My Mom’s Sausage & Sage Dressing is the only one we have ever had on Thanksgiving. It’s my Grandma’s stuffing recipe and our family’s favorite Thanksgiving recipe!
My Grandma Czaplewski always had Thanksgiving dinner. When she passed away, a month after I gave birth to my first son, Spencer, we moved it to my Mom’s, but the dinner stayed EXACTLY the same.
Every year, my Mom says “should I make something different? It’s like the same ‘ol same ‘ol.” I always reply “NO!!”
I am a creature of habit. It is a dinner that I look forward to every year, and I want it EXACTLY the same!!
Speaking of pictures, in this day and age, we take pictures of EVERYTHING! I guess it’s because at the very least all (or almost all) of us have a camera phone at our ready disposal. I had to search to find a picture to share with you of my grandma and me to post on this entry!
My favorite thing (next to the way it tastes!) about this recipe, is that it’s one of the few recipes that I have that is in my Grandma’s handwriting. As a scrapbooker, a person realizes the importance of handwriting. It can’t be duplicated, just like the person doing the writing cannot.
^LOVE IT? PIN IT!^
I spoke with my Mom last night and shared the recipe that my Grandma wrote down for me some 25 years ago. She has made some variations to the recipe, but strangely, it tastes the same to me? My mom makes extra stuffing, because we would all cry if there were no leftovers!! So, these days, she buys a turkey that is somewhere between 20-22 pounds. She prepares the dressing and stuffs as much of it inside the turkey as it can hold. The remaining goes into a heavy-duty foil pouch and bakes along with the turkey. Yay for extra dressing!
I wrote this post the first time in November of 2012. It’s getting an update today in 2019 with the details of how to make it. My Mom recently spent the day with me, and we made her entire Thanksgiving meal together. I was able to photograph it, and then update the pictures for you.
What do I need to make Mom’s Sausage & Sage Dressing?
pork sausage
bread crumbs
onion, celery
chicken broth
butter
Add your cooked celery and onion, bread crumbs and pork sausage to a big bowl.
Using your hands mix it all together. Begin adding chicken stock a little at a time, and working with your hands until it becomes the right consistency. The amount of bread crumbs you use will determine how much liquid you need, so working slowly is key.
My mom is showing here how the dressing will stick together and form a ball when it’s got enough moisture.
The day we made the stuffing to show you the step by step instructions, we prepared it in a bowl. As I mentioned before, my mom typically stuffs the bird, and wraps the extra in tin foil to bake. She does this mostly for lack of oven space. The attached recipe card will tell you how to bake the stuffing in the bird, in foil or in a casserole as I have here.
I know. I keep switching the name. “Dressing” and “Stuffing” – everyone uses them differently. Typically “Stuffing” goes in the bird, and “dressing” is cooked outside of the bird. In our family, there was no rhyme or reason to that, as we always called it dressing, because that’s what my Grandma called it. Call it whatever you want, just make it! I promise you will LOVE it!
You can call it whatever you want, but if you are going to cook your stuffing inside the bird, then make sure to remove it from the cavity quickly! You don’t want to burn yourself of course, but the quicker you get it out of the bird, the better. Why?
Well, you just don’t want any sort of bacteria to turn a great meal into a trip to the hospital to deal with food poisoning!
Making the stuffing in the bird does have advantages though. It will help to keep your turkey moist. It also benefits from the turkey flavor from being cooked inside the bird. However, you can still put veggies like onions and carrots and celery inside the turkey to keep it moist. (Remove those quickly too).
If you have any concerns about the health risks, do it as dressing outside the bird.
What Other Thanksgiving Traditional Dishes Can You Share?
I love these recipes that have been passed on for so many generations. I consider it a great honor and privilege to share them and pass them on. If you like this sausage and sage dressing, then you might like some of these other dishes we hold near and dear in our family traditions.
My Mom's Sausage & Sage Dressing is the only one we have ever had on Thanksgiving. It's my Grandma's recipe, and this stuffing is the main reason our family loves the Thanksgiving meal.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time4 hourshrs
Total Time4 hourshrs30 minutesmins
Course: Thanksgiving
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Mom's Sausage & Sage Dressing/Stuffing
Calories: 249kcal
Author: Michaela Kenkel
Prevent your screen from going dark
Ingredients
2poundssage flavored pork sausage
212 ounce packages Pepperidge Farm bread crumbs,1 Herb Seasoned, 1 Country Style
3cupscelerychopped
1cuponion minceddivided
1quartchicken broth
2sticks of buttermelted (1 cup)
Instructions
In a skillet over medium heat, brown sausage until cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
In that same skillet, melt butter. Add celery and onion and cook until tender. About 10 minutes. Cool slightly so you are able to touch it for the next step.
In a big bowl, combine sausage, celery, and onion with your bread crumbs. Working with your hands, add small amounts of broth until dressing is moist, and forms into a ball.
Stuff your turkey full. (we typically make a 20 pound bird) Wrap remaining stuffing in heavy duty foil. * see notes to prepare in a casserole dish
Bake turkey according to size and package instructions for a stuffed bird.
To bake the foil package, place in oven with turkey about 45 minutes before turkey is done.
When turkey is cooked, remove stuffing immediately.
Notes
To prepare the dressing in a casserole dish: Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray, pack dressing into the dish tightly. Bake at 325 degrees F for one hour. This recipe is easily cut in half for smaller turkeys.
So much like my maternal grandmother and mother’s recipe. So many recipes call for eggs and they never added eggs; so therefore I don’t either. I’ll be 84 in December so this “recipe” goes back a long time. We never had a written recipe, just the same ingredients. Thanks for all the photos and directions for the younger generation. Such fond memories of all our holiday dinners.
Yes – 12 ounce packages. This recipe is so old I didn’t have the ounces. I actually just made it last weekend and you reminded me that I needed to update with the package size, thank you!
This is the recipe my family has passed down for years!! Are you from FL or GA?
I see other recipes call for eggs—we have never put those it this!
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So much like my maternal grandmother and mother’s recipe. So many recipes call for eggs and they never added eggs; so therefore I don’t either. I’ll be 84 in December so this “recipe” goes back a long time. We never had a written recipe, just the same ingredients. Thanks for all the photos and directions for the younger generation. Such fond memories of all our holiday dinners.
It’s a keeper! I have never added egg either. If you follow the instructions, it sticks together just fine without it!
That looks so good.
Thank you!! It’s my FAVORITE part of the whole meal on Thanksgiving!
How many ounces is a large bag of bread crumbs? My grocery store only has 12 oz. packages. Thanks.
Yes – 12 ounce packages. This recipe is so old I didn’t have the ounces. I actually just made it last weekend and you reminded me that I needed to update with the package size, thank you!
This is the recipe my family has passed down for years!! Are you from FL or GA?
I see other recipes call for eggs—we have never put those it this!
I live in Nebraska! No eggs here either! 🙂 It’s SO GOOD isn’t it!?!
Could you prep this the day before and then bake it? Or would the bread get too soggy and mushy?
I always make it the day before! Making it today!