This Thanksgiving Paleo Gluten Free Stuffing is a delicious healthy alternative to most traditional dressings and stuffings – it's made with a ton of veggies and it's still packed with fall flavours thanks to the sage and rosemary!
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Ingredients in Paleo Gluten Free Stuffing
OMG this is truly one of those recipes I did not expect to love so much!
This Thanksgiving Paleo Gluten Free Stuffing is basically fall in a skillet, and it's so perfect for your weekly meal prep that it might not even make it to the Thanksgiving dinner table. Seriously.
Fall just has the best food – gimme some sage, sausage, brussels sprouts and butternut squash along with a bunch of garlic and I'm a happy girl. The flavours of autumn are just so comforting and honestly you can take a lot of fall comfort food flavours and turn them healthy, as seen in this Gluten Free Stuffing. Here's everything you need on hand to make it:
- butternut squash
- brussels sprouts
- garlic
- onion
- celery
- red pepper
- apple
- fresh sage
- fresh rosemary
How to make Paleo Gluten Free Stuffing
This Thanksgiving-inspired stuffing is Whole 30, paleo, gluten-free…pretty much checks off all the boxes on healthy eating, and because it comes together (mostly) in one skillet, it's also great for meal prepping for your work week if you just can't get enough holiday flavours.
Or maybe you don't have a Thanksgiving feast planned out, or just want to eat healthier at your family gathering instead of making up a whole bunch of different side dishes so this healthy gluten free stuffing is right up your alley!
Even if you don't include the turkey sausage, it's still a fantastic side dish bursting with veggies, and is bound to accomodate for most dietary restrictions. No one's going hungry with this scramble! Here's how to make it:
- Mix together ingredients for turkey sausage.
- Roast butternut squash and brussels sprouts in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook turkey sausage in a skillet, then remove.
- Add onions, celery, red pepper and apple to skillet, sauteeing for about 7-8 minutes until veggies soften.
- Add turkey sausage back to skillet with other veggies – right around this time squash and brussels sprouts should be coming out of the oven. Add them to the skillet along with rosemary and sage, tossing everything to combine. Serve and enjoy!
Making homemade turkey sausage
You can buy store bought turkey, chicken or pork sausages for this recipe, or you can make your own sausage using ground poultry or meat. It's actually super easy, and the key to spicing it right is fennel, paprika and onion powder. Here's what you need below:
- Ground chicken or turkey
- fennel seeds
- paprika
- onion powder
- salt & pepper
You'll just mix the following in a large bowl and then saute in a skillet, breaking up with a spoon much like you would with ground beef. You will remove the casings on whichever store bought sausage you use so you can just go ahead and use ground meat for the sausage in this recipe.
How to Make This Gluten Free Stuffing a One Pan Meal:
Technically you could make this paleo stuffing in just the one pan, adding your ingredients bit by bit, but there's something delectable about a little brown char on the brussels sprouts and the butternut squash that you can't really get in the frying pan.
But if you do want to take the easier route because you're meal prepping and you don't have all weekend, you could do the following:
- Saute the turkey sausage in the skillet first then transfer to a separate bowl
- Without wiping the pan clean, add a bit of olive oil and saute the butternut squash and brussels sprouts on medium-high heat for about 10-15 minutes
- Add in the rest of the veggies and cook another 8-10 minutes, then add the turkey sausage back in and dump in the herbs, cooking another 2 minutes
Ingredient substitutions
When it comes to most stuffing recipes, I actually don't really like the idea of throwing apple in there. In fact, I have an aversion to most fruit being in any type of savoury recipe.
But I'm here to tell you NOT to exclude the apple! It really does bring a true fall flavour to this gluten free stuffing recipe – combined with the fresh sage (don't use dried sage, it's not the same!) and the rosemary…let's just say it's amazing and it's a winning combo.
Here are some other substitutions you can consider with this recipe.
Vegetables – You could also use sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, any type of greens, beets, potatoes…any type of root vegetable really!
Sausage – You can use store bought or homemade sausage, or just leave the sausage out altogether to make a delicious side dish.
Herbs – I recommend fresh rosemary and sage, but you can use dried versions of these herbs as well as use thyme.
Apple – If you don't want to add apple but still want some crunch, you can use water chestnuts instead.
More healthy fall recipes
Essentially this paleo stuffing really is just a scramble, similar in nature to this other Sausage and Root Vegetable Scramble I made last year. Here are some other delicious fall recipes:
Storing and reheating
I highly recommend storing this recipe in individual servings in glass meal prep bowls so that you can just remove from the fridge and reheat for 2 minutes. You can sprinkle a tiny bit of water overtop before microwaving to ensure that the sausage doesn't dry out. The leftovers will last in the fridge up to 5 days.
Can you freeze this dish?
Unfortunately the whole cooked dish will not freeze, but you can freeze the cooked turkey sausage, so that is a component you can make ahead of time! Allow it to defrost in the fridge overnight then throw it in when you're sauteeing the veggies.
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls if you plan on turning this recipe into your weekly lunches.
- Order some fennel seeds here – they can be tricky to find at the grocery store!
Meal prep challenge
If you'd like some more help with meal planning, then you'll love my free 5-day meal prep challenge! It's basically a free course that will teach you how to meal prep and cook healthy meals at home with some PDF bonus materials. Sign up for free below:
Thanksgiving Paleo Gluten Free Stuffing
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 small butternut squash, diced
- 2 cups brussels sprouts, sliced in half
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium-sized yellow onion, diced
- 3 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 apple, sliced and diced into small pieces
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage (I would not recommend dried here - you need the fresh stuff!)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 2 tsp dried)
- Salt & pepper to taste
Turkey sausage
- 1 lb Ground chicken or turkey
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 F. In a large bowl, mix together ingredients for turkey sausage.
- Add butternut squash and brussels sprouts to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper then drizzle on a bit of olive oil and season with some salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a very large skillet over med-high heat. Add turkey sausage (you can also use store bought and remove casings), then break up with a slotted spoon, cooking until just browned, about 5-7 minutes.
- Remove turkey from skillet and add in onions, celery, red pepper and apple, then drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Saute for about 7-8 minutes until veggies soften.
- Add turkey sausage back to skillet with other veggies - right around this time squash should be coming out of the oven. Add that to the skillet along with rosemary and sage and saute another 2-3 minutes, stirring everything very well.
- Serve immediately or divide into meal prep bowls. Leftovers will last in fridge up to 5 days.
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