Garlic Butter Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing is probably one of our all time favorite Thanksgiving indulgences – it is easy to make, and loaded with flavor our family goes wild for.

This is the solid stuffing side dish to serve with your turkey or ribeye roast dinner, the flavors are always a solid combination!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

Sausage Stuffing

Stuffing, or dressing? What do you call it, and how do you make it?

Whether you stuff it into a turkey – or bake it in a dish and serve alongside a turkey – this stuffing (or dressing!) is good.

We're loading this stuffing up with tons of garlic butter flavor, as well as lots of sausage, mushroom, and fresh herbs – you can use whatever kind of bread or breadcrumbs you like, and change up the herbs or flavor you like – it's a knockout recipe that you can love using, year after year.

This stuffing is totally good – and adaptable. Want different herbs? Try them! Change up the vegetables, whatever you'd like to get the flavors you love.

We're making this stuffing using a loaf of bread that we dry out by baking slowly for a few hours – but you can also use pre-bagged stuffing cubes to save time.

We hope this stuffing is a good part of your holiday dinner!

How To Make Sausage Mushroom Stuffing

Stuffing is pretty easy to come together – its one of those recipes that is suited to Thanksgiving or Christmas when you're busy prepping tons of other things and need a great hearty, savor side dish to tie the meal together that won't require a ton of work or attention.

After prepping stuffing, it's time to bake!

Brown Sausage and Vegetables

Before adding to your stuffing, you have to brown the sausage to cook and crumble it – and we prefer the flavor browned vegetables give to stuffing before baking.

Make Ahead of Time

Stuffing can be made ahead of time so that you can pop it in the oven – or your turkey – at the right time. We prefer to mix all of the ingredients but the butter and stock, so the stuffing doesnt get overly soggy. Add those right before cooking.

How To Make Stuffing From Fresh Bread

We like the texture of larger chunks of bread for stuffing, but some people like smaller cubes – prep your bread however you like.

To make breadcrumbs from a fresh loaf of bread, lay each slice of bread on a baking sheet (or two baking sheets.) Place in an oven on the lowest setting – 150-200 degrees, and let bake, slowly, flipping occasionally, for 2-3 hours, until completely dry and crispy.

You can cut breadcrumbs from either fresh or stale bread.

Making Stuffing From Scratch

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet, add sausage and cook on medium high, crumbling as you brown.
When sausage is almost all browned, add onions, shallots, celery, carrots, pepper, butter, and garlic. If you have a smaller pan, remove sausage from pan and set aside as you brown vegetables, and add back to pan after vegetables have browned.
Cook until vegetables are lightly browned, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, about 5 minutes.
Add mushrooms, salt, and herbs. Cook to soften and lightly brown, an additional 3-5 minutes.
Place the bread in a large bowl and stir in the sausage, vegetables, and herbs mixture. If preparing ahead of baking, store bread and vegetables/herb mixture separately. Keep sausage and vegetables in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. You can mix with bread if baking within 2 hours, but we recommend keeping separate if longer, so it doesn't turn to mush.
Mix with 3 cups stock.
Butter a 9-by-11-inch baking dish and transfer the stuffing to the dish.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is crispy and brown.

Kitchen notes

If you're prepping your stuffing ahead of time, it is best to not mix the bread and stock until you're ready to bake, so the bread doesn't disintegrate.

If you're prepping more than a few hours ahead of time, you can store the browned sausage and vegetables separately from bread to keep the texture solid – mix quickly before baking with stock and you're good to go!

A few answers

How long can stuffing be stored?

Stuffing can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

When is stuffing done?

Stuffing is done when it has browned lightly along the top and sides, and it has thickened.

Can stuffing be pre-made?

We love to pre-mix our stuffing and cover it in plastic wrap and toss it in the fridge until we're ready to cook it on Thanksgiving. It saves so much time – prep ahead of time and then add stock and butter right before baking or stuffing into the bird and you're ready to go!

Other Thanksgiving Side Dishes You'll Love

This stuffing is a knockout with our Thanksgiving favorites like Brown Bag Herb Roasted Turkey Garlic Butter Baked Turkey Tenderloin and Sweet Potatoes Slow Cooker Turkey in Gravy The Best Ribeye Roast The Best Easy Turkey Gravy The Best Easy Prime Rib Recipeand The Best Instant Pot Roasted Turkey Breast.

good with solid Spatchcocked Turkey and The Best Easy Turkey Gravy – this side dish is a Thanksgiving classic!

If you're looking for some good Thanksgiving sides, we love our Easy Baked Tomato Pie Recipe Crispy Roasted Potatoes The Best Classic Green Bean Casserole Recipe The Best Easy Buttery Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe The Best Easy No Knead Bread Easy Roasted Beets and Sweetsand Brown Butter Bacon Baked Brussels Sprouts!

If you're looking for more good side dishes for your Thanksgiving dinner, please check out some of our recent favorites:

You can find our complete Thanksgiving side dish recipe index here.

Garlic Butter Sausage and Mushroom Stuffing Recipe

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Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 lb breakfast sausage, can use regular, spicy, sage, or herbed
1 large white onion, minced
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 pound sourdough bread, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 10 cups)
3 to 4 cups turkey or chicken broth
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme, sage, and oregano (use 1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons for dried herbs)

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet, add sausage and cook on medium high, crumbling as you brown.
When sausage is almost all browned, add onions, shallots, celery, carrots, pepper, and garlic. If your pan is small, remove sausage after browning and set aside to mix back in after vegetables have browned.
Cook until vegetables are lightly browned, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, about 5 minutes.
Add mushrooms, butter, salt, and herbs. Cook to soften and lightly brown, an additional 3-5 minutes.
Place the bread in a large bowl and stir in the sausage, vegetables, and herbs mixture. If preparing ahead of baking, store bread and vegetables/herb mixture separately. Keep sausage and vegetables in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. You can mix with bread if baking within 2 hours, but we recommend keeping separate if longer, so it doesn't turn to mush.
Mix with 3 cups stock.
Butter a 9-by-11-inch baking dish and transfer the stuffing to the dish.
Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top is crispy and brown.