Mom’s Famous Wild Rice and Sausage Stuffing

This recipe was my mother’s signature holiday side dish. Make this once and I promise it will become a classic in your family as well. The flavors in this dish are what comfort food is all about.

I will be writing this post in blue as this was my mother’s favorite color and this is dedicated to her. I don’t want this post to be a downer but I, like most people do feel a little hesitant happiness during the end of the year holiday festivities. At times, it can be very difficult to dig deep and experience the joy that one is supposed to be mainly feeling during the holidays. One of the things that I love the most about food is that the taste and the experience of prepping and cooking it and the smell that fills the air can take you back to a special and happy moment in time that you will always treasure.

As a child, I had always experienced my Thanksgivings as a warm and busy and hectic and joyous time with family, football and delicious food. My Nana and my Mom had hosted more Thanksgiving meals than I can count. As the years have passed, the Thanksgiving hosting torch has been passed down to me.

Truly, I love hosting. My amazing husband, Anthony and I go all out. We set up cute restaurant-style tables with centerpieces and a holiday punch and there’s enough food to feed about 30 guests instead of the roughly 20 we typically host. Don’t get me wrong, the system we have in place now came after many many years of trial and error but I think we have it down to a science.

Thanksgiving (and really any party I host period) does get very stressful for me. The weeks of planning and the days of cooking do become a lot. I think that last year, Thanksgiving 2019 was the best and most smooth yet. Vivianna was born about 7 weeks prior to the holiday and during my postpartum checkup, my doctor said she had absolutely no idea why I thought it was a good idea to host after just having had a baby. Good question! But somehow, all of the stars aligned and everything worked out beautifully. It helped that our newest little turkey was a calm and cooperative cohost.

This recipe for my Mom’s Wild Rice and Sausage Stuffing is famous in my family. It’s so flavorful and very elegant. I make this recipe throughout the year with a lot of different meals because the family would not stand for only experiencing this greatness once a year. The birth story of this stuffing begins about 17 years ago. My Mom did not care for just stuffing our bird with vegetables and my brothers and I did not care for a bread stuffing. Mom came up with this beautiful compromise to (hopefully) make everybody happy and thus the most amazing wild rice and sausage stuffing that you will ever experience came to life.

My Mom only made this recipe when stuffed within a turkey or chicken. I have adapted the recipe to be cooked on the stovetop and that’s the recipe that I will be sharing today. When I make this for Thanksgiving, I prepare it the night before so that it is cooled completely prior to stuffing and cooking the turkey.

Due to the popularity among my family for this dish, the amount stuffed into the turkey simply will not cut it. So I make the majority of it on the stove and once our turkey is complete (which feels like a lifetime), I mix the stuffing in with the stovetop rice. The slow cooked and turkey infused stuffing gives something so very special to the dish.

My Mother was the most amazing cook in the entire world. She had such a natural gift for it and she taught me so very much in the kitchen. One year, she wasn’t feeling up to hosting our Thanksgiving so I volunteered. This was my first one. I made her wild rice and sausage stuffing and her juicy turkey.

I remember that she looked at me after trying her plate and said that it felt so weird because it tasted like she was eating her own cooking but she wasn’t exhausted from cooking all day. This was hands down the greatest compliment that I will ever receive on my cooking. I hope that this recipe sparks the happiness within you that it does in me every time that I make it. Enjoy!

Instructions

Add the jasmine rice to the rice pot. Fill the rice pot with cold water and stir the rice around. Empty most of the water to reduce the amount of starch. You will fill and drain the rice pot a few times until the water is running fairly clear and is a lot less cloudy. It is important to rinse the rice as starch can make for a gummy or clumpy rice. The water will not be completely clear. Add the packets of Carolina Brand wild rice and stir to combine. Add cold water to just cover the rice and move the pot so that the rice is level. Place the tip of your index finger so that it’s just barely covering the rice. Fill with water until the water level reaches the first joint of your finger. Cover the rice pot and follow the cooking instructions for your rice cooker.

Heat a large pan sprayed skillet over medium heat. Remove Italian sausage from the casings and break apart while adding to the pan. Once all sausage has been added, continue to break apart with a wooden spoon while browning. Cook the sausage for about 12 minutes or until cooked through. Take the skillet off of the heat once finished.

Once the rice has finished cooking in the rice cooker, return the skillet to medium heat and add butter and olive oil. Add rice, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried parsley and chicken broth. Stir to combine. Continue stirring for an additional 10 minutes.

What is your favorite holiday side dish? Let me know in the comments below. I’m always looking for new recipes to try. As always, thank you very much for supporting Spice and Sugar Mama!

Mom’s Famous Wild Rice and Sausage Stuffing

Dominique Collins-Bloomfield

Mom's Famous Wild Rice and Sausage Stuffing was my mother's signature holiday side dish. Make this once and I promise it will become a classic in your family as well. The flavors in this dish are what Thanksgiving is all about.

5 from 6 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

• 3 Cups Jasmine rice
• 2 Packets Carolina brand Long Grain and Wild Rice with Seasonings packets
• 1 Pound Italian sausage
• ¼ Cup Butter spread
• ¼ Cup Olive oil
• 1 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Teaspoon Black pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Garlic powder
• 1 Teaspoon Dried oregano
• 1 Teaspoon Dried parsley
• 1¾ Cup Chicken broth

Instructions

 

• Add the jasmine rice to the rice pot. Fill the rice pot with cold water and stir the rice around. Empty most of the water to reduce the amount of starch. You will fill and drain the rice pot a few times until the water is running fairly clear and is a lot less cloudy. It is important to rinse the rice as starch can make for a gummy or clumpy rice. The water will not be completely clear. Add the packets of Carolina Brand wild rice and stir to combine. Add cold water to just cover the rice and move the pot so that the rice is level. Place the tip of your index finger so that it's just barely covering the rice. Fill with water until the water level reaches the first joint of your finger. Cover the rice pot and follow the cooking instructions for your rice cooker.
• Heat a large pan sprayed skillet over medium heat. Remove Italian sausage from the casings and break apart while adding to the pan. Once all sausage has been added, continue to break apart with a wooden spoon while browning. Cook the sausage for about 12 minutes or until cooked through. Take the skillet off of the heat once finished.
• Once the rice has finished cooking in the rice cooker, return the skillet to medium heat and add butter and olive oil. Add rice, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, dried oregano, dried parsley and chicken broth. Stir to combine. Continue stirring for an additional 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Notes

When using this recipe as a turkey or chicken stuffing, it is best to make the wild rice and sausage stuffing ahead of time and make sure it is completely cooled prior to stuffing.