This recipe for chestnut stuffing with sausage is the perfect Thanksgiving side dish for roast turkey. Stuffing ingredients include sweet Italian sausage, fennel, fresh herbs and chestnuts.
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Let’s be honest.
How many take a bite of the Thanksgiving stuffing before the turkey?
Yeah, me too.
Today, I humbly share my definition of a great stuffing recipe perfect for a Thanksgiving dinner celebration.
If you are looking for a recipe with pounds of butter, sorry to disappoint you. This might not be the recipe for you.
I shall put on my dietitian’s hat to tell you that it’s not necessary.
Once you taste this stuffing, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much flavor it has without leaving you with that feeling of overindulgence. There is a flavor boost in recipes using Italian sausages -examples include this orecchiette recipe, sausage and peppers, or this Italian soup.
You will also love the convenience of this make-ahead stuffing, making it the perfect stress-free holiday recipe for your Thanksgiving table.
It is equally delicious whether you mix your turkey with it or bake it apart in an ovenproof casserole dish.
You will also love the versatility of this recipe.
If you prefer a classic combination, go ahead and replace the fennel with celery; don’t care for the sausage, eliminate it; can’t find fresh chestnuts, replace them with another nut like pecans or even walnuts. Do you love cranberries? Add a handful!
The variations are truly endless!
Jump to:
How to make traditional chestnut stuffing from scratch?
We will make bread cubes from scratch and dry them in the oven for this recipe. It might seem like an extra step, but you won’t believe how much flavorful broth freshly dried bread absorbs.
It is an investment of only 5 minutes.
The chicken (or vegetable) stock (or broth) is another flavor enhancer. If you have time to make your own, great. Otherwise, purchase a low-sodium broth.
The most time-consuming activity when making this stuffing recipe is preparing the chestnuts. Luckily, this can be done up to 3 days in advance. You can also use properly stored chestnuts.
If more convenient for you, you can purchase vacuum-packed chestnuts. You need about 12 ounces (340 grams) of chestnuts.
Let’s prep our recipe
Boiling the chestnuts: Use approximately 1 pound (450 grams) of chestnuts (in their shell) for this recipe. This will yield 12 ounces (340 grams). I have already shared with you how to parboil the chestnuts. Simply follow the link for all the details.
Make it ahead: The chestnuts can be prepared up to 3 days before you make this recipe. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to make your stuffing.
Slicing and drying out the bread: Preheat the oven to 250°F (120°C). Place the oven rack at the bottom level. Trim the crusts from the bread (approximately 1 pound or 450 grams ) and cut or tear them into ½-1 inch cubes.
Spread the bread cubes, in a single layer, on one or two large-rimmed baking sheets. Bake for approximately 45-60 minutes or until completely dried but not browned. Stir occasionally.
The total time depends on the type of bread used. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool down to room temperature.
Prepping the vegetables: Dice 1 yellow onion (2 cups) and 1 fennel bulb (2 cups). Remove the fronds and the fennel core.
Prepping the fresh herbs: Chop Italian flat-leaf parsley (½ cup), sage (2 tablespoons), and thyme (1 tablespoon).
Step-by-step instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Place the oven rack on the middle level. Coat the inside of a deep 9 x 13-inch baking pan with about 1 tablespoon of room-temperature butter. Set aside.
Place the room-temperature toasted bread in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet or saucepan. Add 1 pound of bulk sweet Italian sausage.
Use a fork or a potato masher to break the sausage meat into small pieces. Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes until no longer pink and lightly browned.
With a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked sausage to a large shallow bowl to cool down. Leave the sausage fat in the pan.
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 4 tablespoons of butter to the saucepan. Add 1 large yellow onion (diced, about 2 cups) and 1 fennel bulb (about 2 cups).
Sauté onions and fennel over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes until cooked and just beginning to brown. Stir occasionally.
Combining the stuffing ingredients
It’s time to combine the cooked Italian sausage and the sauteed vegetables with the fresh herbs and the rest of the ingredients.
In a large bowl, gently toss the toasted bread, sauteed sausage, and vegetables.
Add ½ cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage,1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Toss this bread mixture together and taste. Adjust seasonings. Add the parboiled chopped chestnuts (about 12 ounces).
Slowly add 1¼ cup of room temperature chicken(or vegetable) broth and toss gently. The toasted bread will begin to rehydrate by absorbing this liquid.
If you squeeze the bread with your hands, the cubes should still feel crisp but begin to soften on the outside. Taste again and adjust for salt and pepper.
Whisk together 2 eggs with about 1 cup of chicken broth. Add this liquid mixture to the stuffing and gently combine.
At this point, you need to evaluate the texture of the bread to get the perfect stuffing with a crispy golden top and a soft bread pudding-like interior.
Do the bread pieces feel spongy? If yes, there is enough liquid.
If the bread pieces still feel a little hard, you may want to add more broth. Add it in small quantities.
There should not be any liquid accumulating at the bottom of the dish.
Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish. Do not pack in the stuffing mixture, just let it drop naturally into the dish. Cover tightly with foil. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes.
Remove the foil and continue to bake, uncovered, for another 20-30 minutes until the top is crispy and golden brown.
Remove from the oven.
If desired, garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
To make ahead
The stuffing is best served on the day it is made. However, it is possible to make it the day before. Bake the stuffing. Then, remove it from the oven, cool it to room temperature, and refrigerate. Do not garnish with parsley at this point.
On the day you plan to serve it, place it in a 350°F (175°C) oven, cover it until heated, remove the aluminum foil cover, and continue to bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Tips
- One pound of chestnuts (approximately 20 average-sized chestnuts with the shell) yields approximately 12 ounces (340 grams) of cooked chestnuts. This is approximately 2 cups.
- The stuffing can be cooked up to 1 day before your holiday dinner and gently reheated.
- With a sharp knife, cut through the casing with kitchen shears if you use sausage with casings.
Do chestnuts taste good?
If you have never tasted chestnuts before, you might wonder what they taste like before making this stuffing recipe. Here is an article that explores what chestnuts taste like.
FAQ
Yes. Simply eliminate the sausage and use vegan butter. No other changes are necessary.
Since the chestnuts will be baked for over an hour, parboiling them prevents them from drying out. This simple step ensures that your finished dish will have chestnuts that will be moist and flavorful.
The best stuffing uses dense, hearty bread that will not get soggy. Artisan, Country-Style white bread, crusty Italian bread, or any good quality white bread works well for this recipe. Another good option is sourdough bread, which is also dense and has a slightly tangy flavor that goes well with savory Thanksgiving flavors. Eggy brioche or challah can also be used.
We add broth to the stuffing to rehydrate the dried-out bread. Therefore, you need to touch the bread and evaluate the texture to get the perfect stuffing with a crispy golden top and a soft bread pudding-like interior.
Do the bread pieces feel spongy? If yes, there is enough liquid.
If the bread pieces still feel a little hard, you may want to add more broth. Add it in small quantities.
There should not be any liquid accumulating at the bottom of the dish.
Is it stuffing or dressing?
According to the Huffington Post, would you believe your geographical location will dictate whether you refer to this Thanksgiving classic as stuffing or dressing? More specifically, if you hail from the South, you will call this dressing; if you hail from the North, you refer to it as stuffing.
Food and Wine provide a technical argument -if cooked outside the bird, the correct term is dressing.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, regardless of what you call it, we should simply be grateful.
More holiday side dishes
What’s better than one side dish? Two side dishes, of course! These reader favorites will make your holiday table more exciting and delicious.
- Warm Farro Salad
- Italian Potato Croquettes
- Big Italian Salad
- Roasted Root Vegetables
- Rapini
- Green Beans
Recipe origins
If you have visited here before, you know that I love chestnuts.
The taste of chestnuts is incomparable to any other nut!
I enjoy having them roasted, boiled or pureed. I also love the convenience of air fryer chestnuts.
Over the years, I have tweaked a recipe I initially found in a cookbook called Holiday Favorites by Williams-Sonoma.
I replaced the tart apples with fennel, the sourdough bread with Crusty Italian bread, and played around with the variety and proportions of the herbs.
The sweetness of the fennel and the chestnuts complement the sausage perfectly in this Italian stuffing recipe.
That poor Thanksgiving turkey doesn’t stand a chance with this delicious savory stuffing!
Hoping you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends.
THANKS SO MUCH for following and being part of the She Loves Biscotti community where you will find Simple & Tasty Family-Friendly Recipes with an Italian Twist.
And if you are new here, welcome! You may want to sign up for my weekly e-mail newsletter. You can unsubscribe any time you want.
Ciao for now,
Maria
★★★★★ If you have made this Chestnut and Italian Sausage Stuffing Recipe, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!
Chestnut recipes
Recipe
Chestnut Stuffing
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Ingredients
- 1½ tablespoons butter to butter the baking dish
- 1 pound crusty white bread 450 grams, crust removed, oven dried in ½ inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons olive oil separated
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage bulk, casings removed
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 large sweet onion diced, 2 cups
- 1 fennel bulb diced, 2 cups
- ½ cup Italian flat leaf parsley fresh
- 2 tablespoons sage fresh, chopped
- 1 tablespoon thyme fresh, chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 12 ounces parboiled chestnuts chopped
- 2¼-2½ cups vegetable or chicken broth separated
- 2 eggs
- extra chopped parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Place the oven rack on the middle level.
- Coat the inside of a deep 9 x 13-inch baking pan with about 1 tablespoon of room-temperature butter. Set aside.
- Place the room-temperature toasted bread in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add 1 pound of bulk sweet Italian sausage.
- Use a fork or a potato masher to break the sausage into small pieces. Cook for approximately 8-10 minutes until no longer pink and lightly browned.
- With a slotted spoon, transfer the cooked sausage to a large shallow bowl to cool down. Leave the sausage fat in the pan.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 4 tablespoons of butter to the saucepan.
- Add 2 cups diced large yellow onion and 2 cups diced fennel bulb.
- Sauté over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes until cooked and just beginning to brown. Stir occasionally. When done, set aside.
Combining the stuffing ingredients:
- Add the sauteed sausage and vegetables to the bowl of toasted bread. Toss gently together.
- Add the chopped fresh herbs (½ cup chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage,1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme).
- Season with salt and pepper (1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper). Toss together and taste. Adjust seasonings.
- Add the chopped parboiled chestnuts (about 12 ounces).
- Slowly add 1¼ cup of room-temperature chicken broth and toss gently together. The toasted bread will begin to rehydrate by absorbing this liquid.
- Taste again and adjust for salt and pepper.
- Whisk together 2 eggs with about 1 cup of chicken broth. Add this liquid mixture to the stuffing and gently combine.
- Evaluate if your mixture needs more broth.
- Transfer the stuffing to the buttered baking dish. Do not pack in the mixture, just let it drop naturally into the dish.
- Cover tightly with foil. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes.
- Remove the foil and continue to bake, uncovered, for another 20-30 minutes until the top is crispy and golden.
- Remove from the oven.
- If desired, garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- 1 pound of chestnuts (approximately 20 average-sized chestnuts with the shell) yields approximately 12 ounces (340 grams) of cooked chestnuts. This is approximately 2 cups.
- The stuffing can be cooked up to 1 day before your holiday dinner and gently reheated.
- Cut through and remove the casing with kitchen shears if you use sausage with casings.
Nutrition
This post was originally published on November 21, 2019, and republished on November 5, 2022, with updated content and a video. Thanks for sharing.
Judy
Maria, I am in tears… HAPPY TEARS!!! I remember my grandmother making this when we were kids, she’d call me over the day before Thanksgiving to peel a massive bowl of chestnuts, oh the dreaded chestnuts I’d think. How I miss those days. She passed when I was 18 & here I am at 65 FINALLY seeing almost to the dot her recipe. The only thing I don’t remember is the fennel yet I do remember the seeds. Thank you for having such great recipes overall but to find this brings back a flood of memories. People you have to try this recipe if you can find decent fresh chestnuts, a rarity in my area sadly. Really it will be a hit.
Maria
Hello Judy! Oh my goodness, your message truly touched my heart—thank you so much for sharing this beautiful memory. I can almost picture you and your grandmother working together to peel that big bowl of chestnuts. What a special tradition to have been part of, even if those chestnuts felt like a chore at the time!
I’m so glad this recipe brought back such cherished memories for you.
Thank you again for your kind words, and for encouraging others to give it a try! ❤️ You made my day!
Alyssa
Hi Maria! Thank you for the recipe, I just roasted my chestnuts (from
your previous page ) ahead of time. I’m realizing this recipe calls for them to be par boiled 😳 will my chestnuts be dry in the stuffing now?
Maria
I think there will be enough moisture from the rest of the ingredients for the stuffing to turn out amazing! Happy Thanksgiving Alyssa!
Jean
Hi I’m confused about the chestnuts…do
They need to parboil in their shells?
Maria
Yes, I will cut a slit in them and parboil them for about 10 minutes. I find this prevents them from drying out when they are later baked in the stuffing. Thanks for stopping by.
Adrian
Would corn bread work?
Maria
I have not tried it but as long as the cornbread is dry so that it can absorb the broth it will turn out great. Add the broth gradually as the total amount might vary… but this is the case for any bread. Happy Thanksgiving!
Adriano
Thank you!
Maria
My pleasure!
Val
What a great combination of flavors! Can’t wait to try this chestnut stuffing. Thanks Maria!
Maria
My pleasure Val. It really is a great combination! Hope you get a chance to try it! Thanks for stopping by.