My Sausage and fennel stuffing recipe is loaded with spicy sausage, caramelized onion, fennel, fresh herbs, and baked to crispy golden perfection. I’ll confess, I’ve never really been a fan of stuffing but this recipe totally changed my mind.
It packs so much flavor and texture that it blows boring stuffing recipes out of the water. You can make several components of this recipe ahead of time, making it a game-changing side for holidays and big gatherings.
“Second year making this and as always it was perfect! We used half sourdough and half pumpernickel this year and really loved the results! This is a staple for our thanksgiving meal!” – Mallory (So Much Food Reader)
Table of Contents
Stuffing vs Dressing
This recipe for sausage and fennel stuffing is baked alongside the turkey, not inside. Technically, that makes it a “dressing”. I don’t really care what we call it, but you should not be baking anything in your turkey’s cavity except for aromatics.
Stuffing your bird with bread slows down the cooking process and yields an unevenly cooked turkey. If you have uncooked turkey juices dripping onto your stuffing and it doesn’t reach 165 F internally, it’s not safe to eat. For the stuffing to reach 165 F, the rest of the bird will dry out.
Plus, baking the stuffing separately gives you a crispy, golden-brown crust. So, just do it the safe and right way and bake your stuffing separately!
Helpful Cooking Tools
Key Recipe Ingredients
full list of ingredients, quantities & method in the recipe card at the end of the page.
- Sausage. I opted for spicy Italian sausage because of the fennel, but breakfast sausage would work well too.
- Bread. The best bread for stuffing has a tighter crumb and great flavor. I like mixing varieties, like sourdough and pumpernickel.
- Veggies. Sausage and fennel stuffing obviously needs fennel. Onion and leeks add lots of savory flavors and a crisp apple adds a little sweetness for balance.
- Herbs. Fresh sage and rosemary absolutely make this dish. If you use dried, cut the quantities in half.
- Eggs. Eggs are absolutely necessary for stuffing. They’re the binder, keeping everything together.
- Dry white wine. Adding wine is optional, but I think it adds great flavor. Opt for a dry white wine.
- Stock. Use a homemade chicken or turkey stock for best results.
How to Make Sausage and Fennel Stuffing
- Dry out the bread. Bread needs to be dry for stuffing, it’s the only way it’ll absorb the liquid without becoming mush. If you have time, you can spread your torn bread out on a baking sheet and let it dry out for a day or two on your counter. If you need to speed things up, spread your torn bread on a baking sheet and bake at 250 F until the bread is dried out, but not brown.
- Brown the sausage. This is the first step in layering flavor into your stuffing. You’ll want to break the meat up as it cooks, but also give it a chance to brown. Any brown bits left in the pan will get cooked into the veggies and add incredible flavor.
- Saute the veggies. You’ll want to cook the veggies (and fruit!) in stages. The leeks, onion, and fennel go first to really cook them down and caramelize them. The apples get added in at the end to keep them from turning mushy.
- Mix everything together. The mixing also happens in stages! Mix the bread with the sausage and veggies and then mix the liquid and eggs in increments so you can ensure that all the bread is evenly coated and absorbing the liquid.
- Bake. I like to bake the stuffing covered first to make sure it gets up to temperature, then uncover and finish the baking so that the top gets beautifully browned.
Jenny’s Tip: As mentioned above, the best bread for stuffing has a tight crumb (sorry airy sourdough!). You want bread that will easily absorb all the liquid and hold onto it so your stuffing doesn’t dry out. I really love mixing breads for flavor and textural differences–my favorite is a mix of hearty sandwich sourdough bread (specifically from Trader Joe’s!) and pumpernickel.
You may notice that this recipe calls for torn bread and not cubed. I find that the odd shapes of torn bread fit together better, absorb the liquid better and more evenly, and the craggy nooks brown beautifully.
Make Ahead Instructions
This recipe has two separate components: the dried bread, and all the meat and veggies. The day of cooking can be really hectic so this recipe is a cinch to make ahead. There are two options for making sausage fennel stuffing ahead of time:
- You can make the separate components and store them until they’re needed, combine, and then bake. You’ll dry out your bread and separately cook your sausage with veggies and herbs and store it in an airtight container in the fridge. On the day of, combine the bread with the sausage mixture and then follow the rest of the recipe and bake as directed.
- Completely make the stuffing ahead of time (up to 2 days before) and bake up until you remove the foil. Leave the stuffing covered after baking, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate covered. Remove the stuffing from the fridge 1 hour before baking and bake uncovered until it’s hot and browned on top.
How to Fix Soggy Stuffing
If you find that your stuffing is very soggy after baking, it’s possible that your bread wasn’t dry enough. No sweat!
Bust out a baking sheet and scoop chunks of the stuffing onto the sheet. Drizzle olive oil (or melted butter) over the pieces and bake at 450 F until it’s browned and sufficiently dried out. Stuffing saved!
If you do give this recipe a try, I love hearing about it! Leave a comment with a star rating below. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter and never miss a new recipe! You can also snap a photo & tag @JENNYGOYCOCHEA on Instagram.
More Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes that WOW
Loaded Corn Casserole
Classic Cornbread Stuffing
Sour Cream & Onion Mashed Potatoes
Hasselback Potato Gratin
Roasted Carrots with Whipped Feta
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Sausage and Fennel Stuffing
Ingredients
- 10-12 cups torn bread, about 1 large loaf, dried (see above notes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb spicy Italian sausage, removed from the casings
- 2 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 1 fennel bulb, fronds and core removed, diced
- 1 large Honeycrisp apple, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature and divided
- 2 1/2 cups homemade chicken or turkey stock, divided
- 3 eggs
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 F. Generously butter a 9×13 baking dish with 2 tablespoons of softened butter. Set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned. Remove the sausage from the pan with a slotted spoon (leave all that fat behind!) and transfer to a small bowl.
- Add the leeks, onion, and fennel to the skillet and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are starting to brown. Then, add the apple, sage, and rosemary and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Once the apples are slightly browned, add the white wine and cook until most of the wine has evaporated. Stir the sausage back into the pan. Turn off the heat, add the remaining butter, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- In a large mixing bowl, toss the bread with the sausage mixture and gently mix in 2 cups of the chicken broth. Take care to just gently toss the bread so it doesn’t break apart too much. Let the bread sit for 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and remaining stock until smooth. Pour over the bread mixture and gently toss to combine, making sure all the bread is moist and evenly coated. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or so, until the top is nicely browned and crisp. Remove from the oven, rest 10 minutes, and serve.
Rate & Review This Recipe
This was my first Thanksgiving making stuffing, and having never made it before, I wanted it to be perfect. I’ve had a lot of stuffings ranging from ‘amazing’ to soggy and sad. This one definitely fell into the amazing category. So much flavor – the sausage and fennel really come through, I cooked exactly to instruction and it came out perfectly. Prepped all the components the day before the way it recommended in the recipe and I’m so glad I did. My family loved it and I’d 100% make this again in the future. Highly recommend.
This makes me so happy! So glad that you loved the stuffing!
Second year making this and as always it was perfect! We used half sourdough and half pumpernickel this year and really loved the results! This is a staple for our thanksgiving meal!
So happy you guys loved it!
this sounds so amazing and i can’t wait to make it for thanksgiving this year! because there are eggs in it, is it then more like a bread pudding or spoon bread or strata where everything is held together? if so, could I leave the eggs out so that it’s a looser stuffing/dressing? or would it just be too fall apart with zero structure?
Hi! It’s definitely no where near as eggy as a strata or a bread pudding, but the eggs do help hold things together a bit more. If you left them out, you’d essentially just have some soaked baked bread that would fall apart quite a bit. You could decrease the egg quantity by half and probably still be okay.
hi again. thanks so much for your response to my question about the eggs! i will go ahead and leave them in and follow your recipe. but i have another question. i live in a big city (san francisco) so i have access to a lot of things, but i cannot find pumpernickel anywhere! are you buying a loaf of it or using the dense, sliced kind of pumpernickel like this – https://www.thetasteofgermany.com/mestemacher-pumpernickel-17-6-oz/ if it’s the dense, sliced kind then i can definitely find that.
thanks!
Hello! Yeah I would not use that particular pumpernickel as it’s too dense. The pumpernickel I use is closer to like a sourdough texture. That being said, you could just do all sourdough, or mix in some rye or other bread. Just choose something that’s crusty. Hope that helps!
This this my 3rd year making this bomb ass stuffing. Every year, it is the best thing on the table. Hands down. The sausage, the apple, the sage, it’s all god damn perfect.
Jenny is the real hero.
Aw thanks Andrew! It means so much to be part of your thanksgiving table!