Sausage Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients

• 12 slices of bread*, cut into 1 inch cubes (9 ½ cups total) ($2.56)
• cooking spray ($0.01)
• 1 lb mild ground Italian sausage ($3.57)
• 1 stick salted butter ($1.06)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1 ½ cups) ($0.94)
• 4-5 celery stalks, diced (about 1 ½ cups) ($0.95)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced ($0.12)
• 2 Tbsp poultry seasoning, dried ($1.32)
• ½ tsp salt ($0.01)
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.04)
• 1 apple, cored and diced (skin on) ($1.00)
• 3 tsp chicken bouillon** ($0.27)
• 2 ¾ cups hot water (to be mixed with bouillon) ($0.00)
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced ($0.10)

Instructions

1. Bread Cubes Directions
2. Toast
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Spray the bread cubes lightly with cooking spray. Bake in 350F oven for 15 minutes until dehydrated and lightly toasted. You should have around 9 ½ cups of bread cubes. Set aside.
4. Stuffing Directions
5. Saute
6. In a large sauté pan, cook ground sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks, until browned. Strain excess fat and set cooked sausage off to the side in a bowl.
7. Melt
8. Wipe out the sauté pan and melt the stick of butter. Add diced onion, diced celery, minced garlic, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.
9. Cook over medium heat until the onions and celery are glossy and have softened, about 5-8 minutes.
10. Mix
11. Add cooked sausage and a handful of toasted bread cubes to the sauté pan and mix to combine.
12. Add more bread cubes until all have been used up. Then, add diced green apple.
13. Pour chicken broth (made from combining bouillon and hot water) over the top of the stuffing mixture.
14. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes in 350 degree oven. If top is starting to get too dark for your liking, add a tinfoil tent, but you want the top to crisp up a bit.
15. Serve
16. You can serve it hot straight out of the oven or let it cool a bit for a firmer texture. Sprinkle with parsley just before serving.