Pull-Apart Stuffing Rolls Recipe

Garlic knots join with stuffing in this incredible upgrade from your standard Thanksgiving rolls.

Updated July 20, 2022

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In This Recipe

Why It Works

Building a concentrated flavor base adds plenty of flavor to the exterior of the bread, while knotting the dough allows that flavor to seep deeper into nooks and crannies.
Letting the rolls rise until they're pressed together in a baking dish makes for extra-moist bread that's fun to pull apart when eating.

It's no question that stuffing is the best thing on the Thanksgiving table. It's also no question that these easy pull-apart pepperoni garlic knots are the most stupidly delicious easy recipe I've come up with so far this year.

Photographs: J. Kenji López-Alt. Video: Vicky Wasik

So what happens when you take the idea of a pull-apart garlic knot and mix it up with the flavors of stuffing?

A little bit of Thanksgiving magic. Tender, buttery, stuffing-flavor-packed magic. That's what.

Step 1: Make the Flavor Base

Melting butter in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop

Start by melting butter in a heavy skillet. Got an aversion to butter? This is not the recipe for you.

Using a wooden spoon and metal potato masher to break up sausage in a cast iron skillet

Next, add your sausage. If you're in a market that sells sage sausages (they come out around this time of year on the East Coast), go with that. Otherwise, bulk breakfast sausage is the way to go, though you can easily get away with diced bacon, salami, or even no meat at all if you'd prefer.

I like to use the potato masher to break up my sausage. It makes short work of creating an even-textured crumble.

Using a wooden spoon to stir sausage, celery, onions, sage, and garlic in a cast iron skillet

Then add your basic aromatics. I use the same flavors that I do in my classic sage and sausage stuffing: celery, onions, and plenty of chopped sage and garlic.

Cook those down until the vegetables are softened but not browned, then finish with some fresh parsley. Remove the mixture and let it cool completely.

Step 2: Prepare Your Dough

A ball of dough for pull-apart garlic knots, on a flour-dusted wooden surface

This recipe is based on my pepperoni garlic knot recipe, and if knotted pizza dough worked there, why not here?

I use a basic, lightly enriched dough, like my own New York–style pizza dough, though store-bought pizza dough actually works quite well. (I tested this with dough from Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Safeway.) While store-bought dough is generally under-seasoned and a little bland, in this case, the other flavorings are so damn strong that it really doesn't matter.

A pair of hands using a rolling pin to roll out dough on a wooden surface

After letting a pound of dough proof for the first time, divide it in half, then roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a roughly four-inch-wide strip.

Using a bench scraper to cut a rectangle of dough into long strips

Cut it into narrow strips with a bench scraper, then repeat with the other half of the dough. Tie each strip into a simple knot.

I tried incorporating the other ingredients directly into the dough, but it disrupts the dough's gluten network too much, causing it to collapse. Your rolls will end up dense and gummy that way. The knotting method creates plenty of nooks and crannies for the flavorings to fall into and cling to, while maintaining a nice, light texture.

Step 3: Toss and Proof

Using hands to toss knotted dough strips with sausage/aromatic mixture in a metal bowl

Transfer the knots to a large bowl, and add your cooled flavor base. Using your whole hand, toss and flip the knots until they're evenly coated on all surfaces. You want to be gentle here, letting the knots cascade over your palms so that you don't end up sticking them together.

Using the end of a stick of butter to grease a baking dish

Next, butter up a 9- by 13-inch baking dish (I told you we're not butter-shy here, right?) to help the bottoms and sides brown, and lay the knots inside the dish, keeping them evenly spaced. It's okay if they don't sit against each other snugly right now; that'll come with time.

Hands framing a baking dish full of unbaked pull-apart stuffing rolls, next to a box of plastic wrap

Cover up the dish tightly with plastic wrap, then set it aside and let the rolls rest until they've roughly doubled in volume. At room temperature, this should take three to four hours. In the fridge, it should take about 12 to 16 hours, which makes this a great make-ahead option.

Alternatively, you can freeze the casserole as is, with a layer of aluminum foil wrapped over it, for up to a week. Let it thaw completely in the fridge overnight, and allow it to rise at room temperature for an hour before baking.

When the rolls are ready to bake, they should look something like this:

Pulling off a layer of plastic wrap over a baking dish of unbaked pull-apart stuffing rolls, roughly doubled in size after rising

Step 4: Grease and Bake

Olive oil being drizzled from a metal dispenser over a baking dish of unbaked pull-apart stuffing rolls

What's that? Too much butter, you say? Well, okay then. This time, I'll drizzle them with a little olive oil and brush it on nicely before placing them gently, so as not to deflate them, in a hot, hot oven to bake.

After 25 to 30 minutes, they should emerge, ready for one final brushing of butter to give them the glossy sheen of a Parker House roll.

A dish of baked pull-apart stuffing rolls on a yellow kitchen towel

You'll notice that the sausage and other flavorings on the top will have browned quite a bit, delivering some really intense, concentrated flavor when you bite in. On the other hand, the sausage on the bottom will remain nice and juicy, giving you that pleasantly meaty texture.

Close-up of a hand picking up a pull-apart stuffing roll flavored with sausage, aromatics, and sausage

Soft, tender, buttery, packed with real Thanksgiving-stuffing flavor, and oh-so-fun to pull apart, these rolls make the ideal vehicle for dipping into all that extra gravy you've made (you do make extra gravy, right?), perhaps with a little spoonful of cranberry sauce to tie it all together.

If you wanna get really creative, just split one open at the table and make yourself a little Thanksgiving sandwich on the spot. Your mouth, and whomever you pay handsomely to wash your silk napkins, will thank you.

Next task: Use these pull-apart stuffing rolls to make stuffing. IT'S STUFFINCEPTION TIME.

November 2014

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