Description
This Easy Sausage & Herb Stuffing is a comforting, flavorful side dish perfect for holiday meals or family dinners. It combines savory bulk sweet Italian sausage, aromatic fresh herbs, and soft, buttery bread cubes to create a moist and crispy stuffing baked to golden perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
Stuffing Base
- 8 cups (400g) store-bought unseasoned stuffing cubes
- 2¾ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Vegetables & Aromatics
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion (from 1 large onion)
- 1 cup diced celery (from 3 celery stalks)
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Meat & Herbs
- 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage (sausage with casings removed)
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat and Prepare Dish: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with butter to prevent sticking and help with browning.
- Combine Bread Cubes: Place the store-bought stuffing cubes into a large mixing bowl, which will be the base for your stuffing.
- Sauté Vegetables: In a large sauté pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onions and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes until they soften. Add the finely chopped garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Transfer all the cooked vegetables to the bowl with the stuffing cubes, scraping the pan thoroughly to capture all the flavors.
- Cook Sausage: Using the same pan, cook the bulk sweet Italian sausage over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, breaking it up with a spatula into small pieces about ¼-inch in size. Cook until the sausage is browned and completely cooked through. Add the cooked sausage and its rendered fat to the stuffing mixture.
- Mix Ingredients: Add the chicken broth, beaten egg, chopped rosemary, sage, parsley, salt, and pepper to the bread cube mixture. Stir gently but thoroughly until the bread cubes are soft and moistened by the liquid and seasonings.
- Bake the Stuffing: Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and bake uncovered for 65-75 minutes, or until the top is deeply golden brown and crisp, providing a contrasting texture to the soft interior.
Notes
- If bulk sausage is unavailable, buy regular sausage and remove the casings before cooking.
- The stuffing can be assembled up to one day in advance and refrigerated until ready to bake; add a few extra minutes to baking time if baked straight from the fridge.
- After baking, the stuffing can be frozen, wrapped tightly, for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator for 24 hours and reheat covered with foil in a 325°F oven until hot.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/8 of recipe (about 1 cup)
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 550mg
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 22g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 70mg
