Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away so it’s time to start talking and planning the big meal and side dishes. Do you have anyone you might be serving this Thanksgiving who is gluten free, keto or doing low carb, if so this is a great option.
Last year I made this cauliflower and sausage stuffing for a gluten free family member, not only she enjoyed it but everyone that tried it loved it, it definitely satisfies your stuffing desire.
It’s made similar to my traditional stuffing with all the same flavors going on except cauliflower florets replace the bread, but the nice thing is you’ll still get crispy bits along the edges ( my favorite part), with fresh and dried herbs mingled between the sausage and all the veggies.
I’ve always added breakfast sausage to our stuffing, preferably one flavored with extra sage, it’s tradition over here, so that’s what I’ve added in this cauliflower stuffing.
Feel free to add your favorite type of sausage or eliminate it all together. I do however suggest that you add in some mushrooms as I did to punch up the flavor and give it more bulk.
There’s a little bit of prep before like browning the sausage and a quick saute of the veggies, but as far as the cauliflower goes you can toss it in raw as long as the florets are in bite size pieces.
Everything then goes into as buttered casserole dish, like a traditional bread stuffing. This can all be prepped a day or two ahead then popped into the oven with the rest of the other sides on the day your serving it.
When it comes out it looks like this, crispy and golden. The cauliflower takes on all the traditional flavors of a bread stuffing but without any bread!
A delicious option for all to enjoy!
- 1 good size medium cauliflower cut into bite size florets
- 1 lb. breakfast sausage like Jimmy Dean or Bob Evans, in bulk
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 or 5 celery stalks, diced
- 8 oz. baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 stick of butter
- ½ to ¾ cup of chicken stock
- handful of chopped parsley
- dried sage, thyme, poultry seasoning (optional) salt and pepper to taste
- Fresh sage leaves for garnish
- Butter the inside of the casserole role dish you'll be using
- In a large skillet place remaining butter until it melts then saute the onions, garlic and celery until soft, then add the sliced mushrooms for a couple of minutes.
- Place all the sautéed veggies into a large bowl.
- Next brown up the sausage in the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and cooking it until you see no pink.
- Drain the sausage on paper towels then toss it into the bowl with the sautéed veggies.
- Fold into the bowl the bite size cauliflower, raw. If you think its to big you can toss it into the skillet for a couple of minutes to take the rawness away.
- Add in the chopped parsley.
- Add in the spices, dried sage and thyme and poultry seasoning if using into the mix. Start with 1 teaspoon each and then taste for your preference, adding more if you like plus the salt and pepper.
- Place everything into the buttered casserole dish, then distribute the broth all around.
- Top with a few fresh sage leaves for garnish.
- At this point it's all prepped and you can refrigerate it 1 to 2 days ahead.
- When you’re ready to serve, heat oven to 400 degrees.
- lightly foil the dish for 15 minutes then remove the foil and continue roasting until cauliflower is tender, golden, the sausage edges have crispy bits.
- Ovens do vary so keep checking every 15 minutes or so, you can also stick it under the broiler for a few minutes at the end to get desired golden look if needed.
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
