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
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!
Ingredients
- 8 cups (400g) store-bought unseasoned stuffing cubes
- 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
- 1½ cups diced yellow onion (from 1 large onion)
- 1 cup diced celery (from 3 celery stalks)
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 pound 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. Grease a 9 x 13-inch 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 8-10 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-inch). 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 65-75 minutes, uncovered, until deeply golden and crisp on top.
- Note: If you can't find bulk sausage, simply buy regular sausage and remove the casings.
- Make-Ahead/Freezer-Friendly 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 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.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (10 servings)
- Calories: 467
- Fat: 28 grams
- Saturated fat: 10 grams
- Carbohydrates: 40 grams
- Sugar: 5 grams
- Fiber: 6 grams
- Protein: 15 grams
- Sodium: 1,063 mg
- Cholesterol: 57 mg
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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You are amazing. Period. I made this for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. I am a pretty experienced chef, but you are my go-to and you never fail to produce flavorful, accurate recipes that are easy to follow. xoxo
Jenn! This is a FANTASTIC recipe! I appreciate you getting back to me regarding adding mushrooms. I did add 2-3 cups and it turned out wonderfully! I followed your recipe exactly other then making my own bread cubes. My family said that of all the amazing items on our thanksgiving table, this was the clear winner. This is the recipe I will use from here on. Absolutely wonderful!
Was a delicious stuffing. I got a lot of compliments! Glad I found this recipe! Will use it in the coming years again
Made this for Thanksgiving to rave reviews. Thank you!
Family loved this! So glad I prepped the day before Thanksgiving because it took me MUCH longer than 10 minutes to prepare. Just the onions and celery have to cook for around 8 minutes. Add all the chopping and the laborious browning and breaking of the sausage meat and it was at least 45 mins to an hour of prep. Happy to say family thinks it was all worth it:)
Loved this recipe! I grew up with very savory dressings and was always trying to find just the right combination. I used stuffing cubes from my local bakery, and the only change I made to the recipe was to add some cream to the broth/egg step. It hit ALL the right notes for me. Will be adding this to my permanent rotation.
A few questions:
If I couldn’t find the cubes and purchased the classic stuffing “crumbs” would I still use 8 cups?
Is it possible to cut this recipe in half? We have a family of 5 and it’s just us for Thanksgiving and my hubby and I are the only ones who will eat stuffing. The egg looks to be the only ingredient that would tricky to “halve”. I could whisk it and measure it and then only use half I suppose.
And if I CAN cut the recipe in half would you bake it less time?
Curious your thoughts? thank you!!
Hi Natalie, Yes, I’d still use 8 cups. It’s fine to cut the recipe in half and what you plan to do with the egg is exactly what I’d suggest. I’d bake the stuffing in an 8 x 8 baking dish — the baking time should be about the same. Hope you enjoy!
Loved this! I always make sausage stuffing and this was the tastiest.
Cook temp and time is too high for my liking. It started to burn, crisp and dry out after only 30 min. I didn’t care for the garlic/rosemary. I should’ve trusted my old sage sausage recipe at 30 min at 350 degrees. Thankfully I was able to save it at the end by stirring it, covering with foil and lowering the temp. The flavor was fine but temp and cook time needs adjustment.
I made the entire dish the day before, including baking it. On Thanksgiving, I covered it with foil reheated it. It was a bit drier for my taste than I expected and while the sausage imparted good flavor, there didn’t seem to be enough of it. Next time I may bake for slightly less time the day before and I may sprinkle some chicken broth over the dish before reheating it. I will also increase the sausage a bit. Even though it was slightly dry and the sausage amount seemed light, it was very good. The gravy, of course, helped moisten it up and add additional flavor. The top pieces of the dish browned nicely and a perfect little crunch. Overall, I was very pleased and will definitely be making this again. I used Whole Foods plain, unseasoned stuffing cubes.
My Mom’s was always the best stuffing. But we lost her to Covid and I never thought would make any that was so tasty. I tried this one, only change was using all fresh herbs. It was accepted and loved as the substitute for Moms. Delicious and easy. I knew i could depend on your recipe site. This is a “forever” in our house. Thank you. So grateful.
Hi Karen, I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your mother. 😢 And I’m really happy to hear that this stuffing was reminiscient of your mom’s. 💗