Paleo Stuffing with Sausage, Apple and Chestnut (Gluten-Free)

This Paleo stuffing is a delicious grain-free stuffing made with a homemade flaxseed bread, sausage, apples, chestnuts, and warm spices. It is naturally gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, and Paleo.

This paleo sausage stuffing is savory and full of Fall holiday flavors. There’s cooked apples, fennel, hearty sausage, flaxseed bread, chestnuts, and ALL of the spices. It is actually one of my favorite ways to use chestnuts in cooking.

If you like using chestnuts in your recipes, try my cauliflower chestnut soup and my chestnut coffee cake.

This paleo stuffing is made in partnership with US Wellness Meats. To make it, I used sugar-free pork breakfast sausage and chicken stock, both of which are naturally Paleo.

Recipe ingredients

Ingredients for the flaxseed bread:

• eggs
• water
• apple cider vinegar
• ground flaxseeds
• almond flour
• baking soda
• herbes de provence

Ingredients for the stuffing:

• sausage
• crushed red pepper
• olive oil
• onion
• fennel
• garlic
• apples
• bay leaf
• rubbed sage
• honey
• steamed chestnuts- William Sonoma carries roasted and/or steamed chestnuts during the holidays. You can also find them on Amazon, but I’ve found the price to be best on Yummy Bazaar.
• chicken stock

See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.

Step by step instructions

Step 1: Make the flaxseed bread.

• In a large bowl whisk the eggs, water, and vinegar together and set aside. In another bowl, mix the ground flax seeds, almond flour, baking soda, Herbs de Provence and salt together with a fork.
• Then, mix the bowl of dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix together with a whisk until well combined.
• Pour the bread batter into the loaf tin and bake!

Step 2: Cook the sausage, apple and fennel mixture. Cook the sausage with red pepper flakes until browned, and then set that aside.

Step 3: Then, cook the apples, onions and fennel together with a bay leaf until fragrant. Mix together the sausage, and apple/onion/fennel mixture.

Step 4: Fold in some chestnuts into the sausage fennel mixture.

Step 5: Cut up the bread into cubes.

Step 6: Add the cubed bread to the sausage mixture in a large soup pan. Add the chicken stock to the stuffing mixture. Then put everything into a large glass baking dish, and then, bake it for about 50 minutes.

How to serve

You can serve this stuffing with gravy, or with ALL of the Thanksgiving accoutrements. I love serving it with roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy!

My personal Thanksgiving meal includes:

Recipe FAQs

Other healthy sides you’ll love:

Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!

5 from 2 votes

Paleo Stuffing with Sausage, Apple and Chestnut (Gluten-Free)

By: Dominique

Servings: 10

Prep: 15 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

A delicious grain-free stuffing made with a homemade herbes de Provence and flaxseed bread. It is full of sausage, apples, chestnuts, and warm spices.

Ingredients 

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Ingredients for the Herbs de Provence bread:

• ▢ 4 eggs
• ▢ 2 Tbs water
• ▢ 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• ▢ 1 cup ground flax seeds, (golden flax seeds)
• ▢ ¾ cup almond flour
• ▢ 3/4 tsp baking soda
• ▢ 2 tsp Herbes de Provence, plus ¼ tsp extra to sprinkle
• ▢ ½ tsp salt

Ingredients for the stuffing:

• ▢ 1 lb sausage, casings removed
• ▢ a pinch crushed red pepper
• ▢ 1 Tbs olive oil
• ▢ 1 cup diced yellow onion
• ▢ 1 cup diced fennel
• ▢ 1 heaping Tbs of minced garlic cloves, (2 garlic cloves)
• ▢ 2 cups of diced tart apples, (1 large Granny Smith apple)
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ 1 tsp rubbed sage
• ▢ ½ tsp salt
• ▢ ½ tsp ground pepper
• ▢ 1 Tbs honey
• ▢ 1 cup steamed chestnuts, chopped ( this was ½ of a 14.8 ounce jar for me)
• ▢ 1 loaf of Herbs de Provence bread, (recipe above)
• ▢ 2 cups chicken stock
• ▢ ½ tsp Herbes de Provence

Instructions 

Instructions for the bread recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover a loaf tin in parchment paper. My loaf tin was 9.25 X 5.25 X 2.75 inches.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, water, and vinegar together and set aside.
• In another medium bowl, mix the ground flax seeds, almond flour, baking soda, 2 tsp of Herbs de Provence and salt together with a fork. Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and mix together with a whisk until well combined.
• Pour the bread batter into the loaf tin and pat the top with a rubber spatula to even it out throughout the pan. Sprinkle ¼ tsp of Herbs de Provence on top of the bread.
• Cook the bread for 25 minutes. Remove it from the pan by lifting the wax paper and then remove the wax paper before letting the bread cool on a drying rack.

Instructions for stuffing:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9 x13 inch baking dish.
• In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, cook the sausage with a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, stirring occasionally, until it is browned and cooked through, around 10 minutes.
• Transfer the sausage to a large heatproof bowl or pot and set aside. Add the olive oil to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.
• When the oil is hot, add the diced onion, diced fennel, diced apples, and minced garlic to the pan and mix. Top with 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp rubbed sage, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp black pepper, and 1 Tbs honey, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples are tender and the onions are translucent, about 8-10 minutes.
• Add the cooked apples mixture to the bowl with the sausage and mix. Add the water chestnuts to the bowl and mix.
• Take the loaf of Herbs de Provence bread and cut it into 1 inch cubes. I sliced it first then cut it into inch cube pieces. Add the bread cubes to the sausage and apple mixture in the large pot/bowl and mix.
• Then, add the chicken stock to the mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Do this until you have used 2 cups of chicken stock.
• Pour the stuffing mixture into the greased 9 x13 inch baking dish, and top it with ½ tsp Herbs de Provence.
• Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is golden brown and crisp, about 25-30 minutes. Let the stuffing rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

• To store, put in an airtight container and refrigerate for 3-5 days.
• To freeze, put in a freezer safe container for up to 3 months. Defrost over night in the fridge and then reheat in the oven.

Nutrition

Calories: 570kcalCarbohydrates: 55gProtein: 23gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 1030mgPotassium: 576mgFiber: 9gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 175IUVitamin C: 10mgCalcium: 177mgIron: 5mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

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