Sausage and Hawaiian Bread Stuffing
Sausage and Hawaiian Bread Stuffing- Sweet Hawaiian bread, savory sausage, and fresh herbs come together to make the ultimate Thanksgiving side dish.
November 22, 2020 by Nicole Collins
Well, folks. We're 5 days out from Thanksgiving.
And honestly, it kind of snuck up on me.
And double honestly, I'm not really that excited about it at all.
Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday. That may be surprising since food is one of the most important things in my life. But, I don't get to cook on Thanksgiving, and that's got to be the whole fun of Thanksgiving, right?
This holiday (and really all holidays) is going to look A LOT different for everyone this year, so I thought in order to bring some life back to the party that we'd celebrate the real stars of the Thanksgiving table...the side dishes!
So, here's the deal...for the next 4 days, we're going to make a small batch Thanksgiving meal! And by meal, I mean all the sides to serve along side some rotisserie chicken. (Chicken > Turkey...challenge me on that!) All of the recipes taste delish served along side a store bought rotisserie chicken (which could easily be mistaken for extra juicy turkey once you get it on the plate anyway), and they're all intended to make 6 servings. So, whether you're feeding a small family or just yourself, we still have enough for leftovers.
And that means Moistmaker Sliders on Friday!
Anywho, we're kicking things off with a controversial side. Is it stuffing? Is it dressing? Who knows and who cares? As long as we get to shove it in our faces!
Today, we're making Sausage and Hawaiian Bread Stuffing!
Thanksgivings at my house growing up always featured stuffing from a box, and I honestly didn't know there was any other way for a long time. But, my mom always added sausage to the stuffing, and now that's the only way I can make it too!
I'm not going to lie to you...I love a good boxed stuffing mix. Aldi makes a sage and onion Hawaiian bread stuffing mix that will change your life. But, they only sell it this time of year, so I have to look like a crazy person and buy 7 boxes at a time every year.
Well this year, I decided to make my own version of that amazing Aldi stuffing. You know, just in case they ever break my heart and discontinue it. And honestly, there may be no going back to it!
So, let's break this down. We start with Hawaiian sweet rolls. The Hawaiian bread game has changed over the past few years. There are all kinds of offerings now: rolls, sliders, loaves, etc. It doesn't matter which one you get, as long as you get the sweet variety. From there, we're going to chop the bread into cubes, toast the bread in the oven to dry it out, and throw it in a bowl to prepare for all the goodies that we're going to mix with it.
While the bread is toasting, we're going to cook some sausage. Now, I'm talking about the log of breakfast sausage here. We're not looking for links or anything in a casing. Just the bulk sausage. Then, we'll use the leftover grease from the sausage plus a healthy amount of butter to saute some celery, onions, and scallions.
Once our veggies are nice and soft, we're going to add a little garlic plus 4 different kinds of fresh herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. This is not one of those times that we want to cheat and use dried herbs. We want that brightness and freshness from the herbs to permeate through the whole batch of stuffing, and that just doesn't happen with dried herbs.
When our veggie/herb mix is finished cooking, we're going to toss it in the bowl with our bread and our sausage. Then, we're going to coat the whole mix in some turkey stock that's been beaten with an egg. Toss the whole situation together until the bread has absorbed all of the liquid, toss the stuffing in a casserole dish, and to the oven it goes to get nice and crispy.
This stuffing is everything stuffing should be. It's soft and moist on the inside but nice and crisp on the outside. And, it's bursting with flavor from every direction. Between the savory sausage, the fresh herbs, and the sweet bread; the flavor explosion is real.
Ok, everyone. Next up is my absolute FAVORITE Thanksgiving side dish of all time.
Stay tuned, and let's eat!
Sausage and Hawaiian Bread Stuffing
Serves: 6 Print
Ingredients:
1 pack (12 oz) Hawaiian sweet rolls, cut into 1 inch cubes
8 oz regular or sage sausage
3 tbsp unsalted butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup fresh parsley, minced
1 tbsp fresh sage, minced
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, minced
1 ½ cup turkey or chicken stock
1 egg
salt and pepper, to taste
cooking spray
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 mins until bread has dried out and become golden and crisp. Transfer bread to a large mixing bowl. Leave the oven set at 350 degrees.
Meanwhile, crumble and cook the sausage in a non stick skillet over medium high heat until no longer pink. Use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage from the skillet, and transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Leave any leftover grease in the skillet.
Reduce the heat to medium, and add butter to the skillet. Once the butter has melted, add celery, onion, and green onion to the skillet. Saute the veggies for 7-8 minutes until they start to soften. Add garlic, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, and a pinch of salt and pepper to the skillet, and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute more until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat. Transfer veggie/herb mix to the bowl with the bread.
Add sausage to the bread mix, and toss gently to combine. Add turkey stock and egg to a measuring cup, and beat well with a fork to break up the egg. Pour the stock mix over the bread mix along with a pinch of salt and pepper, and toss until the bread has completely absorbed the liquid mix.
Spritz a 2 qt casserole dish with cooking spray. Transfer stuffing mix to the prepared dish. Cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 30 mins. Remove the foil, and bake uncovered an additional 25-30 mins until the top of the stuffing is crisp and golden. Serve!
Recipe notes:
*I used a log of breakfast sausage for this recipe, not links or patties.
*This recipe works better with fresh herbs as opposed to dried herbs. I wouldn't recommend swapping them out for dry.
*Hawaiian sweet bread comes in many forms these days: rolls, sliders, loaves, etc. It doesn't matter which for you buy, as long as it's the sweet bread (I believe there are savory Hawaiian breads now too) and you cut it down to 1 inch cubes.
