Sausage Stuffing {with Apples, Cranberries, and Herbs}
A Sausage stuffing that is not too mushy or soggy! This stuffing is a mixture of Sage Pork Sausage, veggies, homemade bread cubes, fresh herbs, apples, and dried cranberries.
Servings: 10
Ingredients
- 8 cups bread blend cubed into ½" pieces (see notes for more info)
- 1 lb. sage pork sausage or other pork/turkey sausage (add 1tsp more sage if not using Sage Sausage)
- 1 cup onion diced (1 small, or ½ large)
- ¾ cup celery diced (about 2-3 stalks)
- 1 cup dried cranberries (I used Craisins)
- 1 large fuji apple cored and chopped
- 1 ¼ cup chicken or turkey broth divided
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter melted (if using salted butter do not add additional salt)
- 1 ½ tablespoon fresh rosemary minced (if using dry use 1 ½ tsp)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme minced (if using dry use ½ tsp)
- ⅓ cup fresh parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
Instructions
- If drying your own bread: Preheat oven to 250ºF.
- Cut the bread into about ¼-1/2” cubes, and spread out in one layer on a large sheet pan.
- Bake for 45-60 minutes until dried out, stirring about every 20 minutes.
- Add sausage to a large skillet, cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
- Add celery, onions, salt, pepper, and dried sage. Cook 5 minutes.
- Add ¼ chicken stock, and cook 2 minutes, scraping any browned bits left on the bottom of the pan. Set aside and let cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the dried bread, sausage mixture, apple, cranberries, thyme, rosemary, and parsley.
- Then pour the melted butter and the remaining chicken broth, being careful to not pour it all in one spot.
- Mix all of the ingredients together, and pour the stuffing into a lightly greased 9”x13” (or 3 qt.) casserole baking dish.
- Cover the dish with foil, and Bake at 350ºF for 40 minutes.
- Remove the foil, and bake uncovered an additional 15 minutes.
- Optional: Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh cut parsley.
- Ready to serve!
Video
Notes
Bread Tips:
- I used ½ sourdough bread and ½ whole wheat bread. But you can use any combination of breads you like. It turned out to be 4 large slices of sourdough, and 4 sliced whole wheat bread.
- I also measured the bread in ounces: 8 cups of bread= 12 oz. fresh cut bread, or 8 oz. dried bread
- Make sure to take the time to DRY your fresh bread for an hour in the oven! If you skip this step, the stuffing will come out soggy or mushier. You can dry the bread up to two weeks before! It only takes 1 hour in the oven.
- If you don't have time to make your own bread cubes, you can use store bought.