread, and a 1-pound loaf is roughly 10 cups.
If using store-bought cubes, you’ll want about 12oz or so. Try to buy unflavored cubes, otherwise flavored box mixes can through everything off.
Sausage – As mentioned earlier, I prefer to use sage breakfast sausage as you can see in the photo above. I use 1 ½ pounds in the recipe. I found 1lb left people wanting for more sausage in the stuffing, and 2lbs was almost an overwhelming amount, so 1 ½ is a happy medium.
Butter – Normally I sauté veggies in olive oil, but here the butter keeps things moist while adding a good flavor to everything when mixed.
Vegetables – Use a mixture of yellow onion, celery, and garlic for the stuffing.
Herbs – I prefer fresh herbs here. A combination of sage, flat-leaf parsley, thyme, and (optionally) rosemary. If you would rather use dried herbs you may have on-hand, I do suggest at least getting some fresh sage and parsley for this recipe.
Seasoning – Just a bit of salt and black pepper is all you need here. The amount of salt will also depend on the broth or stock you use.
Stock – Use a few cups of chicken stock for the liquid here. I suggest using low-sodium or no salt added so that you can control the saltiness of the dish better. If you have it or make it, homemade turkey stock makes this side dish even better.
Eggs – A few eggs help to bind the ingredients and create a somewhat custard-like texture to the stuffing.
🔪 How to Make Sausage & Sage Stuffing
If making your own bread cubes, which I suggest, preheat your oven to 275°F/135°C.
Cut all your bread into roughly ½” cubes and arrange on 1-2 baking sheets. Bake for 40-50 minutes, tossing about halfway through, until bread is dry and crispy and slightly browned. Set aside and turn oven up to 350°F/180°C.
In a Dutch-oven or braising dish set over medium heat, add the breakfast sausage and break up with a meat masher or potato masher. Cook, continuing to break up the sausage into small pieces, until no visible pink remains. Remove the cooked sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the butter to the same dish over medium heat and melt completely. Now add the diced onion and celery and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper evenly over the top of them. With a wooden spoon, mix the vegetables and scrape up any fond leftover from the cooked sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10-12 minutes.
Once softened, add the garlic and the finely chopped sage, thyme, and rosemary (if using). Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes longer.
Return the sausage to the mixture and add about 1 cup of the chicken stock with the rest of the salt and pepper. Stir everything together and let cook for another 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if needed.
Add the eggs and finely chopped parsley to the rest of the chicken stock and whisk until the eggs are fully mixed.
Off the heat, add the egg mixture to the meat and veggie mixture and pour over the bread cubes. Gently fold everything together, making sure to mix all the ingredients thoroughly. If you don’t have a mixing bowl large enough to fit everything into, add the bread cubes directly to the Dutch-oven or braising pan instead.
Grease a 13x9 baking dish with butter or use cooking spray. Pour the stuffing into the dish and level it out as best you can. Cover with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking, uncovered, for another 20-25 minutes to reduce the liquid and brown the top.
The total cooking time is usually around 45-55 minutes, depending on your preference. If you like wetter stuffing, cook covered for longer. If you like a slightly drier and well browned stuffing, increase the time spent uncovered. Whichever way you prefer it, it should be cooked to about 160°F before removing from the oven and resting.
Once cooked to your preference, remove from the oven, and let rest at least 10 minutes before serving.
🍞 Drying Vs Staling Bread
Although some recipes will use these terms almost interchangeably, they are two different methods with different results. Drying your bread by heating it will evaporate the moisture in the bread while leaving the basic structure unchanged. Staling your bread by leaving it sitting out overnight however, allows the moisture to move from the starch in the bread into the crumb and the starch then recrystallizes. This is what causes staled bread to taste chewy and leathery.
While I’ve done the latter when making French toast, I find drying the bread cubes a much better choice when it comes to making stuffing. Simply cut all the bread you plan on using and bake it in the oven at a low temperature, like 275°F, until it feels dry and slightly colored, like a crouton.
You could technically do this much faster at a higher temperature like 350°F, but I find that tends to toast the bread cubes instead of drying them out. The lower temperature for a longer time dries the bread by baking out the moisture throughout instead of toasting the outside.
📖 Sausage Stuffing Variations
While this recipe is how I make my sausage and sage stuffing almost every year, here’s a few tweaks you can use for other variations.
Bread – While I like a mixture of sandwich bread, you can also use bakery breads like French or Italian loaves. Other good options include challah and brioche bread. A 1lb loaf should be approximately 10 cups worth of bread cubes.
Sausage – I love using sage breakfast sausage here, but you can use other kinds as well. You can find breakfast sausage sold as regular, country mild, hot, Italian, etc. Alternatively, you can also buy ground sausage or Italian sausage in sweet, mild, or hot and remove the casings. I don’t recommend smoked sausages for this recipe, but that’s also an option.
Vegetarian – For a vegetarian version, I’d recommend my classic Thanksgiving stuffing recipe and replace the chicken stock with vegetable broth.
Vegan Stuffing – Other than omitting the sausage, you’ll need a few more tweaks for a vegan version. Replace the chicken stock with vegetable broth and cook the vegetables in a ¼ cup of oil instead of the butter. For the eggs, you can simply omit them and add a bit more vegetable broth or use an egg replacer to recreate their binding ability.
🍽 Recommended Equipment
While you don’t need anything fancy to make sausage and sage stuffing, making sure you have large enough cooking vessels can be important.
Dutch-Oven – If you have a large, deep-dish skillet, you can probably use that, but space gets tight when you start adding everything into it. A Dutch-oven or an enameled braising dish makes this recipe a bit easier to handle without the cooking vessel feeling cramped.
Baking Dish – I find those oval 2-quart casserole dishes to be a bit on the small side for stuffing recipes. I love my Staub 13x9 enameled baking dish for recipes like this because it’s deep and holds more than other 13x9 pans.
❄️ Storing and Making Sausage Stuffing Ahead of Time
Once cooked and cooled completely, this sausage and sage stuffing can be covered or placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 4 days. If you need to store it longer, you can freeze it for 3-4 months, but I recommend using it within 1-2 months for the best flavor.
To reheat the stuffing, you can microwave a small portion or bake it in the oven. If you’re reheating more than a small portion, bake, covered, at 350°F for about 30 minutes until warmed throughout. When heating from frozen, allow it to thaw overnight in the refrigerator first.
Making Ahead of Time
If you want to make this ahead of time for the holidays when oven space can be at a premium, you have a few options.
1-2 Days Ahead – Make the entire dish and allow it to cool to room temperature. Cover the baking dish completely and store in the refrigerator. On the day you’re ready to serve it, remove it from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour. Bake, covered, in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 5 minutes and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.
3-4 Days Ahead – I would recommend this method only if you plan on having no leftovers. You make the components ahead of time and store them separately, then combine and bake on the day you’re serving. The bread can be dried and stored at room temperature for 1-2 days. The sausage can be cooked and stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. The vegetable mixture can also be cooked and stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. When ready to cook, add the rest of the chicken stock and eggs to the mixtures and combine everything. The baking time may need to be increased by 10-15 minutes.
A Week+ Ahead – If you want to knock this dish out well in advance, you can. Like the first option, bake and cool completely. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and again in aluminum foil and freeze. The day before you want to heat it up, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
📋 Recipe
Sausage and Sage Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1-1 ½ pounds sandwich bread, 10-12 cuts cubed, see note
- 1 ½ pounds sage breakfast sausage, see note
- ½ cup butter, 1 stick
- 2 medium yellow onions, diced, about 3 ½ cups
- 4 ribs celery, diced, about 1 ½ cups
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh sage, see note on herbs
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, optional
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 2 ½ cups chicken stock, see note
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 275°F / 135°C.
- Cut all your bread into roughly ½” cubes and arrange on 1-2 baking sheets. Bake for 40-50 minutes, tossing about halfway through, until bread is dry and crispy and slightly browned. Set aside and turn oven up to 350°F/180°C.
- In a Dutch-oven or braising dish set over medium heat, add 1 ½ pounds of breakfast sausage and break up with a meat masher or potato masher. Cook, continuing to break up the sausage into small pieces, until no visible pink remains. Remove the cooked sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add ½ cup butter to the same dish over medium heat and melt completely. Now add the diced onion and celery and sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper evenly over the top of them. With a wooden spoon, mix the vegetables and scrape up any fond leftover from the cooked sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10-12 minutes.
- Once softened, add 3-4 cloves minced garlic and the finely chopped ¼ cup fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary (if using). Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes longer.
- Return the sausage to the mixture and add about 1 cup of the chicken stock with the rest of the salt and pepper. Stir everything together and let cook for another 1-2 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper if needed.
- Add the 2 large eggs and finely chopped ¼ cup fresh parsley to the rest of the chicken stock and whisk until the eggs are fully mixed.
- Off the heat, add the egg mixture to the meat and veggie mixture and pour over the bread cubes. Gently fold everything together, making sure to mix all the ingredients thoroughly. If you don’t have a mixing bowl large enough to fit everything into, add the bread cubes directly to the Dutch-oven or braising pan instead.
- Grease a 13x9 baking dish with butter or use cooking spray. Pour the stuffing into the dish and level it out as best you can. Cover with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking, uncovered, for another 20-25 minutes to reduce the liquid and brown the top.
- The total cooking time is usually around 45-55 minutes, depending on your preference. If you like wetter stuffing, cook covered for longer. If you like a slightly drier and well browned stuffing, increase the time spent uncovered. Whichever way you prefer it, it should be cooked to about 160°F before removing from the oven and resting.
- Once cooked to your preference, remove from the oven, and let rest at least 10 minutes before serving.
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