Meet your must-have Christmas side dish! Homemade Stuffing with sausage meat, apricots and chestnuts. It’s SO GOOD, it’ll be the star of the show! Also perfect for a special roast dinner at any time of year.
What’s your favourite Christmas lunch side dish? After roast potatoes (OBVIOUSLY), Stuffing is mine.
For me, it should be super tasty, with the texture of intensively savoury sausage meat, but added fruity bits and a crunchy top.
This recipe is so easy AND you can prep it ahead of time, leaving you precious time in the kitchen when it’s all going on!
It’s a lovely addition to have ready in your freezer too for special dinners throughout the year. And it’s equally good (perhaps even better?) sliced cold in a sandwich the next day.
Super simple but super special too – you can’t say fairer than that for a humble side dish!
Why you’ll love this easy Stuffing recipe
So quick and easy to whip up
Fruity and full of flavour
Easy to make in advance
Sarah’s Notes
For me, Christmas dinner (and every dinner) is all about getting the most out of the corners we can cut and easy wins we can take while making the best meal we can.
This Christmas Stuffing recipe ticks that box. Growing up in the 80s, the stuffing most often known to me came from a box. This is something entirely different.
I wanted to come up with a delicious and special side dish but an achievable one, which is why I’ve made sure this can be made ahead of time AND is freezer-friendly.
I hope you love it!
Homemade Stuffing recipe Ingredients
- Butter – Go for unsalted butter for this.
- Onion – This will need to be peeled and finely chopped.
- Sausages – You favourite good quality ones with a high meat content, or go for the equivalent weight in sausage meat, which is often found in supermarkets and butchers around Christmas.
- Dried apricots – These will need quartering.
- Chestnuts – The peeled, vacuum-packed type that are cooked, also readily available at Christmas.
- Breadcrumbs – I like Panko for this recipe.
- Fresh sage – Finely chopped up.
- Sea salt
How to make stuffing
1. Dice and start to fry your onions in butter (as per the full recipe below).
2. Add the onions to the sausage meat and other ingredients in a bowl.
3. Mix well (use a spoon or clean hands for this job!)
4. Spoon the mixture into a shallow dish and bake as per the recipe below until cooked through.
How to make stuffing ahead of time
Follow the recipe to step 4. Cover and put it in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
When you’re ready, cook as per step 5, but be aware it may take an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven if it’s come straight out of the fridge.
To make even further ahead of time…
Alternatively, make the recipe to step 4, cover and freeze for up to 1 month. Allow it to defrost fully before baking as from step 5.
Substitutions
- Dried fruit – You can swap the apricots and chestnuts for other dried fruit if you prefer. It is what gives this stuffing its gorgeous texture though!
- Dried sage – You can use this instead of fresh, but add it in with the onions and butter when you’re frying, so it softens
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for up to 3 days.
How do you reheat it? It’s fine to eat leftover stuffing cold, or you can reheat it thoroughly, covered in the oven or microwave, before serving.
Can you freeze Stuffing? Wait until it’s totally cold and then put into a freezer-proof container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost thoroughly before reheating.
More Christmas Side dishes…
Side Dishes
Braised Red Cabbage {with Apple}
Christmas Recipes
Brussels Sprouts with Bacon & Chestnuts
Christmas Recipes
Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Christmas Recipes
Vegetarian Gravy {Make Ahead Recipe}
FAQs
Use any good quality sausages you and your family enjoy which have a high meat content. I tend to use a fairly plain pork ones without too many other flavourings as we are adding lots in the recipe.
You can also use the equivalent weight of sausage meat from the supermarket or butchers, which is usually readily available around Christmas time.
I have to say I’ve never bothered with stuffing the turkey itself, as I very much like the crunchy edges this stuffing gets as it cooks in its own dish.
You could do if you wanted to though. It’s a traditional way to do a turkey but it’s also lot of faff!
While we don’t really use stuffing to actually ‘stuff’ a meat cavity to cook anymore, it is still a hugely popular side dish because it’s so delicious.
Traditionally we eat it on our main Christmas lunches alongside Roast Turkey and Cranberry Sauce but we can also have it as part of any roast dinner the rest of the year – or even on its own! And leftovers are perfect in sandwiches.
Serve this next to some other festive (or non-festive) sides, such as sprouts, red cabbage, cauliflower cheese or carrots and parsnips.
Make sure your sausage meat is gluten free, and use gluten free Panko breadcrumbs to make this gluten free Stuffing.
In the UK, this is traditionally known as a Christmas side dish or literally ‘stuffing’ for the turkey, and the classic version is with sausage meat and herbs.
In the US, it’s traditionally enjoyed at both Christmas and Thanksgiving, and is more generally a bread-based side dish flavoured with herbs and other vegetables. It is known is some regions as ‘dressing’ too.
This serves roughly 6 people, depending on the portions you serve. Feel free to double it or reduce it, but keep an eye on it as cooking times will vary from this recipe.
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Simple Stuffing Recipe {with Sausage Meat}
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Ingredients
- 25 g Unsalted butter
- 1 Onion Peeled and finely chopped
- 450 g Pork sausages Or 8 sausages
- 50 g Dried apricots Quartered
- 90 g Cooked chestnuts (the vacuum-packed type) Roughly chopped
- 50 g Breadcrumbs Such as Panko
- 10 g Fresh sage Finely chopped
- Sea salt
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 180℃ fan/200℃/Gas Mark 6.
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Put the butter and onion in a small frying pan over a medium heat and cook for 5-10 minutes until slightly softened but not coloured.
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Remove the skins of the sausages – cutting along the long edge of each sausage and then turning them inside out – and discard the skins. Put the sausage meat in a large bowl with the cooked onion (and the butter it cooked in) and all the remaining ingredients. Stir until thoroughly mixed (you may need to use clean hands!).
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Spoon the mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish (don't smooth the top, as the lumps and bumps given a good texture).
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Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until cooked through and golden on top.
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Notes
Oven temperature: If you’re cooking this with your oven at a higher temperature (say 200℃ for Roast Potatoes) this is fine, but they may cook more quickly. Also, put them on a lower shelf where the oven is slightly cooler if possible!
To freeze: Make the recipe up to step 4, then freeze covered. Allow it to fully defrost before baking as normal from step 5.
Sausages: Use any good quality sausages you and your family enjoy which have a high meat content. I tend to use a fairly plain one without too many other flavourings as we are adding lots in the recipe. You can also use the equivalent of sausage meat.
Chestnuts: You can buy them peeled and precooked in a vacuum pack in most supermarkets (particularly if you’re making this around Christmas time!)
Servings: This makes enough for 6 servings as a side dish. Feel free to double or reduce the recipe quantities to suit you. If you do make less, you will probably need to reduce the cooking time slightly so it doesn’t overcook. Just be sure to check it’s completely cooked inside before serving.
Nutrition
This recipe was first published here on December 15th, 2021. It was updated again on November 5th, 2025 to add additional step-by-step videos.
The post Stuffing {with Sausage meat} appeared first on Taming Twins.
