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
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.
You can freeze this dish, though the texture might be a little softer when you defrost and reheat it. Store in an airtight container in the freezer, and defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours before reheating. Reheating in the oven will give you a better texture than using the microwave.
👩🍳 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.
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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📖 Recipe
Cauliflower Stuffing with Sausage and Pecans
Cauliflower stuffing is a low-carb, gluten-free alternative to traditional stuffing. Packed with sausage, cauliflower, onions, celery, and pecans—delicious!
Ingredients
- ¾ lb breakfast sausage (340 g)
- 2 T. olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 head cauliflower (about 1.5 lbs/725g), chopped
- 1 ½ t. fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
- ½ t. dried sage
- ½ t. kosher salt
- ¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 large egg
- ¼ c. chicken broth
- ¼ c. white wine
- ¾ c. chopped pecans (3oz/90g)
- celery leaves, chopped, for garnish (if desired)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit or 200 degrees Celsius.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- Now add the sausage back into the skillet.
- Whisk egg in a small bowl, then whisk in wine and 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 with foil. Remove the foil and bake for 20 more minutes, until top is browned and crispy.
- 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 Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 282Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 554mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 3gSugar: 4gProtein: 11g
Nutrition information is provided as a general reference for users courtesy of the online nutrition calculator Nutritionix.
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
Beth Ann Borchers says
I've been a subscriber for quite a while now...because I LOVE food and find most of your recipes very intriguing.
I made this (after Thanksgiving) and everyone I shared it with LOVED it. I am making it again because I felt the instructions overcooked the cauliflower. It was not white at all (like yours in the pictures) and could not be distinguished from the other ingredients. I do use homemade bone broth instead of stock but I wouldn't think that would be the cause. I'll let you know how my second try comes out.
Chef Molly says
Thanks so much for commenting, Beth Ann! Yes, do try it again and let me know how it comes out. Maybe my pan wasn't as hot as yours--it's so hard to give exact timing on recipes since everyone's stoves and pans cook differently. It's also possible your cauliflower was chopped in smaller pieces than mine? In any case, just cook until lightly browned and just softened--not fully tender--and see how it goes. Hope you will use your bone broth again--yum!
Beth Ann Borchers says
YEP! I totally get that! I used to have a food blog and am working on another right now, expecting it to be live in a couple days. And I made it a third time and love the results. I did add mushrooms, increased the nuts and sage, used butter and left out any additional liquids. Thank you for the inspiration!!!
Chef Molly says
My pleasure! Adding mushrooms to this is a fantastic idea. Good luck with your food blog--I wish you tons of success!
Gwen Greenwalt says
Molly, I just made this for a friend who came to visit & wanted us to have a Thanksgiving dinner and then promptly mentioned she was gluten free! Mine was minus sausage and egg, but it really did taste like dressing! I will now try yours!
Chef Molly says
Oh good! Let me know how it turns out. I do love the sausage in there. 🙂