Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

5 from 2 votes

Italian Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Italian sausage stuffed mushrooms are tender baby bella mushrooms filled with savory sausage-and-bread stuffing made with celery, onion, chopped mushroom stems, seasoned stuffing cubes, and chicken broth. The filling stays soft in the center while the top bakes crisp, making them an easy bite-sized appetizer for Thanksgiving or the holidays.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Total Time1 15

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American, Italian

Servings: mushrooms

Calories: 119kcal

Author: Vincent DelGiudice

Cost: $15

Equipment

1 large saucepan
1 medium pot
1 baking sheet

Ingredients

½ lb sweet Italian Sausage
6 oz Pepperidge Farm Cube Stuffing
1 stalk celery, chopped
½ medium onion, chopped
12 oz Baby Bella mushrooms
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
2 tbsps butter
½ tablespoon poultry seasoning
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Pour the chicken broth into a pot and bring to a simmer. Remove all of the stems from the mushrooms. I like to chop them up and add them to the stuffing.
Bring a large saucepan to medium heat. Add the butter. Once hot, stir in the chopped celery and onion. Sauté until soft, about 8 minutes. Then add in the garlic, poultry seasoning, and salt. Sauté for 1 more minute. Stir in the chopped mushroom stems and sauté for another 3-5 minutes, or until the mushrooms soften.
Remove the sausage from the casing and add it to the pan. Break it apart with a wooden spoon. into the smallest pieces possible. It has to be small enough to crumble and fit in the mushrooms. Brown it all the way through.
Preheat the oven to 375 ℉. Add ½ cup of stuffing to the mixture along with ½ cup of broth. Stir and combine until all of the broth is absorbed. Repeat this process, adding stuffing and broth together, until you use all of the broth and all of the stuffing.
Once the stuffing comes together and the cubed stuffing is starting to mash together, remove the saucepan from the heat.
Let the stuffing cool slightly and then use a spoon to stuff the mushrooms with the mixture. Place the stuffed mushrooms on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. The stuffing should be crispy. Remove and serve immediately.

Video

Notes

Use smaller baby bella mushrooms for an appetizer. Larger stuffing mushrooms can hold more filling, but they make for a much heavier bite. I prefer smaller baby bellas so these stay true one- or two-bite appetizers.
Crumble the sausage as finely as possible. Large pieces of sausage make the filling harder to pack into smaller mushroom caps. Break it apart well while it cooks so the sausage is evenly distributed throughout the stuffing.
Cook the moisture out of the mushroom stems. Chopped mushroom stems release quite a bit of water as they cook. Let that moisture evaporate before adding the sausage so the finished stuffing doesn't become overly wet.
Add the stuffing cubes and chicken broth gradually. Add a little stuffing and broth at a time, stirring often and waiting until the liquid is absorbed before adding more. The finished stuffing should be moist enough to hold together when pressed, but you should still be able to see distinct pieces of bread. If you add everything at once or use too much broth, the filling can become mushy and one uniform texture.
Let the stuffing cool before filling the mushrooms. Give the stuffing a few minutes to cool after cooking. It will be easier to handle and much easier to pack into the mushroom caps.

Using ground pork? You can turn plain ground pork into Italian sausage using our Homemade Italian Sausage Seasoning.

Nutrition