Amazing Gluten Free Stuffing With Hazelnuts and Sausage
In my family stuffing is called “dressing” and not really stuffed into the bird at all, rather baked separately in a covered casserole dish. I almost always add sausage to my dressing as it lends tremendous flavor and moisture. This recipe, inspired by the flavors of Tuscany, makes use of Rudi’s new pre-packed gluten free stuffing mix. To make the whole thing from scratch, cube a loaf of gluten-free bread and let it dry out over night (I’d recommend trying gluten-free foccia bread).
Recipe card & instructions updated 3/15/22.
Jump to RecipeA Gluten Free Stuffing for a Gluten Free Thanksgiving
It’s November! It’s NOVEMBER! And that means Thanksgiving is just around the corner. My first gluten-free Thanksgiving was just two years ago. I’m never one to mess with tradition…and traditional holiday recipes especially. But having no choice, I had to tweak just about every single Thanksgiving recipe to make it gluten-free. Happily, my family was (and continues to be) extremely supportive–new cutting boards were purchased, foods were prepared carefully to avoid cross-contamination, and much research and trial-and-error went into our first GF holiday.
I was nervous…really nervous about how everything would turn out. I mean, I was the kid who cried if something didn’t taste exactly the same as it did the year before. But you know what? Those fears were unfounded. Almost everything was just as good as in years past. Some things were even better (like this cranberry pecan frangipane tart). Last Thanksgiving, we did an even better job, having another year of gluten-free baking under our belts. It gets easier, friends. It really does!
Luckily, some companies are making it even easier to have a gluten-free holiday–like Rudi’s. This year they have come out with a truly yummy stuffing mix that I had the opportunity to test drive…test bake?…in my kitchen last week. It’s really awesome, guys, and super easy to jazz up, if that’s your sort of thing. My usual Thanksgiving dressing (that’s what we call it in our family) always includes a little sausage, some fruit, and some nuts. Using that formula, I created what I think is a really fantastic Tuscan-style dressing with fennel, spicy Italian sausage, and roasted hazelnuts.
Looking for more recipes to make sure you have the perfect gluten free Thanksgiving? I’ve got you covered:
- An Easy and Impressive Salad for Thanksgiving
- A Great Cranberry and Gin Cocktail
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Butter Pie
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Tuscan Style Dressing w/ Sausage, Fennel, & Hazelnuts
Ingredients
- ½ cup hazelnuts
- 1 pound link spicy Italian sausage
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 large onion diced
- 3 stalks of celery diced
- 1 fennel bulb green top cut off and reserved, stem end cut off and discarded, and the rest diced
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ¼ cup chopped fennel frond the green top part
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper
- 1 package gluten-free stuffing mix I use Rudi's
- 2 cups turkey stock or chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until lightly golden brown, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and pour into a clean dish towel. Rub nuts with the towel until the skins peel off. Chop nuts in half and place in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Heat a large skillet over a medium flame. Remove sausage from casing and break apart with a spatula. Cook sausage until brown and crumbly and pour into the bowl with the nuts.
- Return pan to stove and add butter. When butter has melted add onions, celery and fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and translucent, about 10 minutes. Pour into the bowl with the sausage and nuts.
- Add the parsley, chopped fennel frond, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and stuffing mix and toss to combine. Gently toss stuffing mixture with the stock and place in a well-greased covered casserole dish (2 quart) and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Take stuffing from the refrigerator about 1 hour before you are ready to bake it. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake stuffing, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove cover from stuffing and bake 15 minutes more, until golden brown on top. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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Gave into gluten temptation last year….only because of the stuffing!!! I even made GF pumpkin pies. This year will be 100% gluten free foe me. Veggies galore!
This will be our first GF Thanksgiving. I’ve been looking for gf T.G. recipes for the last few days. I think this is one we will definitely be trying. We do stuffing.
This is my first GF Thanksgiving, so I am pretty nervous. It is also my daughter’s first one where she is able to eat grown up food. We will probably make stuffing, even though it feels daunting.
Thank You Thank You Thank You! Not being able to make my gramas stuffing Gluten-free is heartbreaking. Now to find this near me.
My first gf Thanksgiving was great! I was diagnosed right before Christmas 2011, (which REALLY was difficult), but by the time Thanksgiving 2012 rolled around, I was pretty confident with my gf cooking. It was just me and my hubby, but I still made a full dinner with a HUGE turkey and gravy, stuffing (!), sweet potatoes and green beans. Oh, and spinach balls as an appetizer, and pumpkin pie, of course!
The will be the first time I try Gluten Free Thanksgiving as we usually travel and don’t control what is served..However I prefer dressing….
My first gluten free Thanksgiving was a little rough, but the recipes have been modified over the years and have become tasty.
My first gluten-free Thanksgiving was over 10 years ago now. I have never been a good cook/baker so I did no substitutions that year. I think I even went without gravy :(. My attempts at gluten free stuffing from scratch have not always been very successful. I usually end up burning the bread when making the crunchy croutons first, LOL. This would be such a great win as we don’t have any of the the retailers listed in our area that will be getting this product. Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving
Stuffing is the one thing I miss most on Thanksgiving. My grandmother always made THE best stuffing EVER. EVER! My aunt made me a gluten free batch last year and, while it still good, it just wasn’t the same as I watched everyone else shovel the good stuff into their mouths! Would love to try this kind!
I have Endo and was told a Gluten Free diet could help my symptoms. So I’m trying to purchase more items that are gluten free. Gluten Free stuffing! Cool idea. Thanks for offering the give away.
I found out I has Celiacs a week before Thanksgiving two years ago. My grandpa’s stuffing recipe was always my favorite part of Thanksgiving! Armed with more GF knowledge I am excited to make his stuffing with my GF spin! Tradition makes the holidays feel like home wherever you are. I’m excited to be able to keep this one, with the help of Rudi’s of course 🙂
My gluten free thanksgiving was wonderful.
This will be our 4th gluten free Thanksgiving, but my first time hosting and our first all gluten free Thanksgiving. Usually I just bring gf food for my kids. It is most definitely stuffing at our house 🙂
Last year was my first GF Thanksgiving, I didn’t get either! My family wasn’t very knowledgable or accomodating. I’m going to try to take matters into my own hand this year. It was so sad without it!
My first GF Thanksgiving was 3 years ago, and as daunting as it was to reinvent old favorites into new GF favorites, we (my family and I) adventured ahead! It all turned out great! My mom, my aunt, and my cousin all helped me out. It is now a fun adventure to recreate old recipes into new GF recipes. I am rather excited about this Thanksgiving with all of the newly discovered Rudi’s GF items to try!
My first gluten and dairy free Thanksgiving was last year and it was the hardest for me. My absolute favorite thing in the world was stuffing and all I could do was walk by and smell it. It’s was a little pathetic. I ended up having to make and bring my own food because everything had either flour or heavy whipping cream in it. I’m finding all these great gluten free items now! It helps make the holidays so much better.
It was ok I just could not eat most of what was Cooked though. I missed the stuffing and pumpkin pie the most.
I am so thankful to have found this page. This is also my first Thanksgiving as gluten-free and I can admit to being a tad overwhelmed. I am doing my best to embrace all the changes. I know that it is imperative to my health. Thank you for the great giveaway! And Happy Thanksgiving!
Last year was my first year and it was horrible! There was a lot I couldn’t eat cuz we went to someone else’s house. This year will be amazing because my brother is an amazing cook and knows how to read labels and cook so I can eat!
Last year was horrible. We went to my husbands families dinner and I couldn’t eat anything! This year I’m excited! My brother is cooking and he knows how to read labels and make delicious, tasty food that I can eat!!