Easy Sausage & Herb Stuffing Recipe
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This rich and savory stuffing recipe is perfect the holidays. Hearty sausage, fragrant herbs, and store-bought stuffing cubes make it easy—and you can even make it ahead!
I used to host elaborate Thanksgiving celebrations, where I’d cook for days on end, only to be completely exhausted by the time my guests arrived on Thanksgiving day. After one glass of wine, I’d be nodding off at the table and dreaming of my pillow. I finally wised up by simplifying my side dishes and desserts. This rich sausage and herb stuffing recipe relies on store-bought stuffing cubes, which eliminates the step of slicing and drying out the bread. Believe me, when you’re using a pound of sausage and an entire stick of butter, and pairing the dish with turkey gravy and cranberry sauce, the type of bread you use does not matter. This is the easiest and best stuffing recipe, hands down!
“I made this for Thanksgiving and made the mistake of not doubling the recipe. Corrected that for Christmas as it was GONE – first empty dish on the buffet table.”
What You’ll Need To Make Sausage Stuffing
- Store-bought unseasoned stuffing cubes – I’ve made this easy stuffing recipe using dried bread cubes from both Arnold and Pepperidge Farm. I’ve also had good results with the “fresh” dried bread cubes from Whole Foods, which add a bit more texture (these are sold in plastic bags labeled “stuffing cubes”).
- Unsalted butter – Adds rich flavor and helps create a moist texture.
- Aromatics (yellow onion, celery, and garlic) – Provide savory depth and a classic stuffing flavor.
- Bulk sweet Italian sausage – If you can, look for bulk sausage (sausage without casings). If only whole sausages are available, just remove the casings: cut through the sausages with kitchen shears, then peel the casings off—it’s much easier than squeezing out the meat.
- Low-sodium chicken broth – Keeps the stuffing moist without adding too much salt.
- Large egg – Helps bind the stuffing together for a cohesive texture.
- Fresh Herbs (rosemary, sage, and parsley) – Bring freshness and a touch of earthy, holiday flavor.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper – For seasoning and balancing flavors.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
Begin by melting a stick of butter in a large skillet.
Add the chopped onions and celery.
Cook until soft, about 8 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more.
Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl. In the same pan, cook the sausage until browned.
As it cooks, use a metal spatula to break it apart into small pieces.
Add the sausage to the stuffing cubes and veggies. Then add the broth, egg, herbs, salt and pepper.
Mix well.
Transfer the contents to a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking dish or similarly sized casserole dish.
Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crisp.
Enjoy!
Make-Ahead & Freezing Instructions
This homemade stuffing recipe can be assembled up to a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake. Allow a few extra minutes in the oven if baking from the fridge. It can also can be frozen after baking, tightly covered, for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve it, defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Reheat it, covered with foil, in a 325°F oven until hot.
Video Tutorial
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Easy Sausage & Herb Stuffing
Ingredients
- 8 cups (500 g) store-bought unseasoned stuffing cubes
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion, from 1 large onion
- 1 cup diced celery from 3 stalks celery
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 lb bulk sweet Italian sausage (i.e., sausage with the casings removed); see note below
- 2¾ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped rosemary
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
- ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9 x 13-in (23 x 33-cm) baking dish with butter.
- Place the stuffing cubes in a large mixing bowl.
- In a large sauté pan, melt the butter. Add the onions and celery and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Add the vegetables to the stuffing cubes. (Don't wash the pan but scrape out every last bit of vegetables, otherwise they will burn in the next step.)
- In the same pan, cook the sausage over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, breaking up the sausage with a metal spatula while cooking (the largest pieces should be no greater than ¼-in/6-mm). Add the browned sausage and fat to the bread cubes and vegetables.
- Add the chicken broth, egg, rosemary, sage, parsley, salt, and pepper to the bread cube mixture and mix until the bread is soft and moistened. Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish and bake for 65 to 75 minutes, uncovered, until deeply golden and crisp on top.
Notes
- If you can't find bulk sausage, buy regular sausage and remove the casings.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: The stuffing can be assembled up to a day ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake; follow the baking instructions in the recipe, allowing a few extra minutes in the oven. It can also be frozen after baking, tightly covered, for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to serve it, defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Reheat it, covered with foil, in a 325°F (165°C) oven until hot.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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I would not alter this recipe. My advice is to stick to the recipe as published since this recipe can be easily ruined by too much sodium. Use the low sodium broth as she suggests and the exact amount of salt. This stuffing was perfectly delicious!
I don’t know what happened – last year I made this and it was perfect…this year for some reason the flavors were too strong – too much sausage, too much sage. I’m thinking maybe I miscalculated the amount of stuffing cubes? Last year I used a 12 oz bag and eyeballed the rest, this year I actually measured out the 8 cups. I think it could have used more cubes to even out the taste. Will try again, of course, because it was so good last year.
Hi Sheri, Did you by chance use seasoned stuffing cubes instead of unseasoned?
I just made this tonight. I had celery but my husband threw it out the night before! We used fennel stalks and a granny smith apple and it was fantastic. I ended up buying a bag of Franz croutons with a stuffing seasoning packet, then throwing out the packet. I couldn’t find any other unseasoned cubes. This was so great, I’d make it again and again, no holiday required!
First words out of my huband’s mouth when he tasted this “Oh my.” Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
Fantastic! I used everything straight from the recipe. I won’t change a thing the next time I make it! (And there WILL be a next time!) Perfect just as is.
I made several mistakes—and embarrassed as I am to admit them, I will share them to spare others a failure like mine. First, I used already “seasoned” cubes. Then, I used regular chicken broth, not low-sodium as the recipe indicated. Next, I used a “mild” Latin American sausage that is closer in flavor to chorizo than it is to Italian sausage. Finally, instead of exercising restrain with the salt and tasting to see what MY changes had done to the overall recipe, I added the full amount as listed. The results: a gorgeous-looking pan of stuffing that had amazing texture and smelled divine, but was inedible because of its saltiness. USER ERROR!
ALL MY FAULT! It would be unfair to rate the recipe after I changed so many things and ruined it, so I will make it again for New Year’s dinner and come back with a fair review. The recipes on this site have never failed me, so I expect to have great results next time.
We had this stuffing for Thanksgiving and it was fabulous!
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving today and it was a huge hit, everyone loved it and it was definitely our favorite dish of the night! I have a family member with an egg allergy so I left out the egg and added just a bit more stock and it still came out plenty moist and delicious. Thanks for the great recipe, I will be making this one year after year.
I made this for Thanksgiving and loved it! I used Pepperidge Farm Unseasoned Stuffing cubes, assembled the entire casserole Wednesday night, refrigerated overnight, and baked Thursday. The only thing I did differently was before I baked it, I dotted the top with about 2T cubed butter. I also covered with foil for the first 30 minutes of baking, and baked it uncovered for the remaining 40 minutes.
This turned out perfect! I went for the spicy Italian sausage and it was a hit! Thanks for this recipe, it will be my tradition.