My Famous Sourdough Sausage Stuffing

My sourdough sausage stuffing consistently ranks as the winning side dish every Thanksgiving. Stuffing was always my favorite side growing up, so I’d be sorely disappointed when I went to gatherings and it was dry or lacking flavor. So I made it my mission to making the absolute best Thanksgiving stuffing anyone ever had.

If you’re in charge of stuffing this year and looking to stand out from all the other Thanksgiving side dishes, this sourdough sausage stuffing is for you. Everyone will be asking you for the recipe by meal’s end!

I acknowledge that I reside on Duwamish land, and that Thanksgiving is a somber reminder of Indigenous peoples’ suffering at the hands of violent colonizers. In no way do I condone this tragedy. Please consider paying Real Rent as reparations for our ancestors’ abhorrent actions.

Sourdough Sausage Stuffing

You may be asking, “Why ‘sourdough’ specifically?” The reason is that sourdough is the perfect bread for a classic Thanksgiving stuffing. It’s sturdy so your stuffing won’t crumble, and it has just enough interest to add flavor without overpowering the other ingredients. In my opinion, good stuffing is all about the mix-ins, so hiding it behind, say, a 12-multigrain bread defeats the point.

And mix-ins does this sourdough sausage stuffing have. I started developing this recipe about 5 years ago and every year just kept adding more and more ingredients. I’m usually one to coach people that more is less when it comes to cooking, but I break that rule when it comes to stuffing. Put. it. all. in.

In this version you’ll find the classic base of onion and celery, but you’ll also find apple, leek, mushroom, and pancetta. Yes, even with the sausage you should add the pancetta. It adds complexity that will make guests go, “Hmmm,” (in a good way!).

One last thing to note, this recipe is technically a “dressing”. Sticklers will tell you “stuffing” is a term reserved for when you cook the bread mixture by stuffing it inside the turkey. If you make it in a pan like this recipe, it’s called “dressing”. I find this wildly confusing because dressing is what you put on a salad, so I break the rules and call this a stuffing just like 99% of the world. 🙂

How to make this sourdough sausage stuffing

Stuffing definitely takes some commitment since it requires cooking each ingredient on the stove to bring out flavor before putting it into the oven for a long time. To help make it worth the effort, here are tips for making the best sourdough sausage stuffing.

Consider Pre-Cut Bread

Town & Country Markets in Seattle, a small local grocery chain, sells pre-cut and toasted sourdough bread cubes come Thanksgiving. Since I trust the quality of their in-house bakery, I always get this to save a step. If your local grocery store or bakery has this option, do it! However, don’t skimp on quality if you can’t find the good stuff. Just make the cubes a few days ahead and store in an air-tight container.

Use Homemade Chicken Stock if Possible

This isn’t mandatory, but I guarantee you this is what takes stuffing from good to great. I always recommend making your own stock, which you can make in huge batches and freeze.

Quick chicken stock recipe

There are a million stock recipes out there, such as this one from Alton Brown. But all you really need to do is throw chicken bones in a stock pot with a butt-ton of water, quartered onion, carrots, celery, and leek, a bunch of salt and peppercorns, bay leaves, and a whole bunch of parsley. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for a few hours.

The longer you have stock on the stove, the deeper the flavor. Just make sure to use more water than you think because it’ll evaporate. If you want to be fancy, you can brown the chicken bones before you put everything in the pot to simmer. However, it’s not a must.

When it’s done, strain the stock into a bowl or remove the solids with a slotted spoon. Store the stock in the fridge for a week or freezer up to 6 months.

Make Ahead to Save Time

I’m one of those rare people who makes everything the day of Thanksgiving, but no entertaining expert would recommend this. They advise you to start cooking at least a week in advance.

Luckily you can make a ton of the ingredients for this sourdough sausage stuffing recipe ahead of time.

• 3 days before: Toast the bread (if not buying pre-toasted) and make the vegetable mixture (up to step 9 in the recipe below).
• 1-3 days before: Assemble and bake the stuffing through step 13 in the recipe below. Let it cool on the counter and then store covered in the fridge until ready to finish. Make sure to bring it back up to room temperature on the counter before finishing it uncovered in the over.

Sub Mix-Ins if needed

The beauty of this sourdough sausage stuffing recipe is its flexibility. And is it really Thanksgiving if you don’t have to consider some dietary restrictions? Here are some ideas for substitutions or additions:

• For vegetarians: Sub vegetable stock and add extra mushrooms.
• For gluten free: Sub gluten-free sourdough bread.
• For using up what’s in the fridge: Have extra parsnip or sweet potato? Dice and add it in! Have some dried cranberries? Go for it. Don’t have apple but have pear? I bet it’d be good! This recipe really is forgiving.

One word of caution: You may need to adjust the amount of chicken stock depending on your substitutions. If you add a bunch of bulk, you may need to add more. If you add a bunch of ingredients that have high water content, you may need to use less (though this is less likely, as more liquid is usually good to ensure your stuffing doesn’t turn out dry).

When you get to step 11 of the recipe below, ladle in the stock cup by cup and stop if the bread mixture is sitting in a pool of liquid. You want it to be pretty darn wet, but not swimming.

But Don’t Sub Fresh Herbs

The one thing I highly recommend not subbing is the fresh herbs. Thanksgiving is the time to buy a million packets of those herbs at the food store!

Don’t overcrowd the pot to develop flavor

I stress in the recipe below not to move your ingredients too much when you’re trying to brown them. Constant stirring makes them steam instead of brown, which will dull the flavor of your stuffing.

Overcrowding your pot is another culprit of steam. You’ll notice that there’s a lot of “cook and then set aside” action in this recipe. Don’t try to put all the mix-ins in the pot at once. It will cause things to steam and you’ll regret it.

Similarly, as you cook the ingredients, make sure they’re in single layers in your pot and not too crowded. Multiple layers of food also cause steam. Just don’t do it! If your pot is too small, take more than I recommend out so you have room in the pot at each step.

Let’s get cooking: Sourdough sausage stuffing recipe

Make sure to save this recipe to Pinterest so you can pass it on to guests who ask about it, because trust me, they will!

Ingredients

Serves: 8-12 | active time: 55 minutes | total time: 2 hours, 35 minutes

• 28 oz. of sourdough bread, chopped evenly in ~1″ cubes and preferably already toasted from a local bakery
• 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (3 Tbsp. if you’re toasting the bread yourself)
• 2 oz. pancetta, chopped
• 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, no casing
• 10 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped (~2/3 cup)
• 1/2 large leek, chopped (~1 heaping cup)
• 1 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 cup diced celery (~2 celery stalks with white ends removed)
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, chopped (cremini will do, but porcini is better!)
• 1 small red apple, like Pink Lady, skin and core removed and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh tarragon, minced
• 1/4 cup dry sherry
• 3 Tbsp. fresh sage, minced
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 5-6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. If you didn’t get pre-toasted cubes of bread, toss chopped bread cubes with 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil and spread evenly on baking sheets. Toast bread cubes in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Skip this step if you purchased pre-toasted.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes until browned. Remove from the pot and set aside on a paper-towel-lined plate.
3. Add the sausage to the pot and brown, ~5 minutes. Too much movement when the sausage hits the pan causes steaming instead of browning, so don’t fuss with it. Once it browns, start breaking it up into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon. Flip and repeat for another 3-5 minutes. When the sausage is cooked through and brown, set aside on the same paper-towel-lined plate as the pancetta.
4. Turn down the heat to medium low. When it’s a bit cooler, add 2 Tbsp. butter to the skillet. Melt butter, then add the chopped onion and leek, cooking for ~5 minutes until golden brown, again being cognizant not to move around in the pan too much. Then add 1/4 tsp. salt.
5. Add the chopped celery and cook ~5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute. Season with 1/4 tsp. salt, stir, and then add the onion/celery mixture to a very large mixing bowl (this is what you’ll toss all the ingredients in later, including the bread, so I’m talking a huge bowl).
6. Add another 2 Tbsp. of butter to the pot. When melted, add the mushrooms, spread into an even layer, and cook without touching for about 7 minutes until browned and shrunken. Again too much stirring causes steaming. Season with 1/4 tsp. salt and stir.
7. Add the apples and 1/4 tsp. salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
8. Add the sherry to deglaze the pan, scraping up brown bits. Cook until the sherry is evaporated. Throw in the tarragon and sage, stirring to make it warm.
9. Transfer the mushroom/apple mixture to the large bowl with the other vegetables. Add the pancetta, sausage, and parsley to the bowl and mix it all together. Taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary.
10. Add bread to the bowl of cooked vegetables and mix together. Mix 2.5 cups of chicken stock and 1 cup of heavy cream in a separate bowl (make sure the stock isn’t hot so the cream doesn’t curdle). Then pour it in the bread mixture bowl and mix well. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes so the bread absorbs the liquid. When you come back to it, taste and season with salt if needed.
11. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Add the beaten eggs and remaining 6 Tbsp. of butter, melted, to the large mixing bowl with your stuffing. Mix well.
12. Add the remaining 2.5 cups of chicken stock to the bowl, ~1/2 cup at a time. Mix well as you add it. The consistency of your stuffing should be pretty wet so you have a moist stuffing, but you don’t want to see any visible pools of broth mixture in your bowl. If it looks dry still, add up to another cup of stock for 6 cups total. In my experience 5 cups is usually enough stock, but it will depend on the cut of bread you get and whether you use exactly 28 oz. of it as the recipe calls for.
13. Grease a 9×13″ baking pan and add the stuffing to the prepared baking dish, pushing it up the sides to make an even layer. Cover it with foil and bake for 40 minutes until cooked through.
14. If you need to transport your stuffing to your final destination, you can take it out of the oven here and finish the stuffing at your next stop. You can also leave it on the counter to bring to room temperature before storing it in the fridge up to 3 days before. Make sure to bring up to room temperature again before putting it back in the oven. If you’re ready to cook it right away, finish the sourdough sausage stuffing by removing the tin foil and baking it for another 30-40 minutes in the preheated oven until crisp.
15. Let the finished sausage and sourdough stuffing sit for at least 15-20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

More Thanksgiving recipe ideas

Here are recipes that would go perfectly with this sourdough sausage stuffing:

• Crowd-Pleasing Carrot Parsnip Soup
• Roast Cauliflower with Cacao and Spices
• Butternut Squash and Carrot Mash with Sage-Crusted Pork
• Cheddar-Crusted Chicken with Apple Compote
• Pumpkin Meatballs with Pumpkin, Sage, and Cranberry Gravy
• Cozy Cauliflower Apple Soup
• My Mom’s Homemade Applesauce