Get warm and cozy with this hearty, protein packed soup. A feel good lunch that…
Sausage & Cranberry Stuffing
Hands down the best stuffing! So good it will be hard to allow any other stuffing at holiday dinners.

This is the only stuffing I really have ever enjoyed. I’m not a stuffing fan. Something about mushy bread bits that just don’t jive with me. Luckily it was also something I could pass on at Thanksgiving (which left more room for turkey and sweet potatoes!). About 20 years ago my mom attempted making stuffing this way – and I became a changed person.
I think I’ve said it before, sausage is one of my favorite things to eat. So adding ground sausage made it so much better. On top of that, the tart dried cranberries made it into a savory sweet side that was perfect! I also appreciated the fact that my mom never overly drenched the bread with stock, which made the bread moist but also crispy.
It’s the perfect side to any holiday dinner. I’m also not counting this has a super healthy recipe but I lowered the fat and made some of the ingredients a little more lean. I swapped regular sausage for turkey sausage. I added dried cranberries with no added sugar. I also skipped any suggestions of topping the stuffing with melted butter. It’s so simple so enjoy it for these special occasions. It certainly deserves a spot at the table for those indulgent meals.

Oh, and if you’re more of a Thanksgiving leftover fan, this is perfect because the longer the sausage sits with the bread, the better the flavor, in my opinion.

Sausage & Cranberry Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 pound turkey sausage
- 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 medium celery stalks diced
- ½ teaspoon sage dried
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon rosemary finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 3-4 cups chicken stock (Use 3 cups, reserve additional stock if needed)
- 1 (12 oz.) bag dried bread stuffing mix
- ⅓ whole wheat or multigrain baguette cubed, dried
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Heat a shallow skillet or a large sauce pan to medium-high heat and spray with non stick cooking spray. After the pan has heated for about a minute, add turkey sausage. Cook for about 7-9 minutes until it becomes brown and break apart with a spatula while it cooks. Stir occasionally. If it starts to brown too fast, turn down the heat. Remove from pan.
- In the same pan as the sausage was cooked, add one tablespoon of olive oil (if needed). As the oil heats, add onion, celery, sage, thyme, rosemary and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions become translucent and then add stock.
- Allow stock to come to a simmer and then add all the bread. Mix it all together gently until the broth is soaked into the bread. You may want to move this to a larger bowl.
- Add sausage and dried cranberries to the stuffing. Gently fold all the ingredients together and then spread evenly in a greased baking dish. Cover with foil or dish lid and cook for 20-25 minutes. Remove covering and then cook for an additional 15-20 minutes. **Keep additional stock on hand incase the stuffing becomes dry.
- Let cool before serving.