Stuffing on the Thanksgiving table is a must and these Apple Sausage Stuffing Bites are a fun take on a traditional Thanksgiving recipe!
PinThanksgiving stuffing can be a holiday lightening rod. I’ve seen family members almost come to blows over their personal stuffing preferences. Take our family, for example. When I met my future husband and we began merging our Thanksgiving traditions, stuffing became a major debate. As our first holiday feast approached, and I helped plan the menu it quickly became apparent that my stuffing might make or break my future in-laws opinion of me. That was my admittedly insane thought as I sat in my kitchen drawing up the shopping list with Vivien, my MIL-to be, but I don’t feel like I’m the only woman out there who has strapped on her crazy pants while coming up with their families holiday menu.
PinWhile I spent our first few holidays making my mother’s preferred cornbread stuffing, I ultimately switched over to Vivien’s favorite version, made with brioche, when it was clear I was never going to win her over with mine. I have to admit that Vivien did open my eyes to how good something new can be. Brioche stuffing is pretty incredible and it vanishes pretty quickly off of our table.
My kids are less discerning when it comes to stuffing. Cornbread or brioche, they will eat pretty much anything made with bread. However this year I’m starting my own tradition by making these Apple Sausage Stuffing Bites. Besides being so darn cute as well as personal sized so everybody can have one for themselves, they combine traditional stuffing flavors like celery and onions with two of my kids’ favorites, pieces of sweet apple and chicken apple sausage. Because of these bites’ small size, they get golden crispy around the edges in the oven and are perfect for little hands to dip into warm gravy.
PinI know changing your stuffing can require a big leap of faith and might have the whole family up in arms, but once they taste these how scrumptious these special holiday bites are, I bet they will be fighting over who gets the last one!
Apple Sausage Stuffing Bites
Ingredients
- 1/2 baguette cut into 1/2 inch cubes, about 4 cups
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 sweet apple sausage links, chopped, about 1 cup
- 1 medium apple, chopped (gala, fuji, or golden delicious)
- 1 small yellow onion, diced, about 1 cup
- 2 celery stalks, diced, about 3/4 cup
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup low sodium chicken stock
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- Toast the bread cubes for 8-10 minutes to dry them out. Alternatively, you can use day old bread that is already dried out.
- Increase oven temperature to 350°F.
- Heat oil in a sauté pan. Add the sausage and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until slightly golden. Remove sausage to a large mixing bowl.
- In the same saute pan, add the butter and saute the onions for 3 minutes. Add the celery, apples, and thyme and sauté for an additional 5 minutes, until everything is heated through and the veggies are tender. Allow to cool a few minutes before continuing.
- Place the bread cubes, sautéed vegetables and remaining ingredients into the large mixing bowl with the sausage and toss to thoroughly combine.
- Spoon the stuffing mixture into greased muffin tins, filling all the way to the top. Pat the mixture down to pack it well.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the tops are just golden.
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I would bake them fully and reheat in the oven just before serving! They’re also great at room temp, but you should remove them from the muffin tins immediately to avoid them getting soggy if you go that route. 🙂
I want to bring these to a Christmas eve dinner and for a Christmas day dinner. I’m not sure how to plan the baking. Should I bake fully day before and then just heat up in oven before serving or should I place mixture in muffin tin, refrigerate and wait to bake them the 45 min when I get to the houses I’m going to? Thank you for your recipes and your help!
[…] Get the full written recipe here: http://b12.ba4.myftpupload.com/2013/11/13/apple-sausage-stuffing-bites/ […]
They would still take the same amount of time to bake because the time in the oven helps them sort of stick together. I wouldn’t suggest a mini muffin pan though, because I don’t think you will be able to get enough of each element in this little cups for these to really come together!
How long would you bake these for if you made them in a mini muffin pan?
I can’t wait to try these! Getting recipe ideas for a Christmas party- will be seeing my Dad for the first time in years. So excited to have these on the menu. Thanks Catherine! You always save the day.
I made these for my daughters school potluck but they seemed a little dry. Do I need to add an egg or add fewer bread cubes? I love the idea of these and yours look so pretty.
[…] Apple Sausage Stuffing Bites […]
You can leave it out, or use something hearty like mushrooms!
Fun fun fun
But, what would you suggest to replace the sausage if I was going for a vegetarian option?
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I’m sure that would work!
Can these be frozen?
Forget Thanksgiving, I’m making these tomorrow. They are so adorable, I know my kiddos would love them!
I’ve learned the same about families and their stuffing! My Italian family made stuffing with pasta in it (and I still make it every year) so I really didn’t experience traditional stuffing of any kind until I met my husband’s family 🙂 I always bring my stuffing as something different to contribute to where ever we are having Thanksgiving – it’s so hard to give up family tradition!
Now these stuffing bites look so tasty and amazing, my kids would LOVE them! I think we should have a Thanksgiving meal once a month to try all the different recipes floating around 🙂