Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing
A classic Thanksgiving side dish. A crowd-pleasing Sausage Apple Stuffing is always a popular side dish recipe!
This Thanksgiving stuffing is as classic as it gets --- savory sausage, crisp apples, sweet and tart cranberries, fresh sage, all baked together to make the perfect Thanksgiving side dish.
I am beyond excited to spend the next {nine} days sharing our family's favorite tried and true Thanksgiving recipes. Thanksgiving isn't complete without stuffing on your plate, right? It always gets nice and cozy next to my turkey and mashed potatoes.
This Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing is your perfect classic dressing. You can't go wrong with a classic!
This Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing starts off with sauteing the onions in browned butter to give it a rich depth of flavor. The sausage brings heartiness to this dish and crisp granny smith apples give it a touch of sweetness. There is no shortage of herbs in stuffing to bring out the freshness factor. The chicken broth and eggs keep it moist and delicious. The finishing touch is dried cranberries which bring a tart sweetness.
So what bread should be used in this Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing? It's debatable but I put some of them to the test.
The winner was a high-quality white sandwich bread. This isn't the 98 cent special that you may or may not have grown up on. You want substantial white sandwich bread that will hold up to the chicken broth without getting soggy. I found that the Arnold, Oroweat, or Sara Lee Artesano gourmet bread does the trick.
Challah and french bread are alternatives as well. Challah is slightly sweet but it dense enough to hold up to the chicken broth. French bread is much heartier than white bread so it may be slightly tougher but it lends itself to a more crispy crust.
This stuffing can be cooked inside the bird or placed in a dish and cooked in the oven. Stuffing tends to be moister when cooked inside the turkey but I found that this recipe stays moist even when cooked inside the oven.
This Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing is one that my entire family will gobble up and will be a crowd pleaser on your table as well.
- 1 - 16 ounce pkg. Breakfast Sausage
- 2 Onions chopped
- 1/2 cup Celery chopped (optional)
- 1/4 cup Butter
- 2 Granny Smith Apples peeled and diced
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 12 cups High-Quality White Sandwich Bread cut into 3/4 in cubes (about 1 full loaf)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Sage
- 1/2 cup Fresh Parsley Leaves diced
- (1) 14.5 ounce can Chicken Broth
- 3 Eggs
- 1/2 cup Dried Cranberries or Cherries
- 2 Tablespoons Melted Butter (optional to drizzle on top of stuffing)
- Cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat until browned and fully cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Heat butter over medium- high heat. Add chopped onions and celery (optional) and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook until the onions are a golden color.
- Add the apples and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
- Add the bread cubes, sage, and parsley. Stir to mix.
- Whisk the chicken broth and eggs together in a small bowl. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes. Stir in dried cranberries and cooked sausage. Gently toss to mix the ingredients.
Stuff turkey with stuffing or pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Optional: drizzle with 2 Tablespoons of melted butter.
- Cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-44 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove foil and let it toast up in the oven.
The countdown is on! Thanksgiving is only 11 days away. What are you looking forward to the most? I would love to hear! xo
Happy Cooking!
Hi Melissa,
I'm always a fan of your recipes and this one looks excellent! I wanted to know if I could make this ahead. I've made stuffing ahead before and the bread usually doesn't toast up nicely.
Do you think if I combined the sausage, onion/celery/apple mix, dried cranberries, and parsley ahead of time and refrigerated in a plastic wrap-covered bowl. Then when I'm ready to cook it, add the bread cubes and the chicken broth/egg to the mixture and place in the baking dish? Let me know your thoughts! And thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Tricia! Thank you so so much! That makes me so happy to hear!
I am a huge believer in doing things ahead of time so you can absolutely make the mixtures ahead of time. If you do all of the prep ahead of time, it would probably only take you 2 minutes to assemble it and get it in the oven! It' will be a piece of cake.
Also, if you cut your bread cubes ahead of time you can let them dry out a little which is always good for stuffing.
I hope that helps! Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
This sounds delicious so I decided to make it without reading the directions first. It doesn’t mention when to add the salt and pepper or maybe you left it out all together. So without knowing , I erred on the side of caution and only added the pepper 😬