By With over a dozen 5-star reviews, you can be sure this high-protein stuffing without celery will be a crowd favorite. Plus, it's incredibly easy to make with just 15 minutes of hands-on work required. It has all the warmth of fall with sage and seasoned breakfast sausage paired with a refreshing bite of crisp apples.
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This high-protein stuffing without celery recipe is a game-changer for holiday dinners, especially if you're not a fan of mushy celery. It's got all the good stuff - crispy bread on top, soft and savory underneath, and packed with spiced sausage that'll keep you full (thanks to all that protein).
The bone broth and sausage combo makes this dish a protein powerhouse, perfect for balancing out all those carbs. It's basically everything you love about stuffing, minus the bits you don't. So ditch the celery and make the best stuffing this holiday season!
why is this stuffing the best holiday side dish?
- It's a high-protein side dish with 3 different sources of protein: sausage, eggs, and bone broth!
- Plenty of fall flavor with crisp apples, spices (thyme, sage, & rosemary), and cranberries.
- It's easy to make the day of. This recipe takes under 15 minutes to prep, so really the oven does all the work for you! Pop it in the oven a little over an hour before your feast, and you'll be good to go with yummy, fresh stuffing.
ingredients and substitutions
All substitutions are a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted.
- French Bread: We need stale bread! You can leave out the bread cubes overnight or toast them to make sure the bread is sturdy enough to hold up to the added liquids. Any type of bread similar to French bread can be used. This could be sourdough bread, brioche, or artisan.
- Seasoned Sausage: This is critical! It packs a flavor punch with no extra work. I like to use mild sausage or breakfast sausage. You can use any type of seasoned sausage.
- Apples: I like to use honey crispy or granny smith apples to have a little bite to the stuffing. They also are harder varieties, meaning they will not soften as much when baked. Any tougher apple can be used. When I say tougher, I consider an apple like a Macintosh as soft because they have an almost foam-like texture, while an apple like Granny Smith is tough and requires a solid bite to enjoy.
- Cranberries: Fresh or dried cranberries can be used. If using dried ones, look for no-sugar-added ones. Use leftovers to make our cranberry yogurt muffins!
- Bone Broth: Bone broth brings 9g of protein per serving compared to just 1g in regular broth. It also has tons more flavor! Ghee or margarine can be used in place of butter. Salted or unsalted butter is fine. Olive oil can be used for sautéing but not for the liquid mixture.
- Yellow Onion: Classic recipes usually rely on either onion or garlic as their base of flavor sauteed in a bit of butter, and this dish is no different. Feel free to use a white onion or shallots.
- Egg: The egg I mentioned above! This helps set the casserole by acting as the stabilizer.
- Seasonings: For this stuffing without celery, we use the three heavy hitters of seasonings - sage, rosemary, and thyme. We prefer to use dried and ground spices to make life easier. You can finish the stuffing with a bit of fresh parsely.
high protein ingredient spotlight: bone broth
Bone broth has many amazing health benefits, and I love adding it to any recipe I can! It contains several important nutrients for our body, like collagen (important for our skin, bones, muscles, & more), amino acids (needed for energy & immune support), & even electrolytes (necessary for hydration & heart health)!
how to make this stuffing without celery
- Make sure your bread is stale and preheat the oven to 400 degrees f. If the bread is not stale or day-old bread, tear it up into 1" cubes and toast at 200 degrees for 10 minutes.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter to a large skillet and let melt over medium-high heat. Add onions and spices and sauté until onions have softened.
- Add the sausage to the pan to brown it and break it up into bite-size pieces.
- While the sausage cooks, melt the remaining butter and add the egg and chicken broth to the melted butter and mix.
- After the sausage is mostly cooked, add the diced apples, cranberries, and parsley and mix together. You can also do this in a large bowl if the pan isn't big enough.
- Pour this sausage mixture into an 8x11 or larger casserole dish or baking dish. Top with stale bread pieces and liquid mixture. Mix until thoroughly coated. Try to spread out into a single layer to ensure the top gets evenly golden brown. You can also use a larger pan or even a sheet tray to spread out the mixture more. This will result in all crispy stuffing. I prefer my stuffing soft underneath and crispy on the top, hence the 8x11 size pan.
- Cover pan with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove aluminum foil after 25 minutes and bake for 35 more minutes until golden brown.
helpful tips
- Can't find seasoned sausage in ground form? No worries! Any uncooked breakfast sausage will work, even if it is in casings. You can simply squeeze out the sausage from the casing into the pan and cook normally.
- Best apples to use: Choose firm, tart apples like Granny Smith or Honeycrisp that will hold their shape during cooking.
- Maintain moisture: Use enough bone broth to moisten the bread, but don't oversaturate. The stuffing should be moist but not soggy.
quick recipe video
can I make this stuffing ahead of time?
Honestly, this recipe is best made on the day of your holiday dinner. Stuffing is a hard meal to keep very long because it's best fresh.
Fridge: If you have any leftovers, store in the fridge in a sealed or airtight container for up to 4 days.
To reheat: Stuffing is best reheated in a toaster oven to retain the crisp. But it can be heated in a microwave until heated through.
common questions
Yes, you can omit celery from the stuffing. Celery adds flavor and crunch, but as this recipe can attest, you do not need either of those, as there are plenty of other tasty flavors to add to stuffing.
Eggs are a protein that provides structure. In stuffing, eggs help to stabilize and bind the stuffing while it bakes.
If you tried this high-protein stuffing without celery or any other recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let us know how it went in the comments below. Thanks!
Recipe
High Protein Stuffing Without Celery
Ingredients
- 5 cups french bread (stale & cut into 1"-2" cubes)
- 1 lb breakfast sausage
- 3 cups apples (about 4 medium apples - honey crisp or granny smith, diced)
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon sage (dried & powdered form)
- 1 tablespoon rosemary (dried & powdered form)
- 1.5 teaspoon thyme (dried & powdered form)
- 1 cup chicken bone broth
- 5 tablespoon butter (unsalted)
- 1 yellow onion (diced)
- 1 egg
- 1.5 cups parsley (finely chopped, fresh or ⅕ tablespoon dried)
- See above for substitution options
Before you start!
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Instructions
- If your bread is not stale, you can toast the cubed bread for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.Prep by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. Dice your onion and apples and measure out your spices. If the dried rosemary is large, turn it into powder with a coffee grinder. Cube your bread.
- Saute 1 yellow onion, 1 tablespoon rosemary, 1 tablespoon sage, and 1.5 teaspoon thyme in a skillet over medium heat until soft with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
- Add the 1 lb breakfast sausage to the pan to brown and break it up as it cooks. Cook until browned.
- In a bowl, melt the remaining of the 5 tablespoon butter in a microwave safe container and then whisk in 1 egg and 1 cup chicken bone broth. Add the bone broth to the hot butter first so the egg doesn't scramble.
- Once the sausage is done, add the ⅓ cup dried cranberries, 3 cups apples, diced, and the 1.5 cups parsley and mix. For the apples - I like to use honey crisp because they are sweet with a slight tang and a harder variety meaning they hold up better when baked.
- Pour this mixture into a greased 8x11 pan. You can also do a larger pan or even a sheet pan, which will result in crisper bread because it is spread thinner. I prefer the bottom of the stuffing soft and the top crispy, hence the 8x11 pan. Add the 5 cups french bread on top, then the liquid mixture. Mix together until thoroughly coated.
- Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Then remove the foil and continue to bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
Looking for more information?
Additional substitution information can be found above in the substitution section of this post.
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate and for informational purposes only.
So tasty!
Not a fan of bread stuffing, this recipe is scrump-dilly-icious exception! The balanced flavors of sausage, apples, cranberries, onion... It's a keeper!
We look forward to making it again this weekend to serve with an omelet.
Thanks so much for making it!
So good!
Delicious!!
This stuffing recipe is absolutely delicious! We made it for Thanksgiving in 2024 and our household is still talking about it 6 months later.
WOW! That's awesome! Thanks for making it and sharing it 🙂
Getting ready to try this recipe...wish me luck! Excited to see how it turns out. I don't have celery so I looked up stuffing recipes and this came up...