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Baked apple sausage stuffing in a white oval dish, browned on top and scattered with parsley, surrounded by apples and herbs.
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Apple Sausage Stuffing

You are done making the polite amount of stuffing. Make the whole pan, take the crispy corner before anyone sits down, and let the table sort out the rest.
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 25 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10 servings (about 1 generous cup per person)
Calories: 317kcal
Author: Dee Broughton

Equipment

Ingredients

Ingredients

  • 1 pound stuffing cubes plain or seasoned
  • 1 pound sage pork sausage
  • 6 tablespoons butter divided
  • 1 medium yellow onion diced
  • 1 1/2 cups celery diced
  • 2 cups Honeycrisp apples peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 cups chicken broth plus more if needed
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

Heat the Oven

  • Preheat to 375F with a rack in the middle.

Brown the Sausage

  • Cook the sage sausage in a large skillet over medium high heat, 6 to 8 minutes, breaking it up as it goes, until browned at the edges with no pink left. Move it to a large mixing bowl and leave only a thin slick of rendered fat in the skillet.
    Sage pork sausage browned into crumbles in a stainless steel skillet, with only a thin slick of rendered fat left behind.

Soften the Vegetables

  • Add 2 tablespoons of the butter and drop to medium heat. Cook the onion and celery 4 to 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the celery gives when pressed.
    Diced celery and onion added to the melted butter in the skillet, ready to soften.

Barely Cook the Apples

  • Add the apples and cook 1 to 2 minutes, just until the edges turn glossy. Any longer and they disappear during the bake.
    Peeled, half inch diced Honeycrisp apples piled on top of the softened celery and onion in the skillet.

Bloom the Herbs

  • Stir in the garlic, rubbed sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook 30 seconds, until fragrant. Remove from the heat.
    Minced garlic, rubbed sage, thyme, salt and pepper added to the apples, celery and onion to bloom in the fat.

Step 6: Combine

  • Scrape the apple and vegetable mixture into the bowl with the sausage. Add the stuffing cubes and parsley and toss gently until evenly distributed.
    Stuffing cubes in a glass bowl with the cooked apple and vegetable mixture and a pile of chopped fresh parsley.

Add the Liquid in Stages

  • Whisk the broth and eggs until no streaks of yolk remain. Pour over the stuffing about a cup at a time, folding between additions. Stop when the cubes are evenly moistened and hold together when pressed, with no liquid pooling.
    The whisked broth and egg mixture poured over the stuffing cubes, sausage and apples a cup at a time.

Fill the Dish

  • Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Brush the baking dish with a little of it, spoon the stuffing in loosely without packing, and drizzle the rest over the top.
    The unbaked apple sausage stuffing spooned loosely into a white oval baking dish before it goes in the oven.

Bake Covered

  • Cover tightly with foil and bake 25 minutes.
    The baking dish of stuffing covered tightly with aluminum foil for the first 25 minutes in the oven.

Bake Uncovered

  • Remove the foil and bake 15 to 20 minutes more, until the top is golden and crisp at the corners and the center reads at least 165F.

Rest

  • Rest 10 minutes before serving so the center sets and holds a clean scoop.
    A wooden spoon holding a serving of apple sausage stuffing above the baking dish, crisp edges and apple chunks in view.

Notes

  • Bell's Seasoning is our childhood seasoning blend for Thanksgiving stuffing and it swaps straight in for the dried sage and thyme, about a tablespoon to start. It is salt-free, so the salt in the recipe does not change.
  • Every bag of stuffing cubes absorbs differently. Add the broth mixture gradually and stop when the cubes are moist, not soggy. Leave only a thin coating of rendered fat in the skillet.
  • Leave only a thin coating of rendered fat in the skillet before adding the butter and vegetables. Too much and the sausage gets greasy. 
  • Packing it down makes a dense center and costs you the crisp top. Pack it loosely when you're putting it in the dish. 
  • Leftovers keep 4 days airtight in the fridge. Reheat covered at 350F, uncovering for the last several minutes to re-crisp.
  • The center must reach 165F because the stuffing contains raw egg.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 317kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 85mg | Sodium: 1080mg | Potassium: 268mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 648IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 2mg