Sausage Stuffing is the holiday side dish recipe that will make everyone swoon (and yes, it can be made ahead of time). Celery, onions, fresh herbs, and seasoned pork sausage are tossed with bread and broth and baked until golden.
This easy sausage stuffing recipe is full of flavor and perfect served with Turkey, Mashed Potatoes and Cranberry Sauce!

Ingredients in Sausage Stuffing
A traditional stuffing recipe has been my go to (and don’t get me wrong, I do love a classic dressing) but this sausage stuffing recipe is next level. Between the juicy chunks of seasoned sausage and fresh herbs this is definitely my new holiday must have! Stuffing is easy to make but the consistency and flavor can vary based on your ingredients and even the type of bread you choose!
Bread
- Any kind of bread will work.
- Dry cubed bread on the counter for a day or two or bake at 250°F for 10-15 minutes (do not brown)
Sausage
- Any kind of ground sausage will work (Italian/turkey/breakfast)
- Cool sausage completely before adding if making this ahead of time
- Cook the celery and onions in the sausage fat for extra flavor
Broth
- Homemade or store bought broth or stock can be used
- If using store bought, I use boxed ready to use works well
- The amount of broth needed for stuffing can vary greatly based on the type of bread you use and how dry it is. Eg. dried bread cubes from the store will require much more broth than cubes left on the counter overnight.
How To Make Sausage Stuffing
Thanksgiving dressing (or stuffing) with sausage is delicious and flavorful! Made with fried sausage, celery, onion, seasoned with poultry seasoning and fresh herbs.
- Tear/slice bread cubes and allow to dry overnight.
- Brown sausage and set aside. Cook celery and onions.
- Toss all ingredients with broth until moist.
- Bake (or cool completely and stuff your turkey).

To Make Ahead of Time
To save time (and oven space) on the big day, prep this recipe up to 24 hours in advance, cover it and store in the fridge. Bake as directed (you may need to add a few extra minutes bake time if it’s chilled from the fridge)!
Variations
Add a handful of any of the following for a festive twist on your holiday stuffing
-
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- chopped pecans or walnuts
- dried or fresh cranberries, dried fruit (apricots, raisins, cherries)
- diced apples, cooked & cooled veggies (mushrooms, butternut squash)
- cooked wild rice
- Replace half of the bread with cornbread cubes (to make a cornbread dressing recipe)
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How to Stuff a Turkey
I love to cook sausage stuffing a casserole dish in the oven but of course it’s fabulous stuffed inside of a roast turkey too! You’ll need approximately 1/2 cup of stuffing per pound of turkey.
Stuffing Food Safety Tips
- Stuffing recipe should be completely cooled
- Do not add raw ingredients to stuffing (like eggs or raw oysters)
- Stuff turkey before cooking (do not stuff ahead of time)
- Place stuffing gently in the bird, do not pack it in
- Centre of stuffing must reach 165°F
- Extra stuffing can be baked in a casserole dish about 25 minutes (or until reaches 165°F)
More Turkey Dinner Sides You’ll Love
- Homemade Creamed Corn – The best ever!
- 30 Minute Dinner Rolls
- Roasted Carrots
- Bacon Green Bean Bundles – Favorite!
- Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- Classic Deviled Eggs Recipe – Make ahead!
Sausage Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground sausage
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 cup celery diced
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- salt to taste
- 8 cups dried bread cubes
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs parsley, thyme, rosemary and/or sage
- 2-3 cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F
- Brown sausage until no pink remains. Remove from skillet reserving drippings.
- Add 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet. Add onion, celery and poultry seasoning and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, add dried bread cubes, cooled sausage, onions and celery, fresh herbs. Toss to combine.
- Add broth a little bit at a time while stirring to combine *see note. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place in a 2 1/2 qt casserole dish and drizzle with ¼ cup melted butter.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Thanksgiving is always a big family holiday for us! Since I often host a large crowd, I love dishes that I can prep ahead of time (and that everyone raves about)!
As much as I love turkey, I have to admit the thing I love most are the side dishes! From Sweet Potato Casserole to Classic Green Bean Casserole (and of coursecorn casserole) I could skip the turkey and just have a spread of sides. My absolute favorite side dish is always – stuffing!
I love making Sausage Stuffing I’ve made it just like yours.
We love it too!!
Hi Holly!
Love this recipe and trying it for our late Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Hope yours was great! For the fresh herbs, is it two TBSP each? Or altogether?
Thanks for sharing this! It sounds amazing!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too Mike. This is 2 tablespoons total. Let us know how it works out for you!
Can you make this stuffing in a slow cooker?
Sure you can! I would follow the cook times in our Crock Pot Stuffing reicpe.
First time making the stuffing I wanted to make it before Thanksgiving to make sure that it came out great and it absolutely did…. great flavors perfect texture can’t wait to make it for Thanksgiving fir Family and Friends this will be a yearly addition to the Thanksgiving day table, gobble gobble
Hi Holly.. I would like to make this stuffing for Thanksgiving and was wondering how much to add of each ingrediant to make 12 servings instead of 10? Can I use your Easy Stuffing Recipe and just add the sausage? Thanks
If you click “PRINT” on the print page you can increase the servings to 12 and it will give you the amounts to use. You can also add stuffing to the other recipe if you’d like!
Have not made this recipe but plan to soon. In looking at another one of your recipes, I saw you do not add raw eggs – is this only when stuffing a turkey but you add eggs to the dressing recipe? Thank you.
You can add raw eggs if you’d like. Some recipes do and some don’t, it helps to bind the stuffing a little bit. I do add it to my crock pot stuffing recipe.
Used this recipe over the weekend for an early thanksgiving dinner, and it was excellent! I’d definitely use it again. Oh, and leftovers are the best :)
So glad you loved it Christina!
Can this be made in a crockpot?
Yes this will work just fine in a slow cooker. I would suggest following the directions for Crock Pot Stuffing.
I have a question about making this the night before. Do you add all ingredients.. even the broth.. and bake fully then put in the fridge or do you add all ingredients, even broth and refrigerate then bake the next day?
Hi Tiffany, we add all the ingredients together in the casserole dish, cover and store in the fridge up to 24 hours ahead. Then take it out and bake as directed on the day.