I love cooking this Apple Cranberry Sausage Stuffing for my family.
Together, these amazing Fall ingredients bring out the best flavors and aromas of holiday cooking.
In the printable recipe cards below, I’ve included both my regular and grain free versions of this recipe. Whichever one you choose to make this holiday season, its for sure going to delight your guests!
My mom, loves stuffings. I honestly think she would have Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners year round to have the excuse of sampling stuffing recipes.
While I didn’t grow up eating stuffing recipes in Spain, I learned to love stuffing upon moving to the New Orleans area over a decade ago.
Southerners, do stuffing very well. So well, in fact, that I’ve been known to join my mom’s “fill-your-plate-with-stuffing-there-will-always-be-turkey-leftovers-tomorrow” club.
Stuffing has become one of my most anticipated dishes of the holiday season –after my orange cranberry sauce and cran-strawberry. This year, I am going to make a grain free stuffing as well. I will take this old-time favorite and change it up a bit.
Cooking sausage stuffing takes me back in time to our first American Thanksgiving dinners with our good friends in California.
The scent of fresh herbs, a turkey roasting in the oven, and the crispy apples freshly picked from their orchard being chopped up. I remember sneaking behind Teri to swipe a spoonful of the uncooked stuffing and turn to her making sure she knew I approved.
To me her recipe is nostalgic, old-fashion, and oh so very good. While I never asked her exactly what was in her stuffing (I think she added chestnuts too), overtime I recreated it and made it my own.
Since moving to the South, I’ve made plenty of stuffing variations with dried fruit, nuts, apples, sausage, and different breads. As much as I enjoy these other types of stuffing, like my mirliton stuffing I’ll be sharing soon, Teri’s inspired recipe is the one I keep going back to. It’s simple, delicious, and with ingredients that I typically keep in my pantry.
Of course, this year, I’ve included my grain free version too. I hope, you enjoy this recipe with your family, friends and guests.
And if you’re looking for the ULTIMATE Thanksgiving Menu to plan out for your guests (with this recipe included!) check out my full Thanksgiving Meal Plan.
In it, you’ll find 20 easy-to-follow recipes in a PDF format, so you can print them all and be ready to host the most epic Thanksgiving ever! Click here for more details.
Cranberry, Sausage, and Apple Stuffing
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Dinner
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage (out of the casing)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 6 cups coarsely chopped leeks
- 3 tart apples (like Granny Smith) peeled, cored and chopped
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 4 teaspoons poultry seasonings
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 12 cups white bread cubes, baked until slightly dry
- 1 1/3 cup chicken stock
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook and stir sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, crumbling coarsely, for about 10 minutes. Remove sausage to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Empty pan of grease.
- Into the same pan melt the butter. Add the leeks or onions, apples, celery and poultry seasoning; cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Add the rosemary, dried cranberries and cooked sausage. Mix all with the dried bread cubes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Moisten with the chicken stock.
- Stuff turkey with about 5 cups for a 14 pound turkey. Add additional chicken stock to moisten stuffing if needed. Remaining stuffing can be baked in a covered buttered casserole at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes to brown top.
Grain Free Apple Cranberry and Sausage Stuffing Recipe
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Grain Free
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds Italian sausage (out of the casing)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 12 cups coarsely chopped leeks
- 4 tart apples (like Granny Smith) peeled, cored and chopped
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced small
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 4 teaspoons poultry seasonings
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crushed
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook and stir sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, crumbling coarsely, for about 10 minutes. Remove sausage to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Empty pan of grease.
- Into the same pan melt the butter. Add the leeks, apples, sweet potatoes, walnuts, celery and poultry seasoning; cook for about 10 minutes (when sweet potato begins to soften). Add the rosemary, dried cranberries, mushrooms, and cooked sausage. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Moisten with the chicken stock.
- Stuff turkey with about half of the recipe, for a 14 pound turkey give or take. Add additional chicken stock to moisten stuffing if needed.
- Bake remaining stuffing in a covered buttered casserole at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes to brown top.
Poultry Seasoning
Basic poultry seasoning from the kitchn
- Yield: 1/4 cup 1x
- Category: Seasonings
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground sage
- 1 tablespoon ground thyme
- 1 tablespoon ground marjoram
- 1 teaspoon ground rosemary
- 1 teaspoon crushed celery seed
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container.
Is that sweet Italian sausage – the kind with fennel?
Thanks! Excited to try the recipe.
Yes, that will work perfectly with this recipe.