Of all the dishes that must be included in a holiday meal, stuffing is the one I always try to avoid making if possible. If I’m hosting the meal, when people ask what they can bring, I almost always ask them to bring the stuffing so I don’t have to make it. (Nice, huh?)
Why had stuffing always been such a hard one for me? I just hadn’t found a stuffing recipe I love. I look at stuffing recipes and get completely overwhelmed. After all, there are usually no fewer than 28 steps to take to go from bread to stuffing.
Until now.
Oh look. We made toasted bread.
It wasn’t even hard.
Homemade Stuffing Made Easy
Once I finally wrapped my brain around all the instructions in all the recipes I looked at, I realized that I didn’t need to perform 28 steps. I could simplify everything and cut it down to four:
1. Cube and toast bread.
2. Brown sausage with onion and sage.
3. Stir everything together with a few other ingredients.
4. Bake.
What? That’s it? Yes.
Some may prefer their stuffing with additional spices. Many like celery. But this turned out plenty flavorful for us with very few ingredients. Plus, not one of the six of us likes celery. So I skipped it.
This recipe can be made ahead of time. You can make this stuffing spread into a dish or as scooped into muffin tins. I may actually make this more than twice a year for holiday meals. After all, when I was was testing driving this recipe to make it as easy as possible, my family dug in and kept going back for more. Even if I did burn the first batch.
Indeed, my pictures feature over-baked Stuffing Muffins. It’s because I was baking them while having unfortunate cat drama. It was day 2 of baby kitties and Wiggams wasn’t sure she was cut out for the mama business. (WHAT?!) I told her she didn’t have a choice, that sometimes we all have hard days, and that she needed to get over it at go try to keep her last baby alive (yes, we’re down to only one). She ignored me. So I was trying to keep the last kitten alive by holding it to warm it up and by giving it milk from a dropper. This is when my muffins burned. I am not cut out to be the mother of a kitten.
Other bloggers would have started over in an effort to take better pictures. Me? I just took pictures of my burned muffins. There just are not enough hours in the day, okay? I get overwhelmed easily. It was either burned pictures or no pictures. At least we saved the kitten.
Easy Stuffing Muffins
- 6-8 slices of whole wheat bread
- 1 pound ground sausage
- 2 Tablespoons butter or oil
- ½ cup yellow onion, chopped or 3 Tablespoons dried minced onion
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese (optional)
- 2 eggs
- Cut bread into ½ inch cubes.
- Lay cubes on a cookie sheet and bake in a 300° oven for 10 minutes to toast.
- In the meantime, brown sausage with onion and sage.
- In a large bowl, stir toasted bread cubes, cooked sausage mixture, and the remaining ingredients together.
- Scoop mixture into 18 muffin tins or spread it into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
- Bake in a 400° oven for 25-40 minutes or until golden brown.
Recipe links you might find helpful:
To Freeze Stuffing Muffins
Allow muffins to cool completely. Place them in a freezer bag and seal, air tight. Freeze for up to one month.
To reheat: Thaw and warm muffins in a 250° oven in a covered dish for 10-15 minutes.
You should know that saying Stuffing Muffins most often comes out of my mouth as Muffing Stuffers or Stuffern Muffings. It can’t be helped.
And now for some adorable cat pictures. I mean, if I’m going to show you burned muffins, I should at least show you the reasons they burned:
With assistance from our neighbor, some much needed help from a friend, and now some persistent work with Wiggams, I think we’ll be able to keep one little kitten alive. Wiggams seems to be getting the mama thing figured out, finally. If this isn’t the sweetest…
Look at this little one’s face. See why we named it Lionel? (I mean, besides the fact that we named it after Lionel Messi. He just looks like a Lionel.) Look at his little lion cub face. We are in love.
And that is why my muffins burned.
Holiday Make-Ahead Tip:
If you are in charge of stuffing for this year’s holiday festivities, I suggest you make these Stuffing Muffins at least two weeks in advance. Freeze them until the night before your meal. Thaw in the fridge. Rewarm just before serving. These are great drenched in turkey gravy (recipe coming up during this series).
Here are the quick links to all the recipes we covered in this series:
- Make-Ahead Turkey
- Stuffing Muffins
- Cheesy Mashed Potatoes
- Oh Good Gravy
- Green Bean Casserole
- How to Make Frozen Pies
- Simple Whipped Sweet Potatoes
- How to make Whipped Cream
- Whole Wheat Stir-and-Pour Dinner Rolls
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Simple Meals is here! It’s saving my brain (and many of yours too!). If you haven’t joined yet, now’s the time. Get all the details here!
I love this recipe idea. How do you wrap the muffins for freezing? Glad Wiggams and the kitten are doing ok. (very cute). thx
I just place them in a freezer bag, being careful to remove all the air. :)
Thanks. The basics are great, and we can do some easy add-ins if we want, such as chopped nuts and fruit (apples or cranberries).
Burned muffins are real, and I appreciate you! Good job!
These sound great! I can’t wait to try them!!!!
God Bless you for helping that kitten..I enjoy your blog very much & have for some time. Thank You for wonderful ideas & for sharing!
OK, the muffins sound good and I love that you posted a burned picture! But really I wanted to say that I’m glad you convinced Wiggins to step up to the plate. When you posted her birth story I though she sounded like a first time, scared mommy. So you should be proud you’ve gotten that one little one this far and it looks like she’s settled into motherhood! And yes, that baby is awfully sweet! Also, just wanted to put a plug in to get her fixed sooner rather than later if you are still planning too. It is crazy how soon they can get pregnant again. Enjoy those baby days :)
I never make stuffing either – I’m not a fan. My husband will love these muffins.
I think these muffins would also make a great holiday party appetizer! :)
Good tip, thanks!
Oh my the sweetness of that little kitten face, I wish I could come give it a snuggle! I just love kitties, my mother was a vet tech. when I was growing up and we always had litters of kittens at our house. So I am extra fond of them :)
I have made stuffing a few times and love, how simple you have made your recipe I think I might give it a try!
What a great idea for making dressing for Thanksgiving easier! We had an orange cat named Spark for many years. He had the sweetest disposition. His nickname was Ferdinand because he didn’t want to fight and would much rather sit among the flowers and watch the butterflies. :-)
The stuffing sounds great. The kitten is adorable!
These look good, but I think I will have to stick with our traditional family recipe so there’s no mutiny. :) Good idea to make it as muffins though!
I may just have to put stuffing on our holiday menu this year! Thanks for your “realness” and using the burned muffin photo–just one of the MANY reasons this is my favorite blog :)
p.s. Lionel is so cute!!
Thank God for you! Finally, someone else who does not like celery and does not do everything perfectly every time. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing all of your real lifeness (look there, a made-up word :)).
The recipe aside, I just want to thank you for kicking up a memory….My mom always used to pick up whichever little cutie pie toddled her way and tell him/her that they were the “stuffin’ in the muffin” as she kissed the heck out of their chubby baby cheeks.
I think I need to try this recipe just for something different…but I think I’ll add Celery or Celery seed. Maybe this will inspire me to tweak my own recipe.
I will be making a large amount of sourdough stuffing muffins for the freezer! I see an easy side item to throw into my boys work lunches that will be easy for themto eat and filling with the added bonus of extra protein from the sausage as they have very physical jobs! Thank you for this idea!!!!
I was intrigued when I saw stuffing muffins listed on your meal plan and now I can’t wait to try these! Yum! Your kitten is adorable!
That looks easy enough I might not mess it up!! Lol! Thanks!
I love stuffing but my family isn’t big on it. My husband loves muffins. This just might take care of things. At least it will make it easier to portion out a little bit for me at a time.
Glad things are working out for the one kitten. So sorry about the others. Thank you for sharing Wiggams story too.
Such sweet kitties. You did a great job helping Wiggams. Love the much easier stuffing recipe!
Thanks for the recipe and freezing tip! This will come in handy, even if the crowd is just my three “boys” and me.(Hubby, J, and my brother) And that baby kitten is darling! May Lionel continue growing bigger and stronger.
To make your stuffing even easier – cube the bread and let it set out overnight. No need to taste it ????
I can’t wait to try this. I’m a huge fan of stuffing!!!!!!
That should say no need to toast it – auto correct – ugh.
My family will love these. Thanks!
What a great idea! I love that you can freeze.
Love the idea of doing the stuffing as muffins! Genius!
Laura, I, too have often avoided making stuffing, letting someone else make it or going without, but this recipe looks both yummy and doable. Thank you!
Can’t wait to try the stuffing. In going to add cornbread and celery to mine.
With a recipe like this, I think we will be having stuffing year round and not just on Thanksgiving! Thank you!
Thanks so much for this recipe! My husband and I host a weekly college Bible study at our house, and I always cook a big Thanksgiving feast for them all. I love this make-ahead series!! It will make prepping so much easier!
I’m glad you are a real person that burns muffins while saving lives! That’s why I read this blog!
I love the idea of go-ahead stuffing! One less thing to distract me from watching the parade????
I love this idea! I’m thinking I could try it with the copious amounts of leftover stuffing that we always seem to have after thanksgiving! I think it would be great to have small portions ready in the freezer. Thanks for the idea!
Great idea! Our family doesn’t like celery either. I will have to try your recipe.
I only recently started liking stuffing (one of those tastes that changed for me via pregnancy). I like the muffin idea, but I might do a test run to make sure they get crunchy on top enough for my crowd. :)
Looks like I can use this recipe not only at holidays, but other times of the year too!
The only stuffing I have made is Stove Top. Probably should try to make it a little more real :)
stuffing muffins…interesting.
Your recipe came at the perfect time! As we recently found out one of our boys is deathly allergic to celery! I am excited to try these for Thanksgiving!
How might you modify the cooking time or recipe if you used a 9×13 pan or crock pot?
Blessings!
Sounds yummy – can’t wait to try!
The kitten is so cute!
OH, and I personally love the fact that you just took the pictures and posted them. :)
OOOh, I can’t wait to try these! Thank you once again for all the ways you share to save time in cooking!!!!
Burnt muffins in pursuit of keeping a kitten alive seems like a good trade-off to me!
I would suggest stuffin muffin as a title name. ;)
Cant’ wait to try these. I adore stuffing!!!! Since I don’t make it often, stuffing is my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal.
Thank you for sharing. This recipe doesn’t seem to daunting.
Great ideas! Thanks!
I have a question… I just put the stuffing in ziploc bag in the freezer and will put it in a 9×13 pan to save space in my freezer and take out to thaw and bake on Thanksgiving Day. Then i noticed that you baked them before freezing. Do you think this will work?
Thanks…
Yes, I think your plan will work just fine!