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
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and star rating below (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) and post a picture and tag us on Instagram using the hashtags #agirldefloured #deflouredrecipes! Thank you!
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
Thank you for helping support my small business! A Girl Defloured earns revenue in a few different ways; I have occasional sponsored post and I also earn an affiliate commission on the sales of products I link to— there might be a few of those links in this post. The only items that I feature are those that I use on a regular basis and that I truly love. I earn a small commission on your purchase, but you don’t pay any more than retail price. This allows me to share my recipes with you (and keeps me well fed). THANK YOU!
This will be my first GF Thanksgiving – and I was wondering how to odo the stuffing! Thanks!
My first GF thanksgiving was last year! I made 100% homemade stuffing and two homemade pies! It was all delicious but took FOREVER! I woke up so early and almost wasn’t done in time to leave for the family dinner. Stuffing!
I’ve had 6 GF Thanksgivings so far and they have all been great….you get more confident as time goes on, and as you “train” your family in how to avoid cross-contamination, trust grows. We always make stuffing, but I must say: the above recipe sounds divine compared to our Plain Jane version. Thanks for the chance to win!
I was never a big stuffing fan, but your recipe looks so good I may just have to try making it this year! My family is also very supportive and helpful in making sure that I can have Thanksgiving dinner safely with them, as the only GF person at the table.
this will be awesome for my gluten free options on the table, the more i try gluten free items the better i feel and my family thank you for all your hard work to make my life better <3
This will be our first gluten free Thanksgiving. I am so glad to know that there is a GF stuffing option for my son! Thanks for sharing this! We serve stuffing not dressing. 🙂
I am excited about any opportunity I get to cook healthier foods for my family–would love to fix this GF stuffing for Thanksgiving!
This looks really delicious!
Last year was my first GF Thanksgiving. I found a local woman who did GF catering and bought some stuffing and a wonderful apple strudel dessert. Along with that I had turkey and mashed potatoes and green beans.
Last year was my first gluten free Thanksgiving. We didn’t have any stuffing. I had pretty simple recipes for everything because I was new to gluten free cooking and was unsure of a lot of ingredients. Thanks for sharing! I have learned so much in the past year!
This will be our first gluten free Thanksgiving. I’m a little overwhelmed by the thought of it, actually. This recipe will help! Thank you! We serve stuffing.
Our first g free Thanksgiving was about 12 years ago. Simple meal, no bread. We serve dressing.
I am so excited to try this! I thought when I was diagnosed with CD that I’d never eat things like this again. Woo hoo! Bring in Turkey Day!
This will be my first year trying to cook GF. My 8 year old was diagnosed with Celiac so I want to serve some things he can eat.
Dressing
My first GF Thanskgiving was great! My mom made everything separate for my son and I. I couldn’t ask for a better or more supportive mom. This year, however, will be my first solo attempt.
Looks awesome! I need to make this for my hubby.
This is my fifth Gluten Free Thanksgiving, but it is ALWAYS amazing when a new GF product comes out to make our lives a little easier. My sister and I are already planning the “gluten-free goodness” that will be our kitchen on Thanksgiving.
We have an annual Thanksgiving potluck at work each year. With more than 100 employees, we provide the stuffing, turkey, ham and mashed potatoes, but the staff brings other sides and deserts. Well, with Celiac and being a vegetarian, you can guess how much of any of the dishes I will eat. (rhymes with hero). With a change to the sausage, this sounds delish and looks so much like regular stuffing (dressing), I’m guessing I can even get coworkers to try. Thanks!
I’ve been gf for 2 Turkey Days, too… this is my second. I usually make gf cornbread stufing, out of the bird. I’m excited to make more gf sides this year, including your recipe!
We have family members with Celiac disease,gluten intolerance and many nut allergies so Thanksgiving is a challenge.Tried various cheesecake recipes and finally found a delicious crust to use.
First time making GF for thanksgiving! my daughter in law is celiac. Can’t wait to try this stuffing for her. Definitely making the spice cupcakes with pumpkin cream cheese frosting from a previous blog post of yours… Going to be the best thanksgiving ever
This looks like an amazing give-a-way.
I would love to win. I love stuffing and I love Rudis products.
May I please win?.??? gluten free for 15 years now … products r much better than then, if you could find them. Would enjoy using this for our turkey stuffing!
I’m looking forward to my very first gluten free Thanksgiving. It will be a lot of work, but it’s my favorite holiday meal!
Last year we went without stuffing 🙁 I’m looking forward to trying some gluten-free stuffing this year 🙂
This is my first GF Holiday Season and I need all the help I can get. Thank you!
My first gluten free Thanksgiving was a couple of years ago and it was pretty good. I’m a MUCH better GF cook now than I was then so not everything was the best it could be, but it was okay. I burnt the GF popovers I made. 🙁 I served BOTH dressing and stuffing. What I call “stuffing” we don’t “stuff” in the bird…..but it is the traditional bread cubes-poultry seasoning-onion & celery stuffing; I served an awesome sausage corn bread “dressing” too (link here: http://www.food.com/recipe/home-for-thanksgiving-fried-cornbread-dressing-14359), with GF modifications, of course. They were both delicious!
My husband and son have been gluten free for sometime. I look forward to having a gluten free stuffing on the table. That is one dish I haven’t converted yet since my hubby doesn’t like stuffing. My son does though, so he will be excited.
I am so excited to try this new product from Rudi’s! We love their bread and we haven’t tried to replicate dressing. I’m excited to have something to try this year!
I am so excited to see this recipe! I can’t wait to try it – thank you!
this lookds yummy!!
I have been sadly missing stuffing from my turkey dinners.
Last year was my first gluten free Thanksgiving, but I am still really nervous about this coming Thanksgiving as we will be out of town. I am hoping to prepare my own meal in advance and take it with me just to be safe. I will definitely have stuffing on the side.
This is my 1st GF Thanksgiving since being diagnosed this summer. My husband & I will be trying many new dishes and this is definitely one of them! I’ve looked for Rudi’s at the grocery store but they only carry their bread. Do most people order online?
any ideas on how to tweak it when I leave out the meat? Going to use a veggie stock but questioning what leaving the meat out will do to the consistency.
Hi Donna, leaving out the meat is totally fine, as is subbing veggie stock. To moisten it up a bit, I’d suggest adding a few tablespoons of melted butter (or vegan buttery spread). 🙂
This looks amazing! I love the holidays, and the food! This looks like a God Send product for those who are GF! I love rudis! -Amanda b
My last two attempts at gluten free stuffing were so bad that I gave up. Maybe this will be the year I succeed. My daughter is also gf and misses her stuffing on Thanksgiving.
Thank you for the opportunity to win and the introduction to Rudi products!
I am getting ready to have my first gluten-free Thanksgiving!
The stuffing has always been one of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. I am so glad that I will have a chance to try GF stuffing this year (My first Thanksgiving GF).
My first GF Thanksgiving was definitely different, but I enjoyed making all of my favorites while sticking to my gluten free diet. We made pumpkin pie and some stuffing using GF waffles (this recipe will be so much better this year). My family was very supportive and made sure I had all of my favorites on our day of thanks. I was so grateful and thankful to say the least!
This is my first gluten free thanksgiving aaah!
We prefer dressing. Our son’s GF changes continue to be a work in progress so every year gets better.
Our first gluten-free Thanksgiving was fine for me and my daughter. However, Our being gluten-free seemed to bother everyone else more than it bothered us. It has gotten a little easier as my family has gotten used to it and they are somewhat better about trying to prevent any cross-contamination.
I forgot to say that I made gluten free dressing muffins, and my daughter and I thought they were great.
This will be my first gluten-free Thanksgiving, so I’m definitely looking for recipes to use. Finding out about this gluten-free stuffing recipe made my day, as I love stuffing (and I’m still learning about what recipes and foods are available that are gluten-free)! Looking forward to trying it out!
this will be our first GF thanksgiving, my son is only 2 and was just diagnosed with a wheat allergy this year! thanks for the opprotunity!
Pretty excited about being able to use “Real” Stuffing for my 3rd GF Thanksgivings! This recipe looks so yummy!
Ive been gluten free for about 6 years now. My Thanksgivings have never been the same. I normally don’t even eat half the stuff. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
I have been gluten free for 2 years now. My first thanksgiving was horrible because I was new to being gluten free and had no idea. I don’t think it will ever be the same because I eat half the stuff my family cooks, but this recipe looks amazing!!
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!!