Sourdough Sausage Stuffing
This Sourdough Sausage Stuffing is a twist on the Thanksgiving classic. It’s packed with sourdough bread, pork sausage, onions, carrots, celery, green apple and dried cranberries.
Turkey and Stuffing go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly. You would be hard-pressed to find a turkey dinner served in America without stuffing. And if you do try to serve Thanksgiving without stuffing there is bound to be some kind of riot… people are serious about their stuffing.
This Sourdough Sausage Stuffing might just be my new favorite Thanksgiving side dish and I’m not even one of those people who would normally riot over stuffing. But THIS stuffing is deliciously addicting. This recipe was born out of my love for sourdough bread and my belief that stuffing is always better with sausage.
What goes into Sourdough Sausage Stuffing
Sourdough Bread – try to buy the bread a few days in advance, the staler it is to start out the better. You will also bake it to dry it out since sourdough is generally a moist bread. The tangy flavor of the sourdough really comes through and gives a lot of extra flavor to the already flavor-packed stuffing.
Sausage – I used a plain ground pork sausage. The grease from the sausage is absorbed by the bread which spreads the flavor throughout the dish, so you want to pick a mild flavored sausage that won’t overpower the other flavors.
Onion, Shallot and Garlic – For flavor, use all 3, trust me.
Carrots and Celery – We had to throw in some veggies, right? Plus they give it nice color.
Green Apple and Dried Cranberries – The tartness from the apple and the sweetness from the dried cranberries add additional layers to the flavor profile.
Eggs and Stalk – The binding agents that moisten and hold the dish together.
Sage – The seasoning in the stuffing is poultry seasoning which has dried sage as a main ingredient. Then it’s topped off with fresh sage, because sage makes everything a little more Thanksgiving-y
Planning Tips
The main thing you want to keep in mind with the stuffing is that you don’t want to have to reheat it. Reheating it will cause it to dry out.
What you can do is prep it ahead of time. The day before you can bake the bread and cook up the sausage mixture. Then in the morning of, assemble the stuffing and keep it in the refrigerator until about an hour before you need to put it in the oven to bake.
Sourdough Sausage Stuffing
Description
This Sourdough Sausage Stuffing is a twist on the Thanksgiving classic. It’s packed with sourdough bread, pork sausage, carrots, celery, green apple and dried cranberries.
Ingredients
8 cups stale sourdough bread, cut into small cubes
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 cup yellow onion, chopped small
1/4 cup shallot, finely diced
1 cup carrots, sliced thin
1 cup celery, chopped
1 pound ground pork sausage
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp poultry seasoning, divided
1 cup green apple, skin on and cored, cut into small chunks
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups turkey stalk*
fresh sage
Instructions
Preheat oven to 300°F Toss the bread with 2 tbsp olive and 1/2 tsp salt
Spread the bread onto a large baking sheet
Bake for 30 minutes, tossing once after 15 minutes
Remove the bread from the oven and set aside
Turn the oven up to 400°F
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil inn a large skillet over medium heat
Add the onion and shallot, sauté for 2-3 minutes
Add the carrots and celery, sauté 1-2 minutes
Add the ground pork, 2 tsp poultry seasoning, 1 tsp salt and the garlic
Working with a wooden spatula, break up the sausage, mix everything together and allow the sausage to brown
When the sausage has browned remove the skillet from the heat
Mix the green apple and dried cranberries into the sausage mixture
Add the bread to a large bowl
Spoon the sausage mixture into the bowl and mix to combine with the bread
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and then pour them into the large bowl
Pour in the turkey stalk and add 1 tsp poultry seasoning, mix until the sausage mixture is evenly moistened
Spoon the stuffing into a well greased 12X8″ baking dish
Cover the dish with aluminum foil
Bake for 20 minutes
Remove the cover, bake 10 more minutes to brown the top
Sprinkle with fresh sage right before serving
Notes
*chicken or vegetable broth work too
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If you make this Sourdough Sausage Stuffing let me know how you like it! Leave a comment here and/or give it a star rating! If you snap a photo I’d love to see it – share it over on Instagram and tag me @sprinklesandseasalt
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