Sausage Stuffing Bites with Cranberry Dipping Sauce
Thanksgiving is coming up, and that means we’re all about to come face to face with the Leftover Problem.
You know the one I mean. You make a huge amount of food for Thanksgiving dinner, and you eat a huge amount, and yet somehow you still have a huge amount left over. You can always slice the turkey for sandwiches, but what do you do with the leftover stuffing and cranberries?
Here’s one creative answer to that question: You blend that stuffing with some sausage, cheese, and dried cranberries, with a couple of beaten eggs to hold it together, and form it into tasty little meatballs that you can serve as a party snack. And use the leftover cranberry sauce for dipping.
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If stuffing is your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal, you will just love these little Sausage Stuffing Bites. They’ve got all the yummy flavor and chewy texture of your favorite side dish, plus the extra zip of the sausage and cranberries. They’re meaty, spicy, satisfying…totally irresistible.
In fact, they’re so good, you might want to make extra stuffing on purpose, so you can serve these as an appetizer before your Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Because when you have such a great use for leftovers, who wants to wait?
Quick Tips
Will this work with any kind of stuffing?
It’s best with a basic bread stuffing like my Easy Crockpot Stuffing. You can use a sausage-loaded version like my Savory Crockpot Stuffing by just reducing the amount of sausage you add to the balls, or even leaving it out completely. It should also work with a cornbread stuffing. Rice stuffing would be a little trickier, because it might not hold together very well. If you try it, test the consistency of the mixture before forming it into balls, and add another egg if it seems too crumbly.
Is there a way to make this appetizer vegetarian?
As long as your stuffing doesn’t have meat in it, all you have to do is replace the sausage in the recipe with a good veggie sausage like Lightlife Gimme Lean. Or just leave out the sausage and increase the amount of stuffing to make up the volume.
What if I don’t have any leftover cranberry sauce? We always eat it all!
Not to worry…canned cranberry sauce will also work. Just make sure it’s whole berry cranberry sauce and not the jellied kind.
Do these freeze well?
Yes! I like to make a big batch before Thanksgiving and freeze them, so I can serve some as part of my Thanksgiving Appetizer Snack Board and save some for Christmas.
Sausage Stuffing Bites with Cranberry Dipping Sauce
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine all stuffing ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with your hands.
- Using a cookie scoop, (or hands) scoop into golf ball sized balls, and place onto a greased baking pan OR a baking pan lined with parchment paper. I prefer the parchment paper method for easy clean up. You should get about 40 sausage bites.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, till they are browned on top.
- While they are baking, prepare the cranberry sauce in a small saucepan. Combine the ingredients, stirring frequently to help break the cranberry sauce down. Simmer until sauce has thicken a little.
- Place dipping sauce in a serving bowl and surround with Sausage Stuffing Bites.
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TOOLS USED FOR THIS SAUSAGE STUFFING BITES WITH CRANBERRY DIPPING SAUCE:
Measuring Cups and Spoons: Each cup’s “ml” and cup sizes have passed clearly engraved marking, and you can quickly identify the cup scale according to the color of the handle.
Mixing Bowls: Glass is pre-heated oven, microwave, fridge and freezer safe, and dishwasher safe.
Cookie Scoop: This gadget makes it easy to make equal sized balls for this recipe.
Sausage Stuffing Bites with Cranberry Dipping Sauce
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Ingredients
Sausage Stuffing Bites
- 2.5 cups Homemade Stuffing
- ½ pound of hot Italian sausage
- ½ pound of mild Italian sausage
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup of shredded cheese cheddar
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries minced
- 2 beaten eggs
- ¼- ½ cup chicken broth
Cranberry Dipping Sauce
- 1 cup cranberry sauce either homemade or canned WHOLE BERRY
- ¼ cup of orange juice
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine all stuffing ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix with your hands.
- Using a cookie scoop, (or hands) scoop the sausage balls onto a greased baking pan OR a baking pan lined
- with parchment paper. I prefer the parchment paper method for easy clean up. You should get about 40 sausage bites.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, till they are browned on top.
- While they are baking, prepare the cranberry sauce in a small saucepan. Combine the
- ingredients, stirring frequently to help break the cranberry sauce down. Simmer until sauce has thicken a little.
- Place dipping sauce in a serving bowl and surround with Sausage Stuffing Bites.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer: Family Fresh Meals is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is only an estimate. We recommend running the ingredients through an online nutritional calculator if you need to verify any information.
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If you freeze or refrigerate what is the best method to reheat and serve?
These look delicious! Can’t wait to try them.
Do you freeze before or after cooking?
I would freeze them after cooking
Would also love a detailed desc of how you freeze and re-heat! Do you cook at the same temp and time once more?
Sorry Kyrsten, I was confused by your question. Are you asking how to freeze and reheat?
I’m also wondering how to serve after freezing. Thaw then reheat in oven? What temp, how long, or microwave? Thank you!
To reheat, place on baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until warmed through. I would bake at 350 degrees F.
Thank you!!! I’m bringing these to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Made a batch a few days ago and they were out of this world!
The sausage balls were good but the sauce…. Oh my, tasted just like orange juice. I don’t think the pair went together. We used brown gravy and that did the trick.