Best Ever Sausage, Sage and Apple Stuffing

This crisp, soft sausage and apple stuffing is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods, and a must for our Thanksgiving feasts. This dish is my favorite part of the meal, and it freezes perfectly, too! Make ahead a couple days before Thanksgiving, and bake on the big day. Our secret family recipe is now yours!

What is there to say about this recipe except, it is one of the best comfort foods I’ve ever eaten. It’s one of the few savory dishes I’ll lick the spoon for. And it’s a recipe I’ll undoubtedly pass down to my daughter one day… along with many others.

At my family’s annual Thanksgiving party, what I most look forward to is lots of laughter, wine and aromas coming from all corners of the house. But, besides the traditional turkey and pies, casseroles and soups, one of my longtime favorite dishes has been this sausage and apple stuffing.

Though my uncle’s exact recipe is under lock and key, this hearty, flavor-packed stuffing ranks a pretty sturdy second. I will definitely be making it for my Thanksgiving feast this year! This delicious side dish is remarkably simple and produces a warm and fluffy stuffing with a perfectly crisp yet soft texture.  The sweetness from the apples is nicely complimented by salty, spiced Italian sausage. Combined with the celery, onion and sage, the whole dish makes for a mouthwatering aroma, and an even better taste!

I’ll be making this stuffing plenty beyond Thanksgiving, since it would be delicious with any roasted meat or poultry. I hope, if not for the holidays, you work this mouthwatering, easy stuffing into one of your special weekday dinners and get to enjoy it for yourself!

Best-Ever Sausage, Apple and Sage Stuffing

Best-Ever Sausage, Apple and Sage Stuffing

Yield: 6 servings as a side dish
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage, casings removed
  • 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 tart apple, such as Granny Smith, cored and chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 3 cups cubed toasted bread or dry stuffing mix

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly coat a large baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook, crumbling with a spoon. Once sausage begins to brown, add butter, celery, onion, apple, sage, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat. Stir in broth and egg. Add stuffing mix and stir to combine.
  4. Pour into prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered until crisp, 15 to 20 minutes more.
  5. Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe?

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Join the Conversation

  1. I’ve never tried stuffing before since it’s not much known here in Italy, but after having seen lots of delicious recipes on the web now I can’t wait to give it a go. This one, in particular, completely stole my heart: it looks like it has the perfect mix of sweet and salty, crunchy and soft…amazing! If only I could reach it through the computer screen… :)

  2. 5 stars
    Stuffing is one of my absolute favorite Thanksgiving dishes. I never make anything other than my mom’s because I love it so much, but I think I need to start trying different recipes and adding to my stuffing arsenal! This one looks so delicious!

  3. This stuffing sounds absolutely delicious. The only problem is we don’t have dry stuffing mix here in Finland, what i can use to replace it?

  4. You can definitely replace the dry stuffing mix with 3 cups of finely chopped toasted bread. A baguette is best. However, since stuffing mix contains dry seasoning, you may need to add a bit of poultry seasoning to get the same type of flavor.

  5. Mmmm delicious! If I had the choice, I could definitely go with just eating this stuffing on its own as a meal :D Sage is such an amazing herb and the flavour combination here just sounds…fantastic :D x

  6. Love how warm and wonderful this dish looks. I always get excited when I start seeing all the stuffing posts. It’s the best part of the feast!

  7. I love stuffing made with spicy Italian sausage. This looks incredible, Georgia!

  8. This looks like comfort food at it’s best!!!

  9. This sounds like my style of stuffing! Thanks for the share!

  10. My French grandmother always make pork stuffing but it never had an apple in it. I’m dying to try yours and I don’t think I can wait til Thanksgiving. Here chicken, chicken!

  11. hey I believe ya! It looks like the best ever. I too love adding sausage to my stuffing instead of chicken or turkey but I don’t normally add in the apple so i will definitely give that a try!

  12. 5 stars
    This looks very similar to our family stuffing, and it really is the best ever – the sausage and apples make it a cut above anyone else’s!

  13. We have a family recipe under lock and key, too. But your version looks like an excellent stand-in! :)

  14. 5 stars
    My family ate a version of this at a friends house many years ago, we have making it ever since. It is delicious.

  15. 5 stars
    Made this for Thanksgiving yesterday and it was AMAZING!!!! Everyone in my family loved it. Even my husband who does not like stuffing! Will definitely be making this for many years to come. Thank you for this awesome recipe!!!!

  16. I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Christine! It’s my and my family’s favorite part of the meal!

  17. OMG this looks good and your photography is great. I love stuffing….nothing like good ol carbs…LOL!

    Chiara
    http://www.that-spark-of-light.com

  18. Have you tried freezing this? You mentioned that it can be frozen, just wondering if it changes the texture. Thanks!

  19. I have the same question with regards to freezing. Assume you cook/bake the casserole first, then freeze, and reheat later? Or do you freeze after adding all of the ingredients then cook it as instructed perhaps a little longer?

  20. You could either prepare then freeze, then thaw before baking, or bake and freeze. Thaw before warming on a low oven temp.

  21. Can you tell me how many people this recipe serves? it looks amazing. I actually add chestnuts or walnuts to my recipe.

  22. Hi, Suzanne! This stuffing recipe makes 4-6 servings, but can easily be doubled (or tripled).

  23. Christopher says:

    Hi Georgia,

    For the stuffing cubes is it 3 cups in a liquid measuring cup or a solid one? That latter seems like very little bread for a pound of sausage. Thanks for your help, excited to make this for our Thanksgiving group!

  24. About 3 dry measuring cups worth of bread cubes.

  25. What size dish did you cook this in? Is the cook time the same if i double it

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