This homemade Thanksgiving sausage stuffing is an easy and healthy side dish for your holiday meal! Made with Italian sausage, vegetables, apples, and cranberries, it’s a delicious twist on a classic dish. Pair this bread and sausage stuffing with turkey and all your favourite sides for a crowd-pleasing Thanksgiving meal!
Cranberry Sausage Stuffing – Perfect for Thanksgiving!
If you’re preparing to host Thanksgiving dinner and want to include all the classic flavours you love with a healthy twist, this homestyle Thanksgiving sausage stuffing is a must-have on your menu!
Similar in taste and texture to traditional recipes, this healthy Thanksgiving stuffing comes together with sourdough bread, apples, cranberries, vegetables, walnuts and herbs for bright and bold flavours and plenty of nutrients to keep you satisfied.
Sausage is included for a boost of protein, and olive oil is used to sautée the bread for nice crispy edges and a good source of healthy fats.
As a result, this cranberry sausage stuffing is a much healthier option than your traditional Thanksgiving stuffing recipes which are often made with more refined grains, lots of butter, and very few nutrients.
Featuring bright colours, it adds a festive touch to your Thanksgiving table and is perfect to serve up alongside your turkey and other fixings. It’s hearty, delicious, and a kid-friendly option the whole family will love!
For more nutritious Thanksgiving recipes, be sure to try my Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole and Wild Rice Stuffing!
Why We Love This Bread and Sausage Stuffing
- Great for a Crowd: This homemade Thanksgiving sausage stuffing serves about 12 people. Or, you can easily double it to feed an extra large crowd!
- Make Ahead: This easy sausage stuffing recipe is a great option if you want to get ahead of the game with your holiday cooking and it’s also perfect for potlucks. Prepare it a day or two in advance, and warm it up right before eating.
- Healthy: This recipe is a great healthy alternative to serve at your holiday dinner. As a bonus, it’s made with seasonal produce, making it especially great for fall and winter as the ingredients will be at the peak of their nutritional value.
Required Ingredients
- Oil: I like to use olive oil to help sautée and crisp up the bread while also providing a boost of healthy fats, but any other oil like canola oil or a little butter would work too.
- Bread: Sourdough bread works great for this recipe as it has more nutrients than other bread options and is also lower on the glycemic index, which equates to more steady blood sugar levels. If needed, you could replace it with a gluten-free alternative.
- Sausage: We prefer spicy Italian sausage for a hint of spice, but mild sausage will also taste great.
- Veggies: Onion, celery, and garlic cloves add extra texture and flavour along with nutrients and fibre to keep you full.
- Fruit: Not found in most Thanksgiving stuffing recipes, I include dried cranberries and chopped apples for a pop of colour, a hint of sweetness, and extra nutrients. I used an Ambrosia apple, but you can use any type of apple you have on hand.
- Nuts: Walnuts add a great crunch and some extra omega-3s to this healthy Thanksgiving stuffing. Or, pecans would also work well.
- Seasonings: Fresh rosemary, thyme, sage, and poultry seasoning add a savoury, herbaceous taste that balances out the sweetness of the rest of the dish.
- Broth: I typically use a reduced-sodium chicken broth to cut down on the sodium, but turkey stock or vegetable broth would work too.
- Egg: Eggs help bind the ingredients and add extra moisture to the stuffing.
How to Make Stuffing with Sausage – Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 13×9 inch casserole dish.
- Next, heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Then, add the bread cubes and stir to coat. Cook and stir with a wooden spoon for about 5-8 minutes or until the bread cubes are lightly toasted and golden brown around the edges. Set the bread cubes aside in a large bowl.
- In the same skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until it is no longer pink, stirring to break up the pieces. Set the browned sausage meat aside in the same bowl with the cubed bread. Drain most of the fat from the pan.
- Add the onion, celery, and garlic to the same pan. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the sautéed vegetables, diced apple, walnuts, dried cranberries, and fresh herbs to the bowl with the bread and cooked sausage, and toss to combine. Then, add the chicken stock, beaten egg, and poultry seasoning, and mix well.
- Add the stuffing mix to the prepared baking dish. Bake the dressing, covered with aluminum foil, for 30 minutes. Then, uncover the dish, and continue baking until it’s hot and has a crispy top, about 15-25 minutes. Serve warm.
Scroll to the recipe card below for the full printable thanksgiving stuffing recipe!
Tips for the BEST SAUSAGE STUFFING
- For the best stuffing recipe, use older dry bread, or stale bread, as opposed to fresh bread. Dry bread has a greater ability to soak up the broth and flavour while it bakes.
- Be sure to continue stirring the bread while cooking it on the stovetop to prevent it from burning.
- You can use ground sausage in any flavour or purchase whole sausage and remove from the casing. We like to use spicy Italian sausage.
- Adapt the quantity of broth used according to your personal taste preference. For a more moist stuffing, increase the amount of broth.
- For the nuts, you can use pecans, walnuts or a mixture of both.
Recipe FAQs
Virtually any kind of bread can be used for stuffing. However, thick, sturdy loaves like sourdough, French, Italian, brioche, or challah bread work best. Soft, fluffy, white bread tends to become too soggy and often falls apart.
The key to creating moist stuffing is to toast the bread cubes before adding them to the stuffing mixture and add a sufficient amount of broth. Once everything is well combined, it helps to bake the stuffing covered with foil for part of the time. This helps lock in moisture and prevents the bread from drying out too much once the foil is removed.
Although delicious, cooking stuffing inside a turkey results in a longer cooking time and may result in a health hazard. Therefore, it’s best to cook both dishes separately.
Yes! It’s a great way to get ahead for Thanksgiving day. Once cooked, this Thanksgiving stuffing with cranberries can be stored covered in the baking dish or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Yes, once cooked and cooled completely, this sausage and herb stuffing can be transferred to a sealable bag or airtight container and stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Storage & Reheating Guidelines
To store
Make ahead: If you want to prepare this stuffing in advance, this Thanksgiving stuffing with apples can be assembled and stored in the fridge up to 1 day in advance.
Once baked: You can store leftover stuffing by transferring it to an airtight container and storing it in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
To freeze: Allow the stuffing to cool to room temperature. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
How to reheat stuffing
When you’re ready to enjoy, preheat your oven to 325 degrees F, and cover your baking dish. Then, heat the stuffing in the oven until your desired temperature has been reached and the top of the bread is crisp.
What to Serve with Stuffing
This cranberry sausage stuffing is perfect to serve warm on Thanksgiving day or as a delicious part of any holiday meal.
It’s even better when served alongside other holiday favourites like:
- Slow Cooker Turkey Breast Roast
- Air Fryer Boneless Turkey Breast
- Healthy Mashed Potatoes
- Air Fryer Butternut Squash
- Healthy Cranberry Sauce
- Gravy Without Drippings
- Green Bean Almondine Recipe
Recipe Variations
- Switch up the sausage: If you prefer to use a different kind of sausage, you can also use turkey sausage or chicken sausage. Sage sausage tastes delicious too for a more festive flair!
- Make it vegetarian: To keep this stuffing vegetarian-friendly, feel free to replace the sausage with a plant-based meat alternative. Or, omit it completely.
- Switch up the veggies: For even more nutrients, add chopped carrots and mushrooms to the mix.
- Cornbread: Create a sweeter flavour and slightly more crumbly texture by using cornbread in place of sourdough.
More Similar Recipes
- Butternut Squash Barley Risotto
- Healthy Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Quinoa Salad with Cranberries, Pomegranate & Butternut Squash
- Maple Bacon Brussel Sprouts
- Healthy Squash Casserole with Apples and Cranberries
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Thanksgiving Sausage Stuffing Recipe with Cranberries
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 8 cups cubed sourdough bread
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage (or remove it from casing)
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 cup thinly sliced celery
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 medium apple
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth (or more to taste)
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13×9 inch baking dish.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat. Cook and stir until the bread cubes are lightly toasted and crispy, about 5-8 minutes. Set bread cubes aside in a large bowl.
- In the same skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink, stirring to break up the pieces, about 5-6 minutes. Set sausage aside in the bowl with the cubed bread. Drain most of the fat from the pan.
- Add onion, celery, and garlic to the same pan. Cook and stir until vegetables are tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add sauteed vegetables, diced apple, walnuts, dried cranberries, and fresh herbs to the bread and sausage and toss to combine. Add chicken broth, beaten egg and poultry seasoning and mix well.
- Add the sausage, vegetable and bread mixture to the greased baking dish. Bake dressing, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until hot and bread is slightly crispy, 15 to 25 minutes.
Notes
- For the best stuffing recipe, use older dry bread, or stale bread, as opposed to fresh bread. Dry bread has a greater ability to soak up the broth and flavour while it bakes.
- Be sure to continue stirring the bread while cooking it to prevent it from burning.
- You can use ground sausage in any flavour or purchase whole sausage and remove from the casing. We like to use spicy Italian sausage.
- Adapt the quantity of broth used according to your personal taste preference. For a more moist stuffing, increase the amount of broth.
- For the nuts, you can use pecans, walnuts or a mixture of both.
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