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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First ever attempt at stuffing and I followed this easy to read recipe and procedure. It’s in the oven as I write. Thank you, I’ll let you know how it works out.
Hi Jenn,
I’ve just made your quick stuffing, but have not baked it yet. I am making it today to serve tomorrow. I haven’t baked it yet. Do you mean that it can be left in a bowl (fully mixed in with broth and all) overnight and then bake it tomorrow? Is it better to bake today and reheat tomorrow?
thanks!
Yes, that’s correct. I would assemble it completely today, refrigerate overnight, and bake tomorrow. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn, I’m so excited to make this as every recipe I’ve made of yours turns out amazing!!! Quick question, can I make this using gluten free croutons? Thanks in advance for your help xo
Sure! 🙂
Thanks so much for your reply! I’m only able to find Herb & Garlic GF croutons (garlic, oregano and parsley). Could you please tell me what changes I would need to make to the recipe? Also if I double the recipe, do you recommend I make it in 2 different baking pans or one big one? Thanks in advance once again for your help 🙏
Hi Mounira, If you use seasoned croutons, you’ll just need to cut the added seasoning and salt in half and then add more to taste if needed. And if you double the recipe, for even cooking I’d use two 9×13-inch baking dishes. (It may take about 10 minutes longer in the oven.) Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
Thanks again so much for your reply 🙏
Hi Jenn! This year being so crazy I have decided to change things up and NOT stuff the bird! I’m planning on following your turkey recipe and this recipe. I will need to make half again as much as the recipe. Would I then use 3 eggs or would two be enough? I don’t want it to be too soupy. Any other changes I should make? Thanks and have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Tory
Hi Tory, If you’ve halving the recipe, you’ll only need half an egg. 🙂 Just beat one egg in a measuring cup, discard half of it, and use the remaining half. Hope you enjoy!
I made this for Thanksgiving and I used homemade cornbread (in cube size pieces) for half of the stuffing cubes. It came out great! Everyone loved it! I highly recommend this recipe. Thanks so much, Jenn! This is now my go to stuffing recipe.
My brother-in-law makes sausage stuffing on Thanksgiving. I’ve found it’s now a necessity for me, even if I’m not with family with Thanksgiving. Bought some stuffing and sausage and hoped for the best. Came across this recipe, it was easy, gave it a try. This stuffing was thre star of my Thanksgiving dinner. It was so delicious, in fact, I just made another batch 3 days later. Love this! Thank you for posting. Perfect and savory with a little bit of crisp. It’s fantastic!
Wow! Amazing flavors! Delicious! This recipe is what I ended up using to Make my 1st attempt Ever at homemade stuffing. I was nervous about how it would turn out but the easy-to-follow instructions made it a breeze to make. It was such a hit that my family requested I make a second batch 2days after Thanksgiving! Also- it was so good that my teenage daughter literally got mad that I ate the very last of the leftovers. It was a fight over who got to eat the last serving. (I won!) Lol! Thankyou for this awesome recipe, our family will certainly be using it for years to come.
😂
Do you think this recipe can be done in a crock pot?
Hi Justine, I don’t have a crockpot so I can’t say for sure how it would impact the recipe. But if you’d like to give it a try, here are some conversion tips that may help. I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it in a crockpot!
I made this recipe for the first time and it was AMAZING! Great flavors, perfectly moist, just never enough stuffing! Also made your sweet potato casserole, and cooked the turkey like you said at 450 til it was 160 degrees. I was skeptical but it was gorgeous and so delicious. I recently saw on a cooking show to turn the bird upside down after it comes out of the oven to get more juice into the breasts. Will always do this from now on!! Thanks Jenn for contributing to all the yummy mmms and lip smacking at my table!
I hate stuffing and always just make it for others so don’t put any effort into it. This year I decided to try something different so we didn’t have to throw away all of it. I am not a stuffing eater at all but I had to try it and I actually ended up going back for seconds. Everyone loved it! They didn’t have sweet italian sausage at Earthfare so I used Japaleno cheddar sausage and it really had a great taste. This will become a standard staple at my Thanksgiving table every year.
Can you use the non cubed pepperidge farms stuffing?
Sure Sharon, that will work. But if it’s seasoned, you’ll need to cut the added seasoning and salt in half and then add more to taste if needed. Enjoy!