Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing

Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing — 🍁🙌🏻🧡 This sausage stuffing is super easy to make since the slow cooker does all the hard work for you! There’s no sautéing or browning required at all and you can FREE UP YOUR OVEN! 

The BEST Sausage Stuffing Recipe

My family loves stuffing. It’s definitely their favorite Thanksgiving side dish, hands down. I wanted to try a new stuffing recipe this year and they told me this one is a keeper.

This slow cooker stuffing is buttery soft with a bit of texture from onions and celery. It’s packed with flavor from fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, and parsley. Juicy sausage adds wonderful richness. I used hot Italian sausage and it lends great depth of flavor without being spicy, but use mild sausage if you prefer. 

You don’t even need to brown the sausage first, meaning that’s another step avoided and another skillet you won’t dirty. It all counts and it all adds up, especially on holidays.

I love how easy the stuffing is. It’s made in the slow cooker which is awesome for Thanksgiving or other holidays because it’s one less thing that ties up your oven.

Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing Ingredients 

To make this Crock Pot stuffing recipe, you’ll need: 

• French bread
• Unsalted butter
• Yellow onion
• Celery
• Fresh rosemary, sage, thyme, and parsley
• Salt and pepper
• Chicken broth
• Italian sausage 

Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.

How to Make Slow Cooker Stuffing with Sausage

This truly is the BEST stuffing recipe with sausage. It’s super easy to prepare, and since it’s made in a slow cooker the recipe is basically foolproof. 

Here’s an overview of how the Crockpot stuffing with sausage is made: 

1. Dice the French bread and place it inside the slow cooker insert. Let it sit overnight to dry out. The next day, add the butter, onion, celery, rosemary, sage, thyme, salt, pepper, chicken broth and stir to combine. 
2. Crumble the Italian sausage over the bread mixture (no need to brown it first). 
3. Cover and cook the slow cooker stuffing on low for roughly 4 to 5 hours, or until the vegetables are tender and the sausage is cooked through.
4. Stir the sausage into the bread mixture, then give the sausage stuffing a taste and add more salt, pepper, or desired herbs as you deem necessary. 
5. Sprinkle the parsley onto the sausage dressing and stir to combine. Let the slow cooker stuffing cook for another 5 minutes before serving. 

Can I Prep This Stuffing in Advance? 

I’ve only ever made this sausage stuffing as written, so I can’t say for certain if you can cook it ahead of time and reheat it on Thanksgiving. My gut says that would be fine, but I’ve only made if day-of on past Thanksgivings. 

Can I Make This with Cornbread? 

I’ve only ever made this recipe with French bread, but cornbread should work.

You may want to toast the cornbread before adding it to the slow cooker or let it dry out for an extra day or two though. Cornbread is more prone to disintegrating, so it needs to be really dry before being made into sausage stuffing. 

Can I Replace the Bread with Store-Bought Stuffing Cubes? 

Possibly, yes, that could work although I haven’t tried it myself. If the store-bought stuffing or bread cubes are big chunks, go ahead and try them out.

However, if they’re fine like breadcrumbs, that definitely will not work. 

Tips for Making the Best Stuffing Recipe with Sausage

If you want to add other veggies or a chopped apple to this slow cooker stuffing, be sure to scale back the amount of vegetables that’s called for in the recipe below. Adding additional vegetables to this sausage stuffing may make the mixture too moist and the texture won’t turn out right. 

For that same reason you don’t want to add any eggs to this sausage stuffing recipe. Trust me, your stuffing will turn out perfectly if you follow the recipe exactly as written! 

Finally, note that the sausage and veggies go into the slow cooker raw. There’s no need to sauté them ahead of time — the slow cooker does all the hard work for you.

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4.40 from 398 votes

Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing

By Averie Sunshine

🍁🙌🏻🧡 This sausage stuffing is super easy to make since the slow cooker does all the hard work for you! There's no sautéing or browning required at all and you can FREE UP YOUR OVEN! 

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 hours hours

Bread Drying Time: 12 hours hours

Total Time: 17 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 servings

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Equipment

• 1 6-quart slow cooker OR
• 1 7-quart slow cooker

Ingredients 

• ▢ one pound loaf French bread, diced into 1-inch cubes and allowed to dry out for about 12 hours
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter, diced into 1/4-inch pieces
• ▢ 1 extra-large sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, diced small (about 2 cups)
• ▢ 1 cup celery, diced small
• ▢ 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, sticks discarded, finely minced
• ▢ 3 tablespoons fresh sage, stems discarded, finely minced
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, sticks discarded, finely minced
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• ▢ 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
• ▢ 1 pound ground Italian sausage, I used hot but you can use mild; sausasge should be raw and the not precooked type
• ▢ ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, or to taste

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Instructions 

• Place bread inside a 6-quart slow cooker that’s been lined with a slow cooker liner or sprayed with cooking spray. Allow bread to dry out and become stale for about 12 hours (overnight).
• The next day, add the butter, onion, celery, rosemary, sage, thyme, salt, pepper, chicken broth and stir to combine.
• Evenly crumble the raw sausage in small, bite-sized pieces over the bread mixture.
• Cover and cook on low for about 4 to 5 hours, or until vegetables are tender and sausage is cooked through. All slow cookers vary in their intensity so cook until done.
• Stir the sausage into the bread mixture, taste, and check for seasoning balance. Add more salt, pepper, or additional herbs if desired, to taste.
• Add the parsley and stir to incorporate. Cover and cook for 5 minutes before serving (Adding the parsley at the end allows it to stay green, vibrant, and lends nice visual appeal).

Video

Notes

Stuffing will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 299kcal, Carbohydrates: 28g, Protein: 15g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 852mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Originally published November 2016 and republished November 2019 with updated text.