Italian Sausage Stuffing

Italian Sausage Stuffing is made with sweet Italian sausage, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, onion, French bread and delicious spices! This French bread stuffing recipe is a fun twist on traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing!  

You don’t have to save this recipe for your Thanksgiving table! I love a good fall side dish in any meal. Some of my favorite holiday side dish recipes include Candied Apple Yams, Easy Sweet Potato Casserole, and Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash.

Why This Recipe Works

• The best Italian sausage stuffing recipe. This sausage and herb stuffing is super easy to put together! It’s packed with flavor and texture and is by far the best sausage stuffing! 
• Easily customizable. Not a fan of Brussels sprouts? No worries! Switch them out for parsnips, carrots, butternut squash and more! You can easily add different vegetables to this Autumn vegetable stuffing!
• Flavorful stuffing. I love this root vegetable stuffing because it has such unique elements to it! Instead of the bread, onion, and celery of traditional stuffing, the sausage adds a delicious meat element and flavor depth to the dish. 

Ingredient Notes

• French Bread: You’ll need about 10 cups of cubed bread. Cut the French bread into 1 inch cubes. You don’t need hard or stale bread already because we are going to toast it in the oven. Making stuffing with French bread is SO good because you have that chewy crust on it! 
• Sweet Italian Sausage: If you’d like a bit of a kick, you’re welcome to use hot Italian sausage. I find that the whole family enjoys mild Italian sausage more than spicy! I use Italian pork sausage, but you can use turkey sausage if you’d prefer. 
• Sweet Potato: Feel free to use more sweet potato! Or you can also add some other root vegetables like parsnips and carrots if desired. 
• Red Onion: You don’t have to use a red onion. If you have a sweet onion or yellow onion on hand, that is fine too! 
• Herbs: You’ll need dried basil, rubbed sage, thyme, and parsley (for garnishing). You can definitely level up and use fresh herbs! 
• Butter: The cubes of butter will give those delicious pockets of buttery yumminess as you bite into this amazing sage sausage stuffing! 
• Chicken Broth: You may not need all the chicken broth. But if you use all of it, that’s fine too! You just want enough liquid to help provide that stuffing texture, but you don’t want the bread to be soggy. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Oven toast the bread. Place the cubed French bread on a baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 10-14 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove and place the bread in a large bowl while you prepare the other elements.
2. Cook the sausage. Add the mild sausage to a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble sausage in small pieces as it cooks. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until fully cooked. Drain excess grease. Transfer to the bowl with the bread cubes.
3. Roast the veggies. Add the Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, and chopped onion to a medium sized bowl. Add the olive oil, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp sage, and 1 tsp thyme. Toss to coat. Transfer the veggies to a large baking sheet and roast for 18-20 minutes at 400°F. Remove when slightly fork tender but not overly soft. 

4. Combine. Add the veggies to the bowl with the bread and sausage. Add the remaining herbs and the cubed butter. Toss to combine. Slowly pour the chicken broth on top while stirring. (You may not need all the broth).
5. Bake. Pour the vegetable and sausage stuffing mixture into a greased 9×13-inch casserole dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 375°F for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 20-25 minutes or until no liquid remains. Remove, garnish with fresh parsley if desired, and serve warm! 

Recipe Tips

For a healthier option, you can definitely use a multi-grain French bread and turkey sausage. 

When toasting the bread in the oven, you don’t want it to be dark brown, hard, and crunchy. You want it to be lightly golden brown. 

If using sausage links, be sure to remove the casings! I like using bulk sausage so I don’t have to spend time removing sausage from casings. 

Feel free to add some more vegetables to this French bread stuffing! You can use parsnips, carrots, butternut squash, red potatoes, and more! Not a fan of Brussels sprouts? Omit them! You can definitely make this sausage vegetable stuffing your own! 

You can use store-bought stuffing cubes if you’d like. Just skip the bread toasting step. 

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

To make ahead of time, you can cook the sausage, roast the vegetables, and toast the bread. Just be sure to leave the bread out and not to store it in a ziplock bag or container. Otherwise the bread will go soft again. 

If you’d like, you can assemble the elements and then store in the fridge overnight and bake the next day. However, I wouldn’t add the chicken broth or your bread will go soggy. The bread will even soften a bit just being next to the sausage and veggies while being stored overnight. 

For best results, you can store the elements and then just freshly toast the bread prior to baking, then follow the rest of the recipe. 

Store leftover Italian sausage stuffing in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat in the oven.

I don’t recommend freezing this sausage and vegetable stuffing bake. 

Recipe FAQs

More Thanksgiving Recipes

• Thanksgiving Pies
• Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes Roundup
• Praline Pumpkin Pie
• Candied Yams
• Mashed Potatoes with Half and Half