Wild Mushroom Sourdough Sausage Stuffing: a unique and flavorful take on the classic Thanksgiving side dish. This sausage stuffing is packed with flavor from sourdough bread, ground pork, sage, Swiss chard, lemon and a handful of spices.
Table of contents
Why I Love this Sourdough Stuffing Recipe
If you’re looking to mix up the Thanksgiving spread this year, I recommend giving this sage sausage stuffing recipe a try. To bring some wholesomeness to this side dish I opted to use a combination of sourdough and whole-wheat bread, but you can use all sourdough bread or all whole-wheat if you prefer.
Instead of pork sausage I use ground pork which is significantly leaner. To achieve the quintessential sausage flavor without all the extra fat, I add fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and grated fresh nutmeg.
Fennel seeds drive home the sausage flavor and also pair well with the wild mushrooms, Swiss chard, sage, and lemon. A brief grind in a mortar and pestle is all fennel seeds require.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Bread, I like a combination of sourdough and seedy whole-grain bread. You can use all sourdough or all whole-wheat.
- Lean ground pork, flavored with a few spices is used in place of sausage to keep this lighter and healthier.
- Spices, you’ll need fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, nutmeg, salt and pepper
- Butter or olive oil, I like a combination but you can use one or the other if needed.
- Mixed wild mushrooms, use a combination of cremini, shiitakes, porcini and chanterelle
- Shallots & Garlic
- Vegetables, you’ll need celery and Swiss chard or kale.
- Herbs, you’ll need fresh sage and parsley.
- Lemon
- Chicken broth
- Eggs
How to Make Sourdough “Sausage” Stuffing
- Toast the cubed bread in the oven (or set it out overnight to stale).
- Cook the ground pork and spices in a sauté pan.
- Cook the mushrooms and shallots in the same pan until the mushrooms are browned.
- Add the celery, Swiss chard, sage, and garlic to the mushrooms and cook briefly.
- Toss the cooked pork “sausage,” vegetables, bread, parsley, broth and eggs together.
- Transfer mixture to a baking dish and bake until cooked through and golden brown.
The Difference Between Stuffing and Dressing
The difference is minimal, really. It all comes down to how the bread mixture is cooked. Stuffing means the bread mixture is cooked inside the bird. It’s “stuffing” the bird.
This dish is “dressing” when the bread mixture is cooked separately from the turkey, in its own dish.
The reason I refer to dressing as stuffing here is because it’s a more recognizable and widely used term. However, this is in fact a dressing recipe.
Why You Shouldn’t Cook Stuffing Inside a Turkey
The biggest reason you shouldn’t cook stuffing inside a turkey is because it’s incredibly difficult to cook the stuffing to a safe internal temperature without overcooking the turkey itself.
Variations on this Sage Sausage Stuffing:
- Add dried or fresh fruit such as dried cranberries or diced apples.
- Add toasted and chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, or hazelnuts.
- Swap the pork “sausage” for turkey giblets.
- Make it vegetarian and skip the pork “sausage.”
- Skip making the homemade sausage together and just use bulk spicy sausage.
Serve this Sourdough Stuffing with…
- Herb-Roasted Cornish Hens
- Orange Glazed Roast Turkey Breast
- Rosemary & Orange Glazed Roast Turkey
- Roasted Pork Tenderloin
More Thanksgiving Recipes to Love…
- Roasted Delicata Squash with Maple Browned Butter Sauce
- Roasted Beets & Carrots with Toasted Cumin Vinaigrette
- Wild Rice Stuffing
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad
Did you make this sausage and mushroom stuffing? Let me know by leaving a comment and star rating below!
Print
Wild Mushroom Sourdough Stuffing (dressing) with Sausage
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1¼ hours
- Total Time: 1½ hours
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Side dish
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Wild Mushroom Stuffing, made with ground pork, Swiss chard, sage, and a mixture of sourdough and multigrain bread is a unique and flavorful take on a classic Thanksgiving side dish.
Ingredients
- 1 pound hearty sourdough and/or whole-wheat bread, cubed (8–10 cups)
- ½ pound lean ground pork
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter or olive oil (I like a combination)
- 1 pound mixed wild mushrooms, washed, trimmed, and sliced (such as shiitakes, porcini, chanterelle, and/or cremini)
- 3 large shallots, sliced
- 3 celery ribs, minced
- 3 cups chopped Swiss chard or kale (½ a bunch)
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Sage
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- ½ cup chopped parsley + more for garnish
- 1¼ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F with rack set in middle position. Coat a 3-quart or 9×13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray or butter; set aside.
- Arrange bread in an even layer on a baking sheet. Bake bread in oven until toasted and starting to brown, 20–25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook pork in a sauté pan over medium heat until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Stir in fennel seeds, pepper flakes, and nutmeg, cook 1 minute. Season with salt and black pepper and transfer to a large bowl.
- Heat butter and/or oil in now-empty sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and cook until liquid is evaporated and mushrooms are browned 10–12 minutes.
- Stir in celery and cook 2 minutes. Stir in chard, sage, and garlic and cook 30 seconds. Deglaze pan with 2 tablespoons lemon juice then transfer to bowl with pork; season with salt and pepper.
- Add bread, parsley, and 1 teaspoon lemon zest to bowl with mushrooms and pork and toss to combine.
- Whisk together broth and eggs then pour over bread mixture and toss until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer dressing to prepared baking dish and cover tightly with a piece of foil lightly sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake dressing, covered, 20 minutes. Remove foil from dish and continue baking dressing until top is golden brown and edges are crisp, 30–40 minutes.
- Let dressing cool 5 minutes, sprinkle with additional chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
PREP STUFFING 8 HOURS OR LESS IN ADVANCE: Prepare stuffing mixture, transfer to baking dish, cover and refrigerate until ready to bake. When ready to bake, transfer chilled stuffing to preheated oven and bake as directed, adding 5–10 minutes more as needed.
PREP STUFFING UP TO ONE DAY IN ADVANCE: Prepare stuffing recipe through baking. Let cooked stuffing cool, then cover and refrigerate. Thirty minutes prior to serving, transfer chilled stuffing to a 350° oven and bake for 5–10 minutes until heated through. Broil stuffing for a few minutes to re-crisp the top if needed. Finish stuffing with fresh parsley as directed in recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ⅛ of the recipe
- Calories: 305
- Sugar: 4g
- Sodium: 396mg
- Fat: 10.5g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 4g
- Protein: 17g
- Cholesterol: 62mg
Keywords: sausage stuffing, sausage stuffing recipe, sage sausage stuffing, sourdough stuffing, sausage and mushroom stuffing, wild mushroom stuffing
This recipe and article were originally published on 11/19/18 and most recently updated on 11/4/21.
This is GORGEOUS! So delicious for Thanksgiving… I’m also making it for xmas!
★★★★★
Thank you Libby! Oooh great idea, I hope you enjoy it!
We made this for Christmas Eve dinner and it was a huge hit. It paired awesome with filet mignon and Brussel sprouts (also from ZK).
★★★★★
We made this for Christmas Eve and it was a huge hit. The stuffing paired so well with filet mignon and Brussel sprouts (from ZK).
★★★★★
Oooh that sounds like a perfect Christmas Eve dinner, yum! Thanks for trying on ZK recipes!