My Grandmother's Sausage, Potato and Bread Stuffing

My Grandmother’s Sausage Potato & Bread Stuffing was always the one thing we had to have on our holiday table growing up. This was my Dad’s mother and she was Pennsylvania Dutch. I have no actual idea if this recipe has anything to do with being Pennsylvania Dutch, but my Mom always said it did. My Mom’s entire family is from South Carolina, so stuffing is never served, only dressing.

As you can image this created a sort of turf war at the holiday table. My Dad always wanted the stuffing and my Mom wanted dressing and so battle ensued, by which I mean basically my Mom made both every year. The dressing stayed on my Mom’s end of the table and My Grandmother’s Sausage Potato & Bread Stuffing stayed on my Dad’s end of the table.

Growing up my Dad actually always did stuff this into the turkey. He still does as far as I know. My grandmother’s original recipe works well for this. The flavors of the soft potato, rich sausage and moldable breadcrumbs were delicious. The texture was just always kind of terrible. It was like mush and understandably so, it cooked stuffed inside of a bird. I loved the flavors, still do, but it stopped appearing on my holiday table, that is until I revamped it this year.

At first, as with any family recipe, I felt like I was committing a cardinal sin. You can’t change a family recipe can you? But you can. And My Grandmother’s Sausage Potato & Bread Stuffing is proof. I started by deciding this was going to cook in a casserole dish and not in the bird itself. I also decided to use cubed day old bread instead of bread crumbs, and then I added fresh spinach and parmesan to the mix. Because why not?

What ended up happening was the stuffing I always wanted. It had all the flavors of growing up with all the textures I always craved. Crispy bread tops, flavorful sausage, rich gravy, and soft potatoes. Give it a whirl fo honor any Pennsylvania Dutch family members you might have, or really just to honor my grandmother.

Brown the Sausage and soften the celery and onion in a saute pan.

Mix everything together in a large bowl before putting into a greased baking dish to bake.

My Grandmother’s Sausage Potato and Bread Stuffing

THis is an adaptation on my Pennsylvania Dutch Grandmother's favorite stuffing recipe. I love baking this in it's own pan so it stays crispy on top and all the flavors meld wonderfully well together.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Ingredients

1 lb sage sausage I use Jimmy Dean, because my grandmother and Mom did
1 onion diced
3 stalks celery diced
5 oz fresh spinach
1 medium loaf of white bread like a French loaf or sourdough cut into 1 inch cubes
2 medium russet potatoes
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 c grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

Place your cubed bread on a sheet pan on the counter and leave out overnight to dry out. Or if pressed for time them toast in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or so until it is toasted and hard.
Pierce the potatoes with a knife and put them on a microwave safe plate. Put them in the microwave and cook until soft and a knife inserts easily. About ten minutes on high. Allow them to cool while you continue with the recipe.
Brown the sausage in a large sauté pan or skillet.
Once brown add in the onion and celery and cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
Add in the spinach, the pan will be crowded just be patient as the spinach wilts and gets small. Mix everything together and then pour into a large bowl with the bread cubes and set aside.
Return pan to the stovetop and over medium heat melt the butter.
Once the butter is melted sprinkle in the flour and stir together for about 1 minute until everything is mixed well. Pour in the chicken stock and continue to stir well. Combining everything. Let this simmer and stir occasionally until thickened. About 8 minutes. Once thick pull off the stovetop and mix in the salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Stir until combined and cheese has melted then pour over the bread and stuffing mixture in the bowl.
Split the potatoes in half and using a spoon scoop out the insides into the bowl with the sausage mixture, bread and gravy.
Mix everything well.
Spray a 9 x 13 glass baking dish with cooking spray or grease with some butter. Pour the stuffing mixture into the pan and make sure it is evenly spread out. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or until the mixture is bubbly and the top is golden brown.