Soft, custardy bread on the inside, crunchy golden on top, this sausage stuffing is loaded with pork sausage, apple, pecans, celery and the perfume of fresh herbs. An incredible combo of flavour and textures!
BEST Stuffing recipe ever!
5 years ago, I made this sausage stuffing recipe by Kathleen, the talented cook behind Hapa Nom, and declared it to be the best I’d ever had in my life. And today, it is still the best stuffing I’ve had in my life. So I decided it’s high time to share it here! Yes, I’ve tinkered with it slightly over the years. (I tinker with everything, I can’t help it). But it still remains very true to its original roots. I even shared mini Pancetta Stuffing Cups years ago using the same recipe. And after making multiple promises last year to share my favourite stuffing recipe, I thought I’d better finally come good! Technically, stuffing cooked inside turkey / chicken is called “stuffing” whereas stuffing cooked separately like this one is called “dressing”. But generally, people just call it “stuffing” either way (yours truly included!)
Why don’t you stuff this INSIDE chicken or turkey??
We all love the idea of stuffing inside turkey, but it poses a serious health hazard unless you overcook your turkey. Here’s why:
Health authorities globally recommend that turkey and stuffing be cooked to 74°C/165°F for safe consumption; Stuffing inside the turkey cooks last ie after the turkey meat is cooked, which means by the time stuffing reaches the required temperature, the turkey meat is overcooked (even if it’s brined – as I found out first hand!); Why does stuffing have to be fully cooked too? Because it’s porous, and it gets soaked with raw turkey juices inside the cavity. So it absolutely must be fully cooked before being consumed, whether the stuffing has meat in it or not; and If you’re wondering if you can cook the stuffing meat to help it along – yes you can but it won’t help. It still gets soaked with raw turkey juices when it’s in the oven so it needs to come to 74°C/165°F again.
Reminder: overcooked turkey is really (really!) dry because turkey is such a lean cut of meat! The answer? Make your stuffing this way – in a separate dish! (Besides, it’s so much tastier….)
What goes in stuffing
Here’s what you need. The sausage adds tons of rich flavour into this stuffing (and the cream and butter helps too 😂).
Best bread for stuffing? I truly believe stuffing is better made with ordinary white bread. Sandwich bread, French bread, baguettes, loafs, bread rolls – anything as long as it’s plain and it’s not a chewy, super crusty (expensive!) artisan bread. I’ve tried stuffing with artisan breads like good quality sourdoughs and you know what? They are too hard and chewy for stuffing. Your grandma will struggle!
How to make stuffing
3 easy steps:
lightly toast the bread to give it more structure so it doesn’t turn into mush – no need to use stale bread here! brown the sausage meat, then sauté the onion, apple and celery and mix with liquids and herbs; mix it all together, ensuring the bread is completely soaked through, then bake until golden!
I like to brush the top with extra butter towards the end for extra butteriness. Don’t tell my trainer 😈
What it tastes like
This stuffing recipe is a sensational mash up of textures and flavours. You get:
crunchy buttery golden bits from the surface (which is why I would never cut off the crust – the crust is the best bit!); moist, custardy soft bread on the inside that’s soaked up all the flavour; intense, juicy (oily!) golden bits of sausage littered throughout; barely identifiable little pieces of fresh tart-sweet apple and savouriness from the onion and celery; and subtle hint of flavour from fresh sage and thyme. It’s not overpowering, it’s in the background – enough to know something is there (most people can’t pick the herbs), and you’d miss it if you left it out (my rule is that you can leave ONE herb out but not both!).
It is very rich. I want to eat a bowl this big. ↓↓↓ But I can’t. Well, I could. But it would be too much!
When and what to serve with stuffing
Typically associated as a side dish you’d serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas alongside turkey, roast chicken or pork (basically, anything that you’d traditionally associate as things that you can stuff with stuffing!), and I’ve heard many people declare that it’s their favourite thing on the menu. That’s a very big call. But sometimes I wonder if I’m in that camp too. 😂 Here’s a few Thanksgiving and Christmas centrepieces that would be ideal served alongside this stuffing:
Christmas and Thanksgiving Mains
Though honestly? You could just serve this to me for Christmas lunch and I’d be one happy gal. Yep, it’s that good! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Life of Dozer
Emergency Vet run 😩(read on below…)
Hooked!
We had a bit of a drama the other day when Dozer got hooked by a fishing line at the dog park. The hook got caught in his shoulder, and unfortunately it didn’t come out the other side (which would’ve made removal much easier), it got buried in his shoulder muscle. It seems he was attached to the fisherman’s line because the hook was bent and the line was snapped rather than cut. We think the force of him running away made the hook bend inside him 😢
(I hope this photo doesn’t gross you out! I kept it because I’m going to petition council to BAN fishing at the dog beach!!) It was buried so deep, only the little hole at the end was protruding which is why I didn’t notice. When we left the park, he leapt into the car to go home, leapt out, pranced around waiting for his bone, then dinner, then treats….. he showed no signs of pain or discomfort at all. So I didn’t notice a thing until I saw his shoulder was bleeding which was later that evening. Once I realised what it was, and that it was buried almost vertically inside him, I knew I couldn’t remove it myself so off we dashed to the 24 hour Emergency Vet.
Dozer the Brave
Usually, the other side of the hook pierces through so they just cut the barb off then slide the hook out – no big deal. In this case, the hook was fully buried inside so they’d have to make an incision large enough to slide the hook out (ooowwwww!! 😩) Accordingly, the initial diagnosis was that he’d have to be put under a full sedative because it would be quite painful. I preferred that for Dozer’s sake too, because I didn’t want him to suffer. But he surprised us all. After a mild sedative to calm him down, he walked into the surgery room and they were able to remove the hook without fully putting him under (while it avoids the pain, it’s always better to avoid a full sedative if you can). The vet was amazed – she said what they had to do would have been very painful, she couldn’t believe he let them do it! So – Dozer the Brave. I was so proud of him. I know I couldn’t have done it! 😂 I’m happy to report he’s on the mend. A quiet few days, letting that shoulder heal. Antibiotics and pain killers with mild sedatives. So he’s spending his days chill-axing like this. ↓↓↓ And getting LOTS of love and attention from everyone. Including early Christmas presents. Back to being a spoilt brat!! – N x PS To those who spied and inquired about his bandaged foot, it was to minimise the damage he’d do to the wound by scratching himself with his hint paw!
