This post may contain affiliate links.
Italian Sausage Stuffing is the side dish that quietly steals the whole holiday table, with golden toasted brioche, savory homemade Italian sausage, fresh herbs, and just enough butter to make it irresistible. I make a double batch every Thanksgiving because the girls fill half their plate with it before the turkey even comes around. If you are building the full spread, it belongs right next to our whole roasted turkey.
Homemade sausage, buttery toasted bread, and fresh herbs come together into the most crave worthy stuffing on the table.
Sausage Stuffing Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 45 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 8 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 599kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Savory, herby, and buttery with rich Italian sausage
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, a make ahead friendly side like our homemade dinner rolls
Quick Answer
Mix up a quick homemade Italian sausage, then brown it. Toast cubed brioche until golden. Saute onion, carrot, and celery in butter with fresh sage, thyme, and rosemary, deglaze with white wine, and toss everything with the bread and sausage. Add stock to moisten, pour into a buttered baking dish, drizzle with more butter, and bake until browned on top. It takes about an hour and five minutes start to finish.
Jump to:
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Homemade sausage means real flavor. Mixing your own Italian sausage from ground pork, fennel, garlic, and herbs gives you control over the seasoning and beats anything pre packaged.
- Toasting the bread is non negotiable. Drying and browning the brioche cubes first keeps the stuffing from turning to mush once the stock goes in.
- Brioche makes it rich. Buttery, slightly sweet brioche soaks up the stock and butter while still holding its structure.
- Fresh herbs over dried. Sage, thyme, and rosemary added fresh bring a bright, woodsy aroma that dried herbs just cannot match.
- White wine deglaze adds depth. Scraping up the browned bits with wine pulls all that savory flavor into every bite.
- Butter twice for the win. Butter in the vegetables and a final drizzle on top guarantees a golden, crisp crown over a tender center.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It is the ultimate make ahead side, so you can prep it the day before and free up your oven on the big day.
- Homemade Italian sausage makes it taste like a special occasion, even on a random Tuesday.
- It is the perfect partner for our whole roasted turkey and a scoop of slow cooker mashed potatoes.
Key Ingredients
A few quality ingredients are what make this Sausage Stuffing taste like the star of the holiday. Here is what each one does.
- Brioche Bread: Rich and buttery, cut into cubes and toasted so it soaks up the stock without falling apart.
- Ground Pork and Fennel: The base of the homemade Italian sausage. Freshly ground fennel is the signature flavor.
- Fresh Sage, Thyme, and Rosemary: The classic stuffing herb trio, added fresh for the brightest aroma.
- Onion, Carrot, and Celery: The aromatic trio that builds a savory, balanced base.
- Unsalted Butter: Used twice, in the vegetables and drizzled on top, for richness and a golden crust.
- Stock: Chicken, turkey, or vegetable stock moistens the stuffing and carries all the flavor through.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
This Sausage Stuffing is easy to adapt to your table.
- Swap the bread: Sourdough, French bread, or cornbread all work in place of brioche.
- Add dried fruit or nuts: Dried cranberries or toasted pecans add a sweet, crunchy contrast.
- Use store bought sausage: In a pinch, a pound of good Italian sausage saves time.
- Make it spicy: Use hot Italian sausage or add a pinch of red pepper flakes.
- Add apples: Diced apple cooked with the vegetables brings a touch of sweetness, much like our classic stuffing.
How to Make Sausage Stuffing
- Make the sausage first by mixing the ground pork, ground fennel, garlic, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper in a bowl until combined. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the brioche cubes on two sheet trays and toast for 10 minutes, flip, and toast 5 more minutes until golden. Cool and add to a large bowl.
- Brown the sausage in a large pan over medium heat, then add it to the bowl with the bread cubes.
- In the same pan, melt the butter. Pour half into a small bowl, then use it to grease a 9×13 inch baking dish.
- Add the onion, carrot, and celery to the pan with a pinch of salt and cook 5 to 8 minutes until soft. Stir in the fresh herbs for 2 minutes, then deglaze with the white wine until mostly absorbed. Pour over the bread and sausage and toss to coat.
- Add the stock and mix until everything is moistened. Transfer to the buttered dish, drizzle the reserved butter on top, and bake 30 to 45 minutes until browned and crisp on top.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Stale bread is your friend. Day old brioche toasts up even better. Fresh bread can stay too soft.
- Do not skip toasting. It is the single most important step for stuffing that holds its texture.
- Taste the sausage mix. Cook a tiny patty to check seasoning before mixing it into the whole batch.
- Add stock gradually. You want the bread moist but not soggy. Start with less and add more as needed.
- Cover for a softer center. For extra moist stuffing, cover with foil for the first half of baking, then uncover to crisp the top.
- Make it ahead. Assemble a day early, refrigerate, and bake before serving. Add a few extra minutes from cold.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Sausage Stuffing is a holiday hero, so naturally it belongs next to the whole roasted turkey with a ladle of gravy over the top. It is the side everyone reaches for first.
Round out the plate with creamy slow cooker mashed potatoes and a basket of warm homemade dinner rolls. The buttery, herby flavors all play beautifully together.
It is not just for Thanksgiving, either. Serve it alongside a roast chicken or pork loin any Sunday for a cozy dinner that feels special with very little effort.
Got leftovers? Stuffing makes an incredible base for a next day breakfast hash topped with a fried egg, or pile it into our turkey tetrazzini week of leftover dinners.
Sausage Stuffing FAQs
Brioche is our favorite because it is rich and buttery and soaks up stock while holding its shape. Sourdough, French bread, and cornbread all work well too. Whatever you choose, cube it and toast it first so the stuffing does not turn mushy.
Yes, and it is one of the best dishes to prep early. Assemble the whole thing, cover, and refrigerate up to a day ahead. Bake it straight from the fridge when you are ready, adding a few extra minutes since it starts cold. You can also toast the bread and make the sausage days in advance.
Not at all, but it is worth it. The homemade Italian sausage with fresh fennel and garlic gives the stuffing its standout flavor. If you are short on time, a pound of good quality store bought Italian sausage works as a shortcut.
This recipe is written as a dressing baked in a dish, which we prefer for the crispy top and food safety. If you want to stuff the bird, make sure the stuffing reaches 165 degrees in the center, which often means overcooking the turkey, so a separate dish is the safer bet.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. Reheat in a 350 degree oven, covered, until warmed through, then uncover for a few minutes to re crisp the top. Add a splash of stock if it looks dry. It also freezes well for up to three months.
They are essentially the same dish. Stuffing is traditionally cooked inside the bird, while dressing is baked in a separate dish. This recipe is baked in a dish, so technically it is a dressing, but most of us call it stuffing no matter how it is cooked.
Planning the whole feast? Do not miss our buttery homemade dinner rolls next.
Italian Sausage Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 loaf 16-17 cups brioche bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 stick 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1 cup celery small dice
- 1 cup onion small dice
- 1 cup carrot small dice
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage fine chop
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme fine chop
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary fine chop
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups stock chicken, turkey, pork, or vegetable will do
Italian Sausage
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon ground fennel freshly ground is best
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 cracks fresh black pepper
Instructions
- Make the sausage first by placing all the ingredients in a bowl and mixing until combined. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide the bread cubes between two sheet trays in an even layer. Toast for 10 minutes, flip and toast five more minutes until golden brown. Let cool, place in a large bowl.
- Brown sausage in a large pan over medium heat. Place into the bowl with the bread cubes.
- In the same pan, add the butter and melt over medium heat. Pour half of the butter into a small bowl and set aside.
- Using a brush, grease a 9×13 inch baking dish with the reserved butter, set aside.
- Place the onion, carrot, and celery in the pan with a pinch of kosher salt. Cook for 5-8 minutes until onions are translucent, stirring occasionally. Add the fresh herbs and cook for 2 additional minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until most of the liquid is absorbed. Pour into the large bowl with the sausage and bread. Toss to coat.
- Add the stock to the bowl and mix until everything is coated. Pour everything into the greased baking dish. Pour the remaining butter on top evenly. Bake for 30-45 minutes until browned on top.
Notes
- You can use any stock you have on hand.
- If you don’t want to make your own homemade italian sausage just use store bought.
- You do not have to use brioche bread, it is amazing but any loaf of bread will do for this recipe.
- We use fresh herbs in this recipe but you can substitute for dried if you do not have fresh herbs on hand, check for measurements to make sure the equivalent.
- You can mix and match your vegetables in this recipe to your liking.
- If you don’t have white wine you can use the same amount of stock to replace that.
Nutrition
Love This Recipe?
Follow @ThisSillyGirlsKitchen on Instagram and @danadevolk on Pinterest for more!
Oooh- I’m saving this one! I’m still on the hunt for the perfect stuffing recipe. Your photography is breathtaking too- well done.
Stuffing is one of my favorite sides, can’t wait to give this recipe a try!
This recipe sounds so delicious! I love to use Italian recipes for the holidays. My mom’s side of the family is Italian and we always have my great grandmother’s spaghetti sauce Christmas eve and then we try something new for Christmas day. Love that the wine has Hughes in the name, too….my maiden name. This recipe was made for me!
Natalie