Turkey stuffing is the best part of the holiday meal as far as I am concerned.
I love turkey stuffing recipes of all types – traditional turkey dressing with sage and savory, as well as those that add fruit or sausage for a different flavor.
This sausage dressing recipe is absolutely fabulous and I know you and your family will love it.
Turkey Stuffing Ingredients
This turkey stuffing recipe is a bit different because it has a mix of three different kinds of bread.
Corn bread is the first bread used. It adds a bit of sweetness.
Cornbread also adds a bit of crunch. It has that crunchy texture from the corn meal.
You can use homemade or store bought corn bread. Either one will work perfectly.
And of course, plain old sandwich bread for that wonderful softness. White bagged bread may not be the healthiest bread to eat on a daily basis but it sure makes wonderful stuffing.
You can certainly choose to use a higher quality white bread for your stuffing, but for this one time the bagged bread works too.
The last type of bread used in our stuffing is French bread.
French bread is freshly baked white bread with a more crunchy crust. That nice thick crust that adds great texture to the stuffing.
These three breads together will make an amazing stuffing for your holiday turkey.
The recipe also contains sausage. I’ve used regular breakfast sausage here or you can use larger sausages with the casing removed.
I wouldn’t use sausages that are highly flavored like spicy Italian sausage or honey garlic sausage. It changes the taste of the stuffing too much.
I love stuffing that adds a bit of a surprise ingredient. In this recipe it’s apples. Two cups of peeled, chopped apples are an amazing addition to this stuffing recipe.
Of course stuffing needs lots of onion, celery and butter. Plus some herbs to add flavor. We’ve use thyme here, but you can switch that to sage if you prefer.
The addition of chopped apple adds another note of sweetness, while the butter and onion add richness and a tang.
You can also add dried or frozen fruit. The absolute best turkey stuffing I have ever eaten had blueberries in it. I was astounded because I had never heard of anyone doing that before, but it was absolutely fantastic.
Dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots work well too. You can also try a mix. Dried blueberries and cranberries together would be quite good.
Turkey Stuffing Tip
Always dry all the breads for at least 12 hours before using them in the dressing. If you don’t dry the breads out or use stale bread, the stuffing just gets too pasty in texture.
Note that this recipe calls for the stuffing to be put in a baking dish and baked in the oven outside of the turkey. You can also use this recipe to stuff the turkey and bake it inside the bird.
If you prefer to put the stuffing inside the turkey, this recipe makes enough dressing to stuff a large bird.
See my suggested variations below the recipe box.
Turkey Stuffing with Sausage and Apple
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 2 onions, medium, chopped
- 2 cups apple, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 pound breakfast sausage, loose or removed from their casings
- 3 cups corn bread, stale, crumbled
- 3 cups French bread, stale, crumbled
- 3 cups sandwich bread, stale, crumbled
- 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, dried
- 1 cup parsley, fresh, chopped
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- salt & pepper to taste
- 2 cups turkey broth , or chicken broth
Instructions
- In a large skillet melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring, for 4 to 5 minutes or until the vegetables are softened. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- In the same skillet add 2 tablespoons of butter. When melted, add the apple and cook, stirring, for 5 to 6 minutes or until light golden. Transfer to the mixing bowl with the onion.
- In same skillet, add the sausage. Cook, stirring to break up the sausage, for 7 to 8 minutes or until lightly brown. Transfer the meat to paper towels to drain. Then add it to the mixing bowl with the other ingredients. Stir to combine it all together.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF.
- Add the corn bread pieces, French bread, sandwich bread, thyme, parsley and eggs to the bowl and stir just to combine it all. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten the dressing but not enough to make it runny. Spoon the dressing into a 13"x9" (33x23 cm) baking dish.
- Bake in preheated 350ºF (180ºC) oven for 45 minutes or until the stuffing is firm to the touch.
Notes
- If you wish, you can add 1 to 2 cups of frozen or dried blueberries or cranberries for added nutrition, color and taste.
- I am not sure why this recipe states that you should cook the onion, apple and celery separately. I would cook it at the same time IF you have a large enough pan.
Nutrition
Serves 12.
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My favorite recipe for stuffing.