This crockpot stuffing recipe takes a simple boxed stuffing mix and turns it into something that tastes completely homemade. Savory sausage, buttery sautéed onion and celery, rich broth, milk and egg make it moist, flavorful and worthy of the Thanksgiving table—all without taking up precious oven space.

This is basically the ultimate doctored-up boxed stuffing: all the ease of a shortcut with the rich, savory flavor of homemade. Browning the sausage and sautéing the vegetables in butter before they hit the slow cooker makes all the difference. Then everything cooks low and slow while you focus on the turkey, rolls and everything else fighting for oven space.

Ingredients You’ll Need

This stuffing comes together with simple, familiar ingredients that work together to create something special.

• Ground sausage: Adds savory flavor, richness and plenty of seasoning. We love it for making boxed stuffing taste homemade.
• Celery: Adds a little texture and that classic savory stuffing flavor.
• Onion: Sautéed in butter until tender to create a sweet, flavorful base.
• Butter: Adds richness and gives the vegetables and stuffing that essential buttery flavor.
• Better Than Bouillon + hot water: Creates a deeply flavored chicken broth without opening a carton. Regular chicken broth works too.
• Milk: Adds moisture and richness for a softer, more luxurious stuffing.
• Egg: Binds everything together and gives the stuffing structure as it cooks.
• Stuffing mix: The shortcut that makes this recipe so easy. We love Kinder’s stuffing mix for its seasoning and texture, but another similar dry stuffing mix will work.

Simple ingredients, big results. Measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

How to Make Crockp

These make ahead mashed potatoes are rich, buttery and unbelievably creamy, made with Yukon Gold potatoes and cream cheese so they reheat beautifully without turning watery or grainy.

Make them up to 3 days ahead in the refrigerator or freeze them for up to 2 months, then simply reheat when you’re ready to serve. One less thing to make on Thanksgiving day!

I have made mashed potatoes ahead of time a BILLION times, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and technically you can do it with almost any mashed potato recipe. But after plenty of experimenting, I’ve found two things make a huge difference: Yukon Gold potatoes and cream cheese.

And if you have a FoodSaver, even better. That’s my absolute favorite way to store them. Removing the air helps protect the potatoes in the freezer, and freezing the bag flat makes storage AND reheating easier. They seriously taste like you just made them.

Ingredients You’ll Need

You only need 5 simple ingredients to make these mashed potatoes. Here’s what each one does:

• Yukon Gold Potatoes: Naturally buttery and creamy, and our favorite potato for mashed potatoes that will be frozen and reheated.
• Butter: Adds richness and helps create that silky mashed potato texture. We add a little extra on top before reheating too.
• Cream Cheese: The secret to make-ahead mashed potatoes! It adds richness and helps the potatoes stay creamy after refrigerating or freezing.
• Cream or Half and Half: Loosens the potatoes and makes them extra creamy. Warm it before adding so you aren’t cooling down the potatoes.
• Kosher Salt: Season both the cooking water and the finished potatoes so they’re flavorful all the way through.

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