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Free up oven space this Thanksgiving and make this delicious Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage and Apples in your crockpot instead!
![Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage Apples - A Family Feast](https://www.afamilyfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Slow-Cooker-Sourdough-Stuffing-Turkey-Sausage-Apples-new12-683x1024.jpg)
Easy and Delicious Slow Cooker Stuffing
Our Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage and Apples is so good – it may steal the show from your Thanksgiving turkey! Seriously – THIS is the side dish that everyone will be going back to the buffet for a second helping.
Your guests will love this stuffing but YOU will love how easy it is to make! It’s cooked in the slow cooker, so it won’t take up oven space while you are preparing the rest of your Thanksgiving dinner.
You’ll simply cook up some flavorful turkey sausage plus mushrooms, celery, and onions – then toss it together with dried cubes of sourdough bread, chunks of apple, and walnuts, plus turkey stock, eggs and seasonings.
Pour it all into the slow cooker and let it cook while you do the rest of your holiday meal prep. (I told you it was easy!)
Why You’ll Love Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage and Apples
- Not only is this stuffing recipe delicious, it’s also super easy to prepare.
- You can literally set it and forget it while you cook the rest of your Thanksgiving meal. It will be ready to serve when the turkey is done.
- All of the flavors of turkey sausage, apples, plus a variety of seasonings soak into the hearty sourdough bread and the walnuts add a little bit of crunch too.
Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Sourdough Bread – This recipe uses one and a half loaves of dense, crusty sourdough from the bakery at the supermarket. Sourdough holds its shape and texture even as it soaks up the moisture during the slow cooking process.
- Butter – We always suggest cooking with unsalted butter so you can adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes.
- Celery
- Onions – We used a yellow onion in this stuffing recipe.
- Mushrooms – We chose Cremini (also called baby Bella) mushrooms, but the white button mushrooms can be used as well.
- Turkey Sausage – We selected a sweet Italian flavored turkey sausage for our recipe, but other varieties can be used for a different flavor. You’ll remove the sausage from the casings. If you can find bulk sausage, that is fine to use.
- Apples – We selected Gala apples for our stuffing, but any baking apple that stays firm once it is cooked will work in this recipe.
- Walnuts – You can swap in pecans instead if you prefer.
- Eggs
- Fresh Italian Flat-Leaf Parsley
- Seasonings – Including kosher salt, ground black pepper, Bell’s poultry seasoning, dry ground sage, dry thyme, dry marjoram.
- Turkey Stock – You can buy boxed or canned stock, or make a homemade turkey stock. Chicken stock can also be used.
Other Flavor Options
If you can’t find turkey sausage, chicken sausage, or pork sausage can also be used in this recipe. You can also choose a hot Italian sausage instead of sweet if you enjoy a bit of heat.
Special Tools You’ll Need
- Large Slow Cooker – Ours shown has a 5-quart capacity, but a 6 or 7-quart slow cooker will also work.
- Cutting Board & Sharp Knife
- Various Measuring Cups & Spoons
- Baking Sheet
- Large Sauté Pan
- Large Mixing Bowl
- (Optional) Slow Cooker Liner – This will prevent any sticking while the stuffing cooks, plus it makes cleanup very easy.
How do I make Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage and Apples?
- Cut bread into cubes and lay out on a sheet tray to get stale and dry. (Do this step the day before Thanksgiving.)
- The next day, place stale bread cubes in a large mixing bowl.
- Cook celery, onions, and mushrooms in a sauté pan with some of the butter.
- Add turkey sausage and cook until no longer pink.
- Pour sausage mixture into mixing bowl. Toss to combine.
- Melt the remaining butter and stir into the bread and sausage mixture.
- Add apple chunks, chopped walnuts, eggs, seasonings, and turkey stock to the mixing bowl. Mix well.
- Pour mixture into the slow cooker.
- Cook on high for two hours. Reduce heat to low and cook for two more hours.
- Spoon into a serving bowl and garnish with an additional sprinkle of chopped parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make this Slow Cooker Stuffing ahead of time? Although we think it tastes best freshly made, you can prepare it ahead of time and reheat before serving.
- How do I reheat any leftovers? You can microwave individual portions, or if you are reheating a larger portion, place in a casserole dish and cover with foil. Then reheat in the oven. (We do not recommend attempting to reheat chilled stuffing in the slow cooker.)
- How do I store leftovers? Store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to three days.
- Can I freeze the leftovers? We’ve never tried doing so ourselves. I suspect the stuffing will get very soft/mushy after being frozen and thawed.
This Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage and Apples originally appeared on A Family Feast in November 2017. We’ve updated the post but the delicious recipe remains the same.
You might like these other Stuffing Recipes
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Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage and Apples
Free up oven space this Thanksgiving and make this delicious Slow Cooker Sourdough Stuffing with Turkey Sausage and Apples in your crockpot instead!
Ingredients
2 large Sourdough loaves, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes (each loaf is typically 16 ounces – you will need about 24 ounces total of sour dough bread cubes for this recipe)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 cups celery diced
1 1/2 cups onion, diced
8 ounce package Baby Bella/Crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 pound uncooked turkey Italian sausage (sweet), removed from casings
2 Gala apples, peeled, cored and diced (Hold in a bowl of cold water until ready to add to the stuffing to avoid oxidization)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 whole eggs, beaten
1/4 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped – plus additional for garnish if desired
1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons Bell’s poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon dry ground sage
1 teaspoon dry thyme
1/2 teaspoon dry marjoram
1 quart turkey or chicken stock
Supplies
A larger slow cooker (5-quart size or larger)
1 large slow cooker liner (optional)
Instructions
- One day ahead: Spread sourdough bread cubes on a baking sheet and allow the bread to sit uncovered so it gets stale and dry. Alternately, place the baking sheet of bread cubes in a 250 F degree oven for a few hours to dry out and harden if necessary.
- Place stale or toasted bread cubes in a very large bowl.
- In a large sauté pan, place half the butter, and melt over medium high heat. Add celery, onions and mushrooms and sauté for two minutes.
- Add the uncooked turkey sausage meat that was removed from the casing and continue to cook until no longer pink, about three more minutes.
- Remove from heat and add to the bowl with the bread and toss.
- Melt the other half of the butter and stir into the mixture.
- Add all other ingredients and toss again. Let stuffing sit in the bowl for 15 minutes to allow the bread to absorb some of the liquid, then toss one last time.
- Line your large slow cooker with the liner, then pour in the stuffing.
- Cover the slow cooker and set temperature on high for two hours. Reduce to low and cook another two hours.
- Pour stuffing into a serving bowl, toss and serve. Sprinkle with additional chopped parsley for garnish (if desired.)
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Please share instructions for baking this stuffing instead of using a crockpot.
Hi Melanie
What’s funny is that a lot of readers ask us to adapt a regular recipe to a slow cooker. This is the first slow cooker to oven conversion that we have been asked to speak to. But, this particular recipe should be pretty easy to adapt. The recipe remains exactly the same but instead of using a slow cooker, butter a casserole dish (pretty sure it will fit into a standard 9X13 casserole dish or a deep 9X13X3 casserole dish) and bake at 350 covered with parchment and foil for an hour. Uncover and bake until the center is hot (at least 165 degrees F) and the top lightly golden brown, about 30-45 minutes give or take. One extra thing, when you uncover after the first hour, dot the top with 2 tablespoons of butter cut into small pieces. That will help get the top nice and golden and slightly crispy.
Good luck,
Jack
Thank you, Jack.