Stuffing with Turkey Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, and Water Chestnuts

I saw this stuffing with turkey Italian sausage, mushrooms, and water chestnuts recipe on Closet Cooking and couldn’t wait to make it. We loved the textures and flavors of this tasty homemade dressing and thought it was fun to make. This delicious sausage stuffing paired well with creamy garlic and parmesan mashed potatoes, green beans with bacon vinaigrette, spiced cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls.
Stuffing with Turkey Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, and Water Chestnuts
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 links of turkey Italian sausage, casings removed (pork works too)
- 1 tbsp butter
- ½ cup onion, diced
- ½ cup celery, diced
- 8 oz mushrooms, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup dry white wine or chicken broth
- 1 handful parsley, chopped
- 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, chopped
- 1 day-old loaf of Italian bread, cut into bite-sized cubes
- 2 cups chicken broth, warm

How to Make Stuffing with Turkey Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, and Water Chestnuts:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large baking dish with butter or olive oil cooking spray.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove the sausage from its casing and cook, breaking it up into crumbles, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Add the butter, onions, and celery to the pan, then sauté until tender, about 7 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, sage, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste, then cook for about 7 minutes, stirring often, until everything is tender and just starting to brown.
Add the quarter cup of dry white wine (or broth), deglaze the pan, and simmer until most of the liquid evaporates.
Mix the sausage, vegetables, parsley, chestnuts, and bread in a large bowl, then add the broth and mix until all the bread is moist but not soggy.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish coated with olive oil cooking spray and cover with foil.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, until the top turns golden brown.

Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 links of turkey Italian sausage casings removed
- 1 tbsp butter
- ½ cup onion diced
- ½ cup celery diced
- 8 oz mushrooms chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh sage chopped
- Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
- ¼ cup dry white wine or chicken broth
- 1 handful parsley chopped
- 1 can of sliced water chestnuts chopped
- 1 day-old loaf of Italian bread cut into bite-sized cubes
- 2 cups chicken broth warm
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large baking dish with butter or olive oil cooking spray.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove the sausage from its casing and cook, breaking it up into crumbles, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
- Add the butter, onions, and celery to the pan, then sauté until tender, about 7 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms, garlic, thyme, sage, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper to taste, then cook for about 7 minutes, stirring often, until everything is tender and just starting to brown.
- Add the quarter cup of dry white wine (or broth), deglaze the pan, and simmer until most of the liquid evaporates.
- Mix the sausage, vegetables, parsley, chestnuts, and bread in a large bowl, then add the broth and mix until all the bread is moist but not soggy.
- Pour the mixture into a baking dish coated with olive oil cooking spray and cover with foil.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, until the top turns golden brown.



Chestnuts are my favourite! The stuffing looks great, Pam.
This looks delicious! I love those mushrooms and I’m a big fan of Italian sausage. Super yum!
Wow, sounds good! I am just having a few of us this year. I am only making a turkey breast.
XO Kris
I love adding chestnuts to stuffing! It’s a bit expensive but so worth it!
Fantastic Pam.
Thanks for sharing because I love italian sausages and therefore, this will be my stuffing for this Christmas bird!
Cheers,
Lia.
Water chestnuts is an interesting take on this! I was going to comment that we love adding chestnuts to our stuffing, but then reading through the recipe I saw that it was actually water chestnuts… that would be an interesting and different texture to try!
Wow, this looks like it could be a whole meal! Love everything you’ve got in here Pam!
This is totally my kind of stuffing, Pam! I think I’d toss in some sage and apples, too!
Great looking version Pam
Our friend Greg, who has come for Thanksgiving every year for the past 20+, made something quite similar to this last year, and we all loved it. He just called me earlier today to ask if he should bring it again this year. He didn’t need to ask twice. I’m glad you enjoyed it, too!
Yum! I love everything in this stuffing!
I love water chestnuts!
I will snack on them on their own.
So good.
And never used them in stuffing!
One can learn so many tips from you!
I really should make stuffing year round. It’s just so good!!
That sounds sooooo good!! I may have to make that this year….
That sounds great!
This is high on my list of candidates for pairing with our birds. I like everything about it.