Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you click on the link and make a purchase.
Stuffing Muffins are a delicious and fun rendition of traditional Thanksgiving stuffing. This small batch version is filled with crumbled Italian sausage, toasted sourdough bread, autumnal herbs and chicken broth. Serve it with my classic cranberry sauce, homemade apple pie and caramelized shallot dip.
What Are Stuffing Muffins
Stuffing muffins are traditional Thanksgiving stuffing but in muffin form. It’s a cuter, more fun delivery of our way to eat stuffing. I personally LOVE stuffing and this is just a hand-held delivery of our favorite Thanksgiving side.
I like that they’re sort of crunchy on the outside and soft and moist on the interior. The smell and taste of Thanksgiving is the combination of chicken/poultry with fresh thyme. I love them so much!
Ingredients You’ll Need for Stuffing Muffins
- Bread – I love using a thinly sliced sourdough bread for these. You don’t want the bread cubes to be too big or else they won’t hold together. I also love the flavor of sourdough.
- Celery – We need our favorite duo of celery and onions for these.
- Fresh herbs – In this instance I love using fresh thyme and fresh sage. They are a dynamic duo that we need in our life for stuffing.
- Butter – We can’t have Thanksgiving without butter.
- Chicken broth – good quality chicken broth is going to add to moistness and a delicious flavor to them.
- Egg – We need this to bind the cubes of stuffing together.
For the rest of the ingredients, please see the recipe card at bottom of this post.
How to Make Stuffing Muffins
- Start by toasting the bread. I love buying sour dough that’s sliced because it ends up being the perfect small cube. Very ideal! And the sourdough adds a nice dimension of flavor.
- Cook the Italian sausage in the pan until it’s browned. Remove it and then add the onions and celery. We really want to slowly cook these so they melt into the olive oil. Add the sage and thyme. Then add the salt and pepper. I like to add a decent amount of pepper in these muffins because I think it adds a nice flavor.
- In a big bowl, add the cubed bread, the onion mixture, the crumbled and cooked sausage and then mix it all together. We are going to taste test it right now for salt BEFORE we add the egg. Important step! Add the appropriate amount of salt to taste.
- And then add in the beaten egg. This will help bind the muffins. Give it a good mix and then pack the muffin tins with the stuffing mixture.
- I ended up with 9 stuffing muffins.
- Transfer to the oven to bake. When they’re all done, run a butter knife along the inside edge of the muffin tin and remove them. Serve them warm!
How to Make Stuffing Muffins
- Start by toasting the bread. I love buying sour dough that’s sliced because it ends up being the perfect small cube. Very ideal! And the sourdough adds a nice dimension of flavor.
- Cook the Italian sausage in the pan until it’s browned. Remove it and then add the onions and celery. We really want to slowly cook these so they melt into the olive oil. Add the sage and thyme. Then add the salt and pepper. I like to add a decent amount of pepper in these muffins because I think it adds a nice flavor.
- In a big bowl, add the cubed bread, the onion mixture, the crumbled and cooked sausage and then mix it all together. We are going to taste test it right now for salt BEFORE we add the egg. Important step! Add the appropriate amount of salt to taste.
- And then add in the beaten egg. This will help bind the muffins. Give it a good mix and then pack the muffin tins with the stuffing mixture.
- I ended up with 9 stuffing muffins.
- Transfer to the oven to bake. When they’re all done, run a butter knife along the inside edge of the muffin tin and remove them. Serve them warm!
Recipe FAQs
Absolutely. Simply use veggie broth instead of chicken broth and leave out the Italian sausage. It’ll still taste delicious.
Thanksgiving is the holiday of reheating things. I understand. We’re all trying to time manage correctly. I like to make these and keep them covered in foil before serving. You can loosely wrap them in foil and pop them in a 300F oven to warm them up.
Tips and Tricks Â
- Prep the bread the day before – If you want to divide the work between days, you absolutely can cube up the bread and bake it the day before. Simply leave it out on the counter and assemble the next day.
- Different fillings – I wouldn’t get too wild with the additions because you really do want them to hold together but feel free to add bacon or pancetta in place of the Italian sausage.
What To Serve with Stuffing Muffins
I love making these for my Friendsgiving or Thanksgiving. These definitely should be served with these T-Day favorites:
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
- Salted Honey Parker House Rolls
- Caramelized Shallot Dip
- Basque Cheesecake
- Chocolate Coconut Pecan Pie
If you tried these Stuffing Muffins or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Stuffing Muffins
Ingredients
- 6 1/2 cups white bread, cubed (about 1 loaf)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 5 ounces Italian sausage, removed from casing
- 1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
- 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced
- Kosher salt
- 6 large fresh sage leaves, minced
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Thoroughly butter or grease the muffin tin and set aside.
- In a single layer, place the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes, or until barely toasted. Remove and set aside.
- In a medium skillet, set over medium heat, add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the Italian sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook it until browned and thoroughly cooked, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the pan and transfer to a small bowl.
- Turn the heat to medium-low and if needed, add a teaspoon or two more of olive oil. Add the diced onion and celery, adding a few pinches of salt and cook until softened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the sage and thyme and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more, along with a few more pinches of salt and about 10 rounds of freshly ground pepper.
- Add the toasted bread crumbs to a large bowl, along with the Italian sausage, cooked onion mixture and chicken broth; mix it until thoroughly combined. Do a taste test? Does it need a bit more salt? If it’s good, pour in the beaten eggs and mix one last time until combined.
- Using a tablespoon, transfer mounds of the stuffing mixture to each muffin tin. Be sure to tightly pack the stuffing in each of the muffin cups. This will make sure the mixture adheres to itself and the muffins don’t fall apart. You’ll end up with 9 stuffing muffins.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, until top is browned. To remove, take a butter knife and go around each of the stuffing muffins’ outer edge. Using your knife, gently lift it up out of the muffin tins. Serve warm.
Notes
- To Make Ahead – Thanksgiving is the holiday of reheating things. I understand. We’re all trying to time manage correctly. I like to make these and keep them covered in foil before serving. You can loosely wrap them in foil and pop them in a 300F oven to warm them up.Â
- Variations – If you want to make these vegetarian, simply skip the Italian sausage and use organic vegetable broth.Â
- Different fillings – I wouldn’t get too wild with the additions because you really do want them to hold together but feel free to add bacon or pancetta.Â
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Super cute idea. Definitely going to make the this year. One thing tho….I think leek is spelled wrong in the ingredient list 🙂
AH! You’re right. Will fix!
I just think then it is a shame that these kinds of good game(aside from the ending) as to be able to hatred like this.
I sent this recipe to my mother for Turkey Day and she was skeptical at first. All she was familiar with was the traditional Stove Top stuffing. I told her that if she didn’t like it I would go out and buy a box and make a second batch of stuffing…. I never had to make that second batch. The family loved it and these stuffins will now be a part in our Turkey Days!
LOVE!
I made these for Thanksgiving. They were easy and everyone liked them a lot. I used Trader Joe’s buttermilk sandwich bread. I added one cubed apple,too. It seemed to me that the 6 1/2 cups of bread was not quite enough to properly fill the 12 muffin cups. Next time I might use the entire loaf (probably an extra cup and a half) and add an extra egg and a bit more of the other ingredients.
As a South African living in Korea, thanksgiving and stuffing were both new to me this year – a friend had a potluck dinner and although I was signed up to provide roast veg (and duly provided) I couldn’t resist trying my hand at these little guys. So much awesomeness!
Because the only stuffing I’d ever tried before was sausage stuffing, I felt that the bread stuffing lacked a certain meatiness so I cooked up a batch of pork mince with the veggies and cut back a bit on the stock.
The results were so yummy that ALL of the stuffing muffins were polished off – quite a mean feat considering there were 2 roast chickens and a whole apple pie left over.
Oh, I LOVE stuffing (eat it year-round) and these muffins are adorable. Perfect combination, I can’t wait to try making them.
What a great idea to put the stuffing in muffin molds! I’ll definitely make this one. (although not with meat bc we’re vegetarian)
….mmmm gonna try the bit-o-green ‘n red with Granny Smith chunks and some Craisins….brilliant recipe! Thanks!
This is just like grandma used to make – but she was more practical and used bacon and often added milk instead of stock. The important thing is to not turn the bread into mush – add just enough liquid to moisten and allow only a very a little compression during placement in the mold.
We made these for thanksgiving, delicious!! I’ve never made a homemade stuffing before, and this was so easy. To save time on Thanksgiving, I prepped all the veggies, and pre-chopped the pancetta, stored overnight, and it was really quick to cook everything the next day. They stored really well for leftovers– one way that we used them after was to put a stuffin’-muffin right in the middle of a bowl of soup, specifically this soup http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/10/corn-cheese-chowder/ YUMMMM!!!!
Makes me so so happy! I made them too for Thanksgiving and was pretty pumped that they tasted delicious the next day. Love the idea of adding it to soup!