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This classic stuffing is my favorite part of the holidays. It’s filled with fresh herbs, granny smith apples and sweet Italian sausage to take it up a notch!

Stuffing is hands down, my favorite dish on Thanksgiving. My family makes 2 batches because this is what fills half of everyone’s plate every year! My family has been making it this way since I was little, so I’m going to share with you exactly how we do it, because you can’t fix perfection.

We use the pre-seasoned croutons because I also believe in shortcuts when cooking a massive meal like Thanksgiving. We add lots of fresh herbs, onions, celery, apples, and sweet Italian sausage to amp up the flavor to the max.

Here are the Ingredients for this Apple & Sausage Stuffing:

Produce - Sweet Onion, Celery, Granny Smith Apples
Seasonings - Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg
Dairy - Butter
Meat - Sweet Italian Sausage
Pantry - Chicken Stock, Olive Oil, Pre-Seasoned Stuffing Mix (This is the exact one I use)

More Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes You’ll Love:

Yield 6

Author Casey Cheek

Prep time

10 Min

Cook time

50 Min

Total time

1 Hour

Sausage & Apple Stuffing

This is the stuffing of all stuffing recipes. It uses fresh holiday herbs, sweet Italian sausage and granny smith apples for a sweet and savory dish!

Ingredients

1 bag of white bread cubed seasoned stuffing mix (I use Pepperidge Farm's)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground sweet Italian Sausage
1 1/2 cups yellow or sweet onion, diced
1 cup celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups granny smith apple, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 stick + 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Heat your large pot or Dutch oven with the olive oil and cook the sausage. Break it up and brown it. Remove from the pot when cooked and add to a large mixing bowl.
Add the onions and celery to the pot. Cook for 3 minutes in the liquid from the sausage. Add in the sage, thyme and apples. Mix and cook until they are softened (about 10 minutes).
While that's cooking, add the stuffing package into the bowl with the sausage. Once the onion and apple mixture is cooked, add that into the mixing bowl as well.
Heat the chicken broth and 1/2 stick of butter on medium low. When the butter is completely melted, pour the warm broth over the stuffing, saving about 1/2 cup. Mix it well in the bowl.
Pour the stuffing into a baking dish and then pour the remaining broth over top. Slice the remaining 2 tbsp of butter and place them around the top of the stuffing. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve or let cool, cover and store in refrigerator for following day.

Notes

Reheating Instructions: Pour 1 cup of broth over top stuffing and mix it. You can also put more pats of butter on top. Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes until it is heated through. If the top ever starts to get dark while baking, cover the baking dish in aluminum foil and continue baking.