This chestnut stuffing recipe with sausage is an extra flavorful version of classic Thanksgiving stuffing that will feed a large (and hungry!) holiday crowd. With make-ahead prep tips, ingredient shortcuts, and lots of detail, this post will help you prepare a holiday menu staple with low fuss.
When it comes to Thanksgiving stuffing, my family recipe has one hard-and-fast rule established by my Italian immigrant great-grandparents: you must include chestnuts.
With their uniquely sweet/savory/nutty flavor and strong association through song with the fall and winter holiday season, roasted chestnuts add a special and ultra-complementary flavor to a stuffing recipe.
Paired with crusty bread, seasoned sausage, Thanksgiving herbs, and just the right amount of liquid, this sausage chestnut stuffing hits all the marks for Thanksgiving menu purists, while giving a little something to those who are open to a new flavor or two on their holiday table.
Note: Since this is being cooked in a dish and not stuffed into a turkey, this *technically* could be called chestnut dressing. However I'm from the northeast and colloquially we call it all "stuffing".
Recipe Ingredients
- Bread: Just like in a sausage breakfast strata, I recommend a nice crusty bread from the bakery department for stuffing, like baguettes, seeded breads, boules, etc. Its heartier texture holds up better than softer sliced sandwich loaves, and if the loaves are 2-3 days stale? You can get away with not having to pre-toast the bread cubes. That's a win for holiday recipe prep.
- Sausage: Go for regular seasoned sausage, not Italian, hot, or another flavor variation, to make sure the flavors are complementary. Pork is the classic choice, though I have used turkey sausage (shhhh) in this chestnut stuffing recipe before with great results.
- Butter & Olive Oil: For sautéing the celery and onion. Stuffing can be a very butter-heavy dish (it's the holidays, after all!) so I like to replace a nice portion of it with olive oil.
- Celery & Onion: Two classic flavor profiles in traditional stuffing.
- Chestnuts: While you can roast chestnuts yourself, it's MUCH quicker and easier to use packaged roasted and peeled chestnuts - no open fire (or oven) required. Instead of scoring impossibly hard shells, roasting, and hand-peeling, you just need to open a vacuum-sealed package and chop! These are very different than water chestnuts, which are not a substitute.
- Parsley, Sage & Thyme: Herbs that provide that ultimate savory, sort-of sweet, and earthy flavor we often associate with cozy dishes. Fresh herbs (versus their dried counterparts) really shine here.
- Chicken Broth & Milk: Just enough to sufficiently moisten the bread without becoming soupy. This stuffing is soft inside but still has a semi-crisped surface and edges. Pictured here is bouillon paste which I add water to.
- Eggs: They help with moisture and work to hold everything together. Beat them separately before adding the other liquid ingredients to ensure they're nice and smooth.
Roasting Chestnuts
I highly recommend finding already steamed/roasted and peeled chestnuts to slash prep time here, though if you're up for roasting your own - go for it! They often arrive in U.S. stores by October/early November. For the oven-roasted batch pictured here, I followed this Spruce Eats tutorial.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Step 1: Dry out bread cubes (if needed) and add to a bowl. Sauté celery and onion and add them to the bowl, too.
- Step 2: Fully cook and crumble sausage in a large pan, then add this to the bowl.
- Step 3: Whisk the eggs, then add the chicken broth and milk. Pour the liquid into the bowl and add the rest of the ingredients: chestnuts and herbs.
- Step 4: Turn out stuffing into a large baking dish(es) and bake at 350°F for 60-90 minutes - see notes for specific pan size/timing in the recipe card.
Tips and Tricks
- Bread Size - This can vary depending upon your preference, from smaller ½-inch cubes to the larger ¾- to 1-inch cubes seen here.
- Prep-Ahead Chestnuts - If you're roasting your own chestnuts, you can do so, peel them, and then freeze whole in an air-tight freezer bag with excess air pressed out for 1-2 months ahead of time. Thaw in the fridge before chopping and using in this stuffing.
- Stuffing the Bird - If it's your tradition to cook stuffing inside the turkey, I don't see why this recipe wouldn't work. I'm not experienced on this front so defer to food safety guidelines and your own knowledge regarding this.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can if it's your preference, but I never do. They don't impact the texture any and I like the flavor! Skipping it also saves time.
This chestnut stuffing can be prepared through step #7 (assembling it in the pan) up to 24 hours ahead of time. Cover the pan in a layer of both plastic wrap and then foil to prevent it from drying out, then refrigerate. Remove the pan from the fridge a half hour before beginning to bake, remembering to discard the plastic wrap before baking.
I've reliably seen raw chestnuts in Trader Joe's and big U.S. grocery chains starting in late October. I most recently bought roasted and peeled chestnuts at Costco in the fall, but they may be trickier to find in-person. Check your favorite online food retailer for jarred/vacuum-packed varieties.
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
P.S. Love homemade stuffing but are interested in a semi-homemade shortcut recipe to enjoy it year-round? Check out my chicken stuffing bake. No cream of soups!
If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating in the recipe card and/or a comment review below!
Chestnut Stuffing
Ingredients
- 24 ounces crusty bread in ¾-inch cubes
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ cups diced onion (about 1 large white onion)
- 1 ½ cups diced celery (about 4 ribs)
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 16 ounces regular sausage pork or turkey
- 10.5 ounces (300g) roasted or otherwise cooked and shelled chestnuts chopped (about 2 cups chopped)
- ¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
- 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
- 2 ½ Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 4 large eggs
- 2 ⅔ cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup milk whole milk recommended
Instructions
- Slice bread into roughly ¾-inch cubes (I do not remove the crusts).If your bread is 2-3 days stale, add the bread cubes to a large mixing bowl (or two if needed), heat the oven to 350°F, and skip the next step.
- If your bread is fresh, add cubed bread to a large rimmed sheet pan (or two) and bake in a 350°F oven for 12-15 minutes or until lightly dried. Stir the bread cubes up once halfway. Once done, add the toasted bread to a large mixing bowl.
- Add butter and olive oil to a large sauté pan set over medium heat. Swirl the butter around the pan as it melts, then add the onion and celery. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until softened but not browned. Season with salt and pepper, then add to the mixing bowl with the bread cubes. Wipe out the pan to use again.
- Place the pan back on the stovetop over medium heat and add the ground sausage. Cook and crumble for 8-10 minutes, or until fully cooked. Transfer the crumbled sausage to the bowl using a slotted spoon to leave behind the fat.
- Add the chopped chestnuts, parsley, sage, and thyme to the mixing bowl and stir everything up to evenly distribute the ingredients.
- Beat the eggs in a separate large mixing bowl, then pour in the broth and milk. Whisk until combined, then pour the liquid into the bowl with the bread cubes. Carefully stir everything up so that all of the bread is equally moistened.
- Generously grease a lasagna pan, two 7.5-by-10.5-by-2.25-inch dishes, or a deep-dish 9-by-13-by-3-inch baking dish (see note below on dish sizes) with butter and pour out the stuffing mixture into it. Use a spatula to lightly press it into an even layer, but you don't have to press it firmly.
- Cover the dish(es) with aluminum foil.If using a lasagna pan or two 7.5-by-10.5-inch dishes, bake covered on the center rack for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until golden-brown, bubbling, and the internal temperature registers 160°F.If using a deep-dish 9-by-13-by-3-inch baking dish, bake covered on the center rack for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 30-45 minutes, or until golden-brown, bubbling, and the internal temperature registers 160°F. The stuffing will be piled higher in this pan, requiring additional cooking time.
Notes
- 9-by-13-by-3-inch dish
- A "lasagna pan", which typically has a few extra inches all ways on a 9-by-13 pan
- Two 7.5-by-10.5-by-2.25-inch dishes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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