If you want to lighten up a classic holiday side dish that will satisfy everyone, put this Sausage and Apple Stuffing on your menu now!
Stuffing is one of my favorite dishes ever. I’m a total carb gal who loves fall flavors, so it’s just a perfect food for me.
Although stuffing is obviously delicious with loads of butter, I knew I could make it very low points and still tasty. That way, I save room for higher point dishes that are more difficult to lighten up without sacrificing flavor.
The real secret is turkey sausage! It adds tons of flavor without much fat, and it bulks up each serving with protein.
The apple also adds a subtle sweetness and, combined with the lean sausage, makes this dish very filling, so much so that you’re not as tempted to overeat. I mean, I can still totally overeat this because it’s SO GOOD, but we’re trying everything we can here to eat well and stay on track!
Better yet? You’ll get a generous portion–1/8 of a large casserole dish for only 4 SmartPoints! You could make this even lower points by cutting the sausage down to 9 ounces (3 SP per serving). I really love a sausage-heavy stuffing. Adjust to your liking.
Can I Make This Ahead?
Sausage and Apple Stuffing can definitely be made a day ahead! In the past, I’ve done everything up to Step 2, put the components in the fridge, then continued with the remaining steps the day I want to serve it.
Just make sure you bring everything to room temperature before finishing the steps, otherwise it will take longer to cook than indicated in the recipe.
what other WW-Friendly Items Can I Serve With This?
In the next two weeks, I’ll post recipes for Green Bean Casserole made without canned soups, Classic Mashed Potatoes, and an entire Roasted Turkey with Giblet Gravy that is as lightened up as possible without sacrificing flavor. Check back to make sure you don’t miss out!
In the mean time, you can plan to make my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins or Gluten Free Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting for an easy dessert.
My Easy Mashed Potatoes are also great for a quick side dish, although they are more on the cheesy/tangy side. As I said, I’ll post a more traditional recipe by next week. 🙂
I’d love to hear from you if you make this recipe! It makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me (@litecravings). Don’t forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I don’t get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I won’t see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though. So I’ll see it there!
Sausage and Apple Stuffing
Ingredients
- 8 ounces bread, like Italian loaf or French baguette, chopped into cubes
- 16 oz turkey sausage, casings removed
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 2-3 medium apples, diced
- 2 tsp fresh thyme, minced (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1 tsp dried sage
- 1 1/2 cups fat free chicken stock (I use Better Than Bouillon for maximum flavor)
- 3 eggs
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Leave diced bread out on a counter over night to stale up. Preheat oven to 375°F. Alternatively, you could spread bread on baking pan and bake until toasted, about 5-8 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a large nonstick skillet sauté sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Drain meal on a plate with paper towels and return to skillet. Stir in celery, onion and apple and sauté until just tender, about 8 minutes. Add 1 cup of broth, stirring and scrapping bottom to release all of those yummy browned bits, about 1 minute.
- In a very large bowl, stir together bread cubes, sausage/veggie mixture, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- In a small bowl, whisk remaining 1/2 cup of broth with the 3 eggs. Stir into bread mixture.
- Spoon stuffing into a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish, cover with tin foil, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove tin foil and continue baking until browned on top, about 15-20 minutes. Cut into 8 pieces and serve.
Any chance we can get that green bean casserole recipe soon? It’s my favorite and I’d love to do a test run this week before the big day. Thanks!
Yes! I’m posting it Wednesday.
Prepped the main part of this already and it smells amazing!! Your recipes never disappoint. Thinking about making it in a muffin tin for easy serving. Any suggestions on changing the cooking time? Thanks!!
That is so good to hear! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!