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Sausage and Sweet Potato Thanksgiving Stuffing

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This Sausage and Sweet Potato Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe is the best! It’s packed with the perfect balance of sweet and savory ingredients, perfectly seasoned with lots of fresh herbs, and so hearty and delicious. See tips below for gluten-free and/or vegetarian options too.

Meet my all-time favorite Thanksgiving stuffing recipe. ♡

It’s quite literally stuffed with all of my favorite stuffing-y things — crusty bread, savory sausage, tender sweet potatoes, garlicky veggies, sweet apples and dried cranberries, a sprinkle of crunchy pecans, and a generous handful of fresh herbs. It’s the perfect balance of sweet and savory, soft and crispy, light and hearty. And after making this sausage stuffing recipe for the past half dozen Thanksgivings, I can vouch that it is always (always) a crowd fave.

So if you are looking for a winner of a stuffing recipe this Thanksgiving, I highly recommend giving it a go. I’ve updated the post below with tips for how to prep this stuffing recipe ahead of time, if you would like one less thing to do on the big day. Plus I’ve also included options for how to make this stuffing gluten-free or vegetarian (with the best vegan sausage) if you prefer.

Let’s make some homemade stuffing!

Sweet Potato and Sausage Stuffing Ingredients:

Alright, let’s talk ingredients! To make this sweet potato and sausage stuffing recipe, you will need the following:

  • Sausage: A pound of any type of sausage that you prefer. (I used spicy Italian sausage, but also really love this Italian vegan sausage.)
  • Veggies: I used a combination of sweet potatoes, leeks (halved and thinly sliced), celery and garlic.
  • Apple: Any kind of apple will work here.
  • Crusty bread: Leftover crusty stale bread works best in stuffing, but any type of bread will do. If your bread is fresh and moist, just dice and pop it in the oven for 5-10 minutes before adding it to the recipe so that the bread can dry out a bit.
  • Nuts: I used chopped pecans, but walnuts, almonds, pepitas or sunflower seeds would be delicious too.
  • Dried cranberries: Or you are welcome to sub in a different dried fruit that you prefer.
  • Fresh herbs: I vote the more the merrier, but use whatever you have on hand. I used a combo of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
  • Chicken or veggie stock: Whichever you prefer!
  • Eggs: Finally, we will use a few eggs to bind all of these sausage stuffing ingredients together.

How To Make Stuffing:

To make this sweet potato and sausage stuffing recipe, simply:

  1. Sauté, sauté, sauté. In a large non-stick sauté pan, sauté your main ingredients in batches — first the sausage, then the sweet potatoes, then the remaining veggies and apples.
  2. Combine stuffing ingredients. In a medium mixing bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the chicken stock and eggs until smooth. Then in a (separate) large mixing bowl, add the sausage, sweet potatoes, leek mixture, bread, pecans, cranberries, herbs and egg mixture, and toss until all of the ingredients are evenly combined. Spread the stuffing out evenly in a greased 9×13-inch baking dish, and cover loosely with aluminum foil.
  3. Bake. Bake (covered) for 40 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake (uncovered) for 10-15 more minutes, until the top is lightly toasted and golden. Keep an eye on the stuffing as it bakes so that the top does not burn!
  4. Serve. Serve warm, garnished with extra fresh herbs and black pepper if desired.

Possible Variations:

Want to customize this Thanksgiving stuffing recipe a bit? Feel free to…

  • Make it vegetarian: Use vegetarian sausage (I’m a big fan of Italian Field Roast) and veggie stock in order to make this a vegetarian stuffing recipe.
  • Make it gluten-free. Easy, to turn this into a gluten-free stuffing recipe, just use gluten-free bread! (And as always double-check that the sausage and other ingredients are certified gluten-free as well.)
  • Use cornbread: If you are craving cornbread stuffing, feel free to use cornbread in place of the crusty bread.
  • Use butternut squash: Feel free to swap butternut squash in place of the sweet potatoes to make a delicious butternut squash stuffing.
  • Use onions: If you don’t have access to fresh leeks, you are welcome to sub thinly-sliced (or diced) red, yellow or white onion in place of the leeks.
  • Use different nuts/dried fruit: If pecans and dried cranberries aren’t your thing, feel free to sub in different nuts/seeds (such as walnuts, almonds, pepitas, etc) or dried fruit (such as apricots, cherries, raisins, etc).

More Thanksgiving Recipes:

Looking for more delicious Thanksgiving recipes that won’t let you down? Here is my full collection, plus a few more of my classic faves here below…

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Thanksgiving Sausage Stuffing

Sausage and Sweet Potato Thanksgiving Stuffing

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 7 reviews
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 70 minutes
  • Total Time: 80 minutes
  • Yield: 12 -16 servings 1x

Description

This Sausage and Sweet Potato Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe is the perfect blend of sweet and savory ingredients, and always tastes so hearty and delicious.  See notes above for gluten-free and/or vegetarian options too.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound ground Italian sausage (or your favorite kind of sausage)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 medium leeks, halved and thinly sliced, white and pale green parts only
  • 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 1 apple, cored and diced
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 cups roughly-diced stale crusty bread*
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • 1/3 cup dried cranberries
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs (I used a combo of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme)
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
  • 2 eggs

Instructions

  1. Prep oven and baking dish.  Heat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
  2. Sauté sausage. In a large non-stick sauté pan, brown the sausage over medium-high heat, crumbling it with a spoon or spatula as it cooks.  Once the sausage is browned and cooked through, transfer it with a slotted spoon to a separate plate, and set aside.
  3. Sauté sweet potatoes.  Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same sauté pan (or if there is leftover grease from the sausage, I highly recommend using that instead for extra flavor), and stir in the sweet potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper, then sauté for 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender.  Transfer the sweet potatoes to a separate plate, and set aside.
  4. Sauté other veggies.  Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the sauté pan, and add the leeks, celery, apple and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 5-6 minutes, or until the leeks have softened a bit.  Remove pan from heat and set aside.
  5. Combine stuffing ingredients.  In a medium mixing bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the chicken stock and eggs until smooth.  In a (separate) large mixing bowl, add the sausage, sweet potatoes, leek mixture, bread, pecans, cranberries and herbs.  Pour the egg mixture over the stuffing mixture, and toss until all of the ingredients are evenly combined.  Spread the stuffing out evenly in the prepared baking dish, and cover loosely with aluminum foil.
  6. Bake.  Bake (covered) for 40 minutes*.  Remove the foil and bake (uncovered) for 10-15 more minutes, until the top is lightly toasted and golden.  Keep an eye on the stuffing as it bakes so that the top does not burn.
  7. Serve.  Serve warm, garnished with extra fresh herbs and black pepper if desired.


Notes

*Bread: If you are using fresh bread, I recommend popping it in the oven for 5-10 minutes until it is dried out a bit (but not too toasted/golden).  Otherwise your stuffing may get a little mushy, if your bread is too soft.

*Baking covered vs. uncovered: If you would like a drier stuffing, feel free to bake (covered) for 10-15 minutes longer, before baking uncovered.

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20 comments on “Sausage and Sweet Potato Thanksgiving Stuffing”

  1. Super excited to try this! Curious what type of bread works best?

  2. I am seeing so many delectable stuffing recipes that I think I may be eating nothing but stuffing until the end of the year. Well, not quite, but it’s getting close. And this is one of the ones I would want to try. Even though I’m not likely to fix a turkey for anything, I could definitely see making stuffing as a side dish for other meats. But this is one of those recipes that I wish didn’t feed so many people, because two people can’t eat that much right out of the oven… :-)

    • Leftovers can be frozen in portions for two. It will keep for some time if protected from freezer burn. Or maybe even can in pint jars.
      My mother, and especially grandmother, did that [canning I mean] and it will keep for a long time if canned.

    • Recipe looks fantastic but I could not find your notes for prepping in advance. Could you please provide that

  3. ahh this looks so, so good! I’ve never had stuffing with sweet potatoes, but I adore them so am definitely bookmarking this! thanks for sharing :)

  4. This summer my husband and I made your Summer Panzanella at least a dozen times. When I first looked at this recipe I thought YES! warm, fall panzanella….and then I saw “stuffing”, oops. Sausage, sweet potatoes, veggies, fruit, and bread = main dish meal. So call me weird, but I’m going to cut down the amount of bread, stock, and eggs and rename it Gimme Some Oven’s Fall Panzanella. Main dish win!

  5. Hey Ali, you have done so many awesome gluten free recipes in the past, could you guide me on how I could make this stuffing gluten free? Gluten free bread doesn’t exactly get stale or crusty :) Many thanks!

  6. Is there a way this can be made vegetarian/vegan? Would probably quicker to email me how, please, rather than on this post.

  7. This sounds wonderful. I’d like to try it! It may be because I had a really long work day.. I don’t see the baking temperature listed.. just the temperature to dry out the bread. Thanks in advance!

  8. Best dish at Thanksgiving dinner!!






  9. I made this to go along with the beer-brined turkey this year. The recipe was easy to follow, but also AMAZING. I will absolutely make this in future years.






  10. This looks incredible! Yum!

  11. This is my second time making this (loved it the first time and my boy friend has requested it as his birthday dinner!) and we loved it!
    That said, what temperature should the dish be cooked at? I see where the is a suggestion for fresh bread, but not sure if I am missing the temp.






  12. I have such good luck with your recipes and we all really enjoy the results.
    I would love to make this as a “non-traditional” stuffing this year, but it looks like there are some questions as far as timing and temp are concerned. (Note comments by others.)
    Could you please clear this up before I attempt to make this?

  13. I made this recipe last year for Friendsgiving (I’m British and it was my first time hosting after moving here) and this recipe was such a hit! Enjoyed it the next day too for lunch, by itself! It’ll be on the table this year too!






  14. This recipe is the bomb.com.. I just substituted turkey sausage and followed this recipe for the most part to the T.. and I don’t think I want to share a single bite, lol … amazing recipe






  15. This recipe looks great and I want to stuff the turkey with it. Will this amount serve a 12-14 lb bird?
    Thanks in advance as I prepare.






  16. I’m so excited to make this! Can this be prepped and then frozen? I wanna make this for Christmas. Thanks!

  17. This is ABSOLUTELY delicious!!!!! However, I must strongly disagree with the prep time of a mere 10 minutes! I just finished putting this recipe together and it took me well over an hour and I have even begun to deal with all the dirty pots and pans in my kitchen. That being said, I would make this again, albeit I would definately make this a day in advance. For those that feel that the recipe is too large for their family, one could easily halve the ingredients to make this recipe a more reasonable size for a smaller family.