This delicious Butternut Sausage Paleo Stuffing with apples and cranberries has all the flavor of traditional Thanksgiving stuffing or dressing but is grain free, gluten free, dairy free and Whole30 friendly too! Toasty, sweet roasted butternut squash and savory sausage form the base for this Paleo style holiday favorite.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
I have nothing but great memories of cooking and eating classic, comforting, delicious food and laughing for hours on end with my family.
What do we laugh about? Everything and nothing all at once – like all families should during the holidays, don’t you think?
There are some things, however, that we do take pretty seriously on Thanksgiving.
I think we might all agree that even above the desserts and the turkey, it’s the stuffing that has our committed attention on this holiday.
I can’t totally explain it, but something about bread cubes with lots of butter and poultry seasoning captures our emotions more than all the other stuff combined.
As a result, we can all be a little intense and particular about this side dish fulfilling our wildest of expectations. A lot is invested in it.
So, when I first thought about recreating stuffing without the bread, I was pretty intimidated. But guess what? Good things happened with this grain free butternut stuffing!
What You Need to Make Butternut Sausage Paleo Stuffing
We’re not using bread or copycat bread type products in this stuffing at all.
Nope! It’s Whole30 compliant and made with veggies, fruit, fresh herbs and plenty of protein.
Here’s everything you’ll need to prepare the stuffing:
- Butternut squash
- cooking oil, like olive or avocado
- ground sausage (sugar free if you’re doing the Whole30)
- salt and pepper
- fresh poultry herbs (or dried, as an alternative)
- apple
- dried cranberries (fruit sweetened for Whole30)
- onion
- celery
- egg (optional)
How to Make This Paleo Stuffing
The first step is to roast the butternut squash cubes. You’ll want to roast them until crisp and toasty on the outside to get the best flavor and texture for your stuffing.
While the butternut roasts, prepare the rest of the stuffing mixture. Sauté the onions and celery and brown the sausage.
Season and add in the fresh herbs (or dried) and apples until softened. Stir in the cranberries, then toss everything with the roasted butternut squash.
If you want your stuffing to “stick”, you can add the whisked egg to the mixture now. It’s totally optional.
Transfer the stuffing mixture to a large baking dish and bake until set, then serve!
Hint – if you used an ovenproof skillet, you can bake the stuffing right in the skillet instead of a baking dish.
After trying this stuffing, don’t be surprised if yo love it more than any bread stuffing you’ve ever had!
I also have a few more grain free Thanksgiving stuffings I’ve made since that also beat out regular bread stuffing –
Low carb cauliflower sausage stuffing
I’ve made this stuffing many times over the years and it has served as a base for many of my other recipes, like stuffed butternut squash and ultimate roasted stuffed acorn squash.
My family has loved it over the years and I’m sure yours will too! Get this on your Thanksgiving menu because it’s sure to become a favorite this year!
Butternut Sausage Paleo Stuffing with Apples and Cranberries {Whole30}
Paleo Butternut Sausage Stuffing with Apples & Cranberries
This delicious Paleo Butternut Sausage Stuffing with apples and cranberries has all the flavor of traditional Thanksgiving stuffing or dressing but is grain free, gluten free, dairy free and Whole30 friendly! Toasty, sweet roasted butternut squash and savory sausage form the base for this Paleo style holiday favorite.
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes, about 6 cups
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil, for roasting
- sea salt and black pepper
- 2 tbsp ghee or olive or avocado oil, more as needed
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 1 lb pork sausage no sugar added, for Whole30
- 1 large apple or 2 small, cored and chopped
- 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary minced***
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves ***
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage leaves minced***
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries fruit sweetened for Whole30
- 1 egg whisked (optional**)
- Fresh parsley minced, for garnish
Instructions
-
First prepare to roast the butternut squash cubes.
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Preheat your oven to 425° F. Toss the butternut cubes with the 1 1/2 Tbsp oil, salt and pepper and spread out in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
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Roast in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, stirring or turning once for even browning. Squash should be soft and toasty brown before removing.
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While the squash is roasting, get your other ingredients chopped and ready.
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Heat a large skillet med to med-hi heat and add the 2 Tbsp additional cooking fat. Once heated, add chopped onion and celery and cook for about 3-5 minutes, until softened.
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Add the ground sausage to the skillet and use a wooden spoon to break up lumps and stir as it cooks. Cook the sausage with the onions and celery until browned, then lower the heat to medium.
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Add the chopped apples and herbs (or poultry seasoning) and cook for a minute or two until just softened, then add salt. Lower the heat and stir to combine all flavors. Simmer for 2 more minutes, remove from heat and set aside.
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Once the butternut squash is roasted (it should be light brown and crisp on the outside) add it to the sausage mixture along with the dried cranberries and toss to combine. If you want your stuffing to "stick" add the whisked egg** to the mixture and toss/mix to incorporate.
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Lower the oven heat to 375° F. If you used an ovenproof skillet, you can bake right in the skillet. If your skillet is not ovenproof, transfer the stuffing mixture to a large baking dish and spread out evenly.
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Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes if you used the egg, and 15-20 without the egg. The top should be toasty. Garnish with fresh parsley if desired. Enjoy!!
Recipe Notes
**Adding the egg will make the stuffing stick together as it sets in the oven. It's an optional step depending on your preference.
***You can also use 2-3 teaspoons of dried poultry seasoning in place of the fresh herbs.
Nutrition
Want More Paleo Thanksgiving Recipes? Try One of these!
Maple Pecan Apple Crisp {Paleo & Vegan}
Paleo Candied Sweet Potatoes {Vegan}
Paleo and Vegan Pumpkin Cheesecake
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this looks amazing! i love any type of squash – i think this will still be yummy if i replace the meat with some sort of plant based item… my sweeties is a veg head 😀 so my project will be to make things that we both like. it’s been a fun challenge so far actually! i have found a love for mushrooms and marinating them makes them ‘meaty’. i will probably add mushrooms to this recipe and some walnuts.. yeah that sounds yumm. might make it tonight since i’m hosting girls’ dinner at my place!
my signature dish lately is my curried fish – i just get some good brand or fresh thai curry paste, saute it with with veggies and add a can of coconut milk. then i add chunks of whatever fish looks fresh! i used to do this with chicken but now i like the fish. i squeeze lime juice and sprinkle with cilantro or green onion, and huge hunks of avocado. this is also nice with roasted sweet potato slices… now i’m hungry, lol.
i can’t wait to make my paleo pumpkin coconut pie this year, it was a huge hit last year. yay!
That sounds great with the mushrooms! My husband and kids won’t eat mushrooms so sadly neither do I most of the time. Curried fish sounds delicious! I would love to try something like that 🙂
I hate stuffing. I can’t remember a time ever in my life that I actually ate it. I’ve been trying to figure out something this year to make as a substitute. Love this recipe. I will be trying it!
Great! I hope you do, it’s awesome!
YUM! This looks freakin’ delicious. I’m attempting to add some healthier/paleo meals to my family’s usual carb-fest that we call Thanksgiving dinner.
We used to do the carb fest too, I’m going to have some fun experimenting with some paleo style recipes though. You can have the best of both I think 🙂
I wish Thanksgiving was a bigger deal here in Canada! As it stands, it seems to be one of those things that just kind of passes before anyone even realizes it’s here… and we have ours in the middle of October, which just feels way too early and weird. Can I come over to your place for the holidays? 😀
Yes, come visit! Thanksgiving in October does seem strange. I like the way it segues into the winter holidays being in late november. Of course you can make amazing holiday recipes anytime you want though 🙂
This sounds PERFECT. I’m definitely making this even if it isn’t for Thanksgiving. I don’t think my family has a mutual favorite dish for the holidays. Mine is definitely mashed potatoes, (on Thanksgiving and every other day,) my mom loves her homemade cranberry sauce, and the boys all care about the turkey. I don’t think any of us ever really gave the stuffing much attention.
I’ve been eating the leftovers and it’s something you can eat anytime, not just for the holidays 🙂 Mashed potatoes were always a favorite too. The side dishes are just the best.
Wow, that sounds amazing!
It was so delicious, hope you try it!
I could eat a meal of just this. Stuffing has always been my favorite thing. What you have here is uniquely different and exciting at the same time. Which isn’t an easy thing to do when it comes to food.
It’s great! Hope you try it!
This was so delicious!! It will be a fall and winter staple for sure. As long as I can find the butternut squash in stores. Thank you for this!
Really happy to hear you liked it since it’s one of my favorite recipes!
I’m new to Paleo after doing a couple rounds of Whole30. I was wondering what to do about stuffing in a turkey and then I found this. Oh, my word…this was delicious! I didn’t have the cranberries and used sweet Italian sausage links, diced small. My husband and I both loved it and I think it was even better the next day. Next time I’m thinking about adding some roasted walnuts or pecans. Thanks for sharing this!
That’s great! This is one of my favorites. I also made a stuffing with pumpkin bread which is great, but, there’s something about the sausage and butternut combo that gets me every time!
I just made this but I added brussel sprouts that I roasted with the squash and it was so good! Thank you for the recipe I would have never have thought to mix sausage and butternut squash, so good!
Yum, sounds delicious!