Notes:
Thanksgiving is a cooking frenzy, and the last thing we all need is a stuffing recipe that's harder than it needs to be. This recipe uses a bagged stuffing mix to make everyone's life easier, then amps it up to make it still serve as a truly delicious Thanksgiving stuffing.I recommend using a low-sodium chicken broth and then adding salt to the recipe yourself to better control the salt level, but you can always use a regular chicken broth and reduce the amount of salt you add yourself accordingly.
Sausage Spinach Stuffing
Ingredients
- 12 oz. bag Pepperidge Farm herb-seasoned stuffing mix (not cubes)
- 16 oz. roll sausage (or turkey sausage if you prefer)
- 4 tbsp (½ stick) salted butter
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ~3 stalks celery (¾ cup when finely diced)
- ~½ white onion (¾ cup when finely diced)
- 10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- ~¼ tsp dried parsley, to taste
- ~¼ tsp ground sage, to taste
- ~½ tsp dried rosemary, to taste
- ~½ tsp dried thyme, to taste
Steps
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place the stuffing mix in a large bowl.
- Sauté the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until cooked through and lightly browned, stirring and crumbling into small pieces as it cooks. Drain the sausage, add ¾ of it to the stuffing mix in the large bowl, and set the rest aside. You might decide to add the rest of the sausage to the stuffing at the end for a meatier flavor, but start with ¾ of the sausage and see how that tastes before committing to all of it.
- Thaw the spinach in the microwave. Squeeze as much water as you can from the thawed spinach and set the drained spinach aside.
- Chop the celery and onion into a small dice.
- Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add the diced onion and celery. Saute the onion and celery for 5-8 minutes, until softened, translucent, and very fragrant.
- Add the spinach, broth, and desired seasonings (parsley, sage, rosemary, and/or thyme) to the skillet. Note that the stuffing mix is already seasoned, so don't go overboard on seasonings here; start small and add more at the end if needed.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then pour it over the stuffing mix and sausage in the large bowl. Stir the stuffing together to combine evenly, making sure no dry clumps of stuffing remain.
- Taste the stuffing and add salt, pepper, and any desired additional seasonings to taste, and add the remaining sausage if desired. If the mixture is too dry after you've stirred it enough to moisten it evenly, add another splash of hot broth or water as needed.
- Grease a 9"x13" casserole dish and pour the stuffing into the dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes, until heated through. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes to slightly crisp up the top of the stuffing, keeping a close watch on it to make sure it doesn't burn or dry out too much.
- Serve warm. Reheat leftovers in a 350°F oven covered with aluminum foil.
Notes:
Thanksgiving is a cooking frenzy, and the last thing we all need is a stuffing recipe that's harder than it needs to be. This recipe uses a bagged stuffing mix to make everyone's life easier, then amps it up to make it still serve as a truly delicious Thanksgiving stuffing.I recommend using a low-sodium chicken broth and then adding salt to the recipe yourself to better control the salt level, but you can always use a regular chicken broth and reduce the amount of salt you add yourself accordingly.