Butternut Squash Stuffing
Skip the plain bread cubes this year and wow your guests with a stuffed squash spin they won’t soon forget! This Butternut Squash Stuffing With Italian Sausage, Apple, and Dried Cranberries (optional) packs a double punch of autumnal flavors. Earthy, nutty butternut squash forms the base while tart apples, tangy cranberries, and spicy sausage provide delightful contrast. Perfect balanced of sweet, savory and herbaceous. I adore this recipe as I get to use the butternut squash and other ingredients from my little garden this year. It is an ultimate way to celebrate the harvest season!

How to Make Croutons or Dried Bread for Stuffing?
Eggs and croutons have been widely used in stuffing as biding agents. In my humble opinion, there is no need to buy a boxed stuff full of additives and preservatives for simple thing like this. You can simply use the bread of your choice, cut or tear them in bite sizes , bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. You can also leave the bread to air dry overnight. The dry bread will work like a sponge that soaks up the liquid ingredients while breaking down easily and glue other ingredients together. In this recipe, I used 6-7 slices of sourdough bread that I already have at home. French bread, gluten-free bread, wheat bread will also work. You can totally be creative.
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How to Prevent and Fix Stuffing If It Gets Too Wet or Too Dry.
I want to address this concern as it can happen to anyone any time making homemade or premixed stuffing from the box. A good stuffing should be moist, but not soggy nor dry. The fix for these issues can be simply handled by providing some extra croutons and stock on hand. Moreover, the liquid can take sometimes to absorb into our biding agent (croutons). I strongly suggest that as you add and mix the dried and wet ingredients together, allow a few minutes to let the bread (croutons) to absorb liquid before baking in the oven.
Again If your stuffing is too wet/soggy,
- Observe if as you mix the ingredients, are they still watery or have a lot of liquid left at the bottom of the bowl, simply add more croutons and let it sit a few minutes and decide if you want to add more before putting in the oven.
- If you find out that your homemade stuffing is soggy after the baking time is up, simply take the baking pan out, insert more croutons all over the pan. Let it sit for a minute or so then put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Keep observing and be patient. It will eventually come together.
What if your stuffing turn out too dry?
- If you notice that the stuffing is too dry and crumbly before baking, simply add a an extra half cup of stock at a time, mix well or gently toss until it clumps up together then bake.
- If you notice that the stuffing is too dry after the baking time is up, take the pan out of the over, add an extra half cup of stock at a time, mix well, let it sit for a minute then bake for another 5 minutes.
Have I left any important tips for you out? Feel free to comment this recipe as I’m doing my best to provide a value content for you without writing way too long. And Oh if you are thinking of other side dishes ideas for this Thanksgiving, maybe consider something like turkey meatballs, (no added refined sugar) easy cranberry orange sauce, orange turkey meatballs, cranberry -turkey -cream cheese pinwheels and sautรฉed garlic mushrooms and leeks! Again, I’d love to hear from you and now let’s get to our recipe card!
Butternut Squash Stuffing
Equipment
- 1 baking pan 9 x 13 inches
Ingredients
- 6 cups sourdough or French bread. Tear or cut into small pieces and dried out. about 6 – 7 slices of fresh sourdough bread
- 5 cups cubed butternut squash (about one medium size squash)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 pound Italian sausage If come with the case, remove the casing.
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks finely chopped
- 1 apple finely chopped (preferably green apple)
- 4 tablespoons fresh sage leaves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3- 3 ยฝ cups chicken stock turkey, or vegetable stock
- 2 tbsp maple syrup Real maple syrup please
- 1 cup butter melted, (2 sticks 1 for stir frying vegetable and the other for roasting the squash)
- Nonstick oil spray or use the butter that sticks to the wrapping paper.
- 1/4 cups dried cranberry optional
- pumpkin seeds optional
Instructions
- Tear or cut the bread into small pieces. Toast/Bake in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to dry out.
- Turn the oven heat up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Toss butternut squash with 1/2 cup or 1 stick of melted butter and maple syrup. Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 15 – 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile melt 1/2 cup or 1 stick butter. Add garlic,onion, celery, apple, dried cranberries (optional), sage, and thyme. Sautรฉ for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the sausage in a saucepan to cook with the vegetables until the sausage cooked through. (About 8-10 minutes)
- Remove squash from the oven after 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375.
- Beat the eggs, and stir them into the stock.
- In a large bowl, mix the 1/2 – 1 cup of wet ingredients to the dried ingredients at a time and stir to combine. Keep adding the liquid mixture and folding until the croutons are soft and the ingredients clumped up together. Let it sit for a few minutes to absorb more liquid. If you find that the mixture is too dry, add more stock. If you see a lot of liquid in the bowl, add more croutons.
- Spray a 9″ X 13″ dish with cooking spray or grease with butter from the butter wrap paper and add the stuffing mixture.
- Bake for 40 – 50 minutes uncovered.
- Optionally, garnish with more dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds. Serve warm and enjoy!
This stuffing looks better, more vibrant and healthier than the box! I will try this nextweek. I have raisins instead dried cranberries though? You think it will work?
Thank you so much. Hmm I’m really not sure if raisins would work. Maybe it will be better to just leave the dried cranberries out and just go for the apple :D. My friend’s grandma added green apples to her stuffing which inspire me to create this recipe too :D. The apple is a nice touch:)
Incredible! I want to try! Love all your recipes and easy to follow ๐
Thank you so much. You are the kindest and happy thanksgiving!
5 stars happens on this vlog!