I love getting the family or friends together to celebrate any occasion we can come up with. So, this time of the year means Friendsgiving is the perfect excuse to throw a little shindig. But, I’ll admit that while the turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, gravy, cranberries, green bean casserole, rolls, etc… are all a great and almost necessary part of Thanksgiving, all of that seems a bit much for the day you have friends over just to be together. I much prefer a meal that combines everything into one dish, making serving and cleaning up easy, and giving us all more time to spend together.
This year I took a Cornbread Stuffing with Sweet Potato and Squash recipe that I pulled from Southern Living magazine and tweaked it to add meat, taking this stuffing recipe into full-on meal category with the addition of Johnsonville Italian Sausage. I will tell you, this recipe was a winner with everyone who tried it, including a couple guys who claimed to HATE squash and all things of that sort. (They both went back for seconds, or maybe even thirds.) Honestly, this Italian sausage stuffing recipe is simply the best.
Cornbread Stuffing with Sweet Potato, Squash and Italian Sausage
Ingredients:
- 2 packages of Johnsonville ground Italian Sausage
- 1 cup diced onion, red and green bell peppers, and celery
- 2 small garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into bite-sized cubes
- 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into cubes
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, divided
- 2 (14-oz.) cans low-sodium fat-free chicken broth, divided
- 1 (8-oz.) package cornbread stuffing mix
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1/3 cup chopped pecans
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Brown Italian Sausage in a large frying pan. Remove excess grease.
- Sauté onion/pepper/celery mixture and garlic in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a skillet until veggies are tender.
- Stir in squash, sweet potatoes, apple, butter, brown sugar, fresh sage, 1 tsp. Creole seasoning, and 1/4 cup water. Cover, reduce heat, and cook until squash and potatoes are tender. Be sure to stir on occasion. Stir in 1 can chicken broth.
- Add cooked Italian sausage.
- Remove from heat; cool 15 minutes.
- Stir together stuffing mix, egg, and remaining 1 can chicken broth and 1 tsp. Creole seasoning in a medium bowl. Fold into cooled squash mixture.
- Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- Uncover and sprinkle with pecans; bake an additional 20 minutes, until thoroughly heated and pecans are toasted.
- Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
- Garnish, if desired.
Recipe modified from Southern Living Magazine.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville. The opinions and text are all mine.
This is a PERFECT side dish for Thanksgiving. I was looking for one more side dish I can’t wait to make this.
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This looks like the perfect meal for Thanksgiving or any family gathering. We love using italian sausage in recipes. This one looks really hearty, I bet you won’t have any leftovers!
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