Cauliflower Stuffing with Sausage and Pecans

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Cauliflower stuffing is a low-carb, gluten-free alternative to traditional stuffing. Packed with sausage, cauliflower, onions, celery, and pecans—delicious!

The holiday season is approaching, and I don’t know about you, but my carb consumption tends to go way up with all the delicious treats on offer. I’m happy to indulge from time to time, but I like to balance that with healthy dishes packed with seasonal vegetables.

With that, let me introduce this Cauliflower Stuffing with Pecans and Sausage. It’s kind of a genius idea—just replace the bread in your favorite stuffing recipe with cauliflower. Same great stuffing flavors, but more vegetables and fewer carbs. Still comfort food at its finest!

Why Make This Recipe

• A low-carb option for holiday stuffing! Let's face it, the best part of the stuffing is the sausage, nuts, and herbs, right? And cauliflower is kind of a chameleon in that its texture can remind you of rice, bread, even chicken, depending on how you prepare it. In this recipe, it does a credible job of replacing the chunks of bread in a traditional stuffing, and I promise you won't miss them.
• Great way to get your vegetables! Sometimes a heavy meal can be a bit light on the vegetables (talking to you, Thanksgiving dinner). I love having a side dish packed with good-for-you cauliflower to add to the table.
• No need for a turkey! I know people have strong feelings about this, but I’m a separate-baking-dish kind of girl rather than a bake-the-stuffing-inside-the-turkey kind of girl. I do love the extra turkey flavor in stuffing baked in the bird, but I enjoy much more a browned, crispy top on my stuffing. The difference in textures is delicious, and you don’t have to worry about poisoning your guests with salmonella. 

🥗 Ingredients

In this recipe, I’m using some of my preferred stuffing ingredients: sausage, onion, celery, pecans, and a little white wine. Add some traditional spices like thyme and sage, and it feels like Thanksgiving!

Breakfast Sausage: You can use any kind of sausage you like. Chorizo would make a delicious, though less-traditional substitute. Any kind of turkey or chicken sausage would work too. You could also choose to leave out the sausage entirely—if so, you’ll need to add some more olive oil to sauté the vegetables.

Herbs: I'm using fresh thyme and dried sage in this recipe. You can use one or the other if you don't have both, and you can use dried versions or fresh (double your amount if going from dried to fresh, and halve it if going from fresh to dried). You could also substitute oregano, bay leaves, herbes de provence, rosemary, or parsley.

Pecans: Feel free to replace pecans with almonds or toasted, peeled hazelnuts.

Chicken Broth: This recipe calls for chicken broth, but you could substitute vegetable broth as well.

White Wine: I love the flavor that a little bit of white wine brings to this dish, but if you don't have wine or prefer not to cook with it, you can replace with broth. You can also substitute a tawny port.

🥣 Instructions

So let’s start. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius. Remove ¾ lbs breakfast sausage from casings, and sauté in a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. (You don't need a pan this big just to brown the sausage, but it will come in handy later when you add the rest of the ingredients.)

Break up the sausage chunks with a spoon, and sauté until lightly browned, about 10 min. Then remove sausage from pan and set aside. If pan is dry, add 2 T. olive oil. If pan still contains sausage fat, add as much olive oil as you need to make 2 T. total fat.

Add 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped celery stalks, 3 chopped garlic cloves, and 1 chopped head of cauliflower to skillet and cook until softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes.

When there are only a couple more minutes to go, stir in 1 t. fresh thyme, ½ t. dried sage, ½ t. salt, and ¼ t. pepper.

Now add the sausage back in. Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl, then whisk in ¼ c. white wine and ¼ c. chicken broth. When combined, pour into skillet and toss. Stir in chopped pecans.

Pour stuffing into 13 x 9 inch baking dish and bake for 15 min covered in foil. Remove the foil and bake for 20 more minutes, until top is browned and crispy.

Garnish with some chopped celery leaves if you like. A perfect Thanksgiving recipe— even better than traditional stuffing!

🧐 Recipe FAQs

👩‍🍳 Expert Tips

For extra-crispy stuffing fans: If the top of the dish is not browned enough when you finish baking it, you can pop it under the broiler for a couple of minutes to really caramelize the top.

Now that you've got one holiday side dish sorted, you may be looking for more. These Southern Candied Yams with Marshmallows are a classic dish to eat alongside this cauliflower stuffing. Or maybe you fancy this Twice Baked Potato Casserole, creamy with sour cream and cheddar and topped with crispy bacon.

You'll want a main course as well, and these Baked Turkey Legs are low-effort, but big on flavor. Perfect for a smaller gathering. Or go classic with this easy homemade Roasted Turkey.

And if you need dessert, don't miss my Biscoff Cheesecake, my Ultimate Blondies with Chocolate Chips, or my French Yogurt Cake with Almonds. Or, double down on the pecan flavor with this rich and luscious Pecan Cobbler or this classic Pecan Pie Recipe.

Best Holiday Side Dish Recipes

We love this on our holiday table, and love pairing it with other delicious holiday sides like these:

If you try this cauliflower stuffing recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me.

And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!

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Cauliflower Stuffing with Sausage and Pecans

Chef Molly Pisula

Cauliflower stuffing is a low-carb, gluten-free alternative to traditional stuffing. Packed with sausage, cauliflower, onions, celery, and pecans—delicious!

4.95 from 53 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 55 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course Entertaining, Side

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Calories 282 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ¾ pound breakfast sausage
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 head cauliflower about 1 ½ pounds, chopped
• 1 ½ teaspoon fresh thyme plus more for garnish
• ½ teaspoon dried sage
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup white wine
• ¾ cup chopped pecans about 3 ounces
• celery leaves chopped, for garnish (if desired)

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Remove sausage from casings, and place in a large 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté until lightly browned, breaking up the sausage chunks with a spoon, about 10 min. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. If pan is dry, add 2 T. olive oil. If pan still contains sausage fat, add as much olive oil as you need to make 2 T. total fat.
4. Add onions, celery, garlic, and cauliflower to skillet and cook until softened and lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. When there are only a couple more minutes to go, stir in thyme, sage, salt, and pepper.
5. Now add the sausage back into the skillet.
6. Whisk egg in a small bowl, then whisk in wine and chicken broth.
7. When combined, pour into skillet and toss.
8. Stir in chopped pecans.
9. Pour stuffing into 13 x 9 inch baking dish and bake for 15 min covered with foil. Remove the foil and bake for 20 more minutes, until top is browned and crispy.
10. Garnish with chopped celery leaves, if desired.
    

Notes

With holiday events, it’s always useful to be able to make dishes ahead of time. You can prepare this stuffing dish several hours ahead, and leave it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to bake. If you want to make it a day or two before, I’d suggest you prep the ingredients in advance. Cook the sausage and chop the vegetables. Then you can either cook the vegetables in advance as well or refrigerate them separately and cook on the day you're serving. When you're ready to bake, you just stir together the stuffing ingredients in your casserole dish, toss with wine, chicken broth, and egg, and bake.

Nutrition

Calories: 282kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 11gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 554mgFiber: 3gSugar: 4g

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More About Molly

Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!

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