You have to try this Cornbread Sausage Dressing for the holidays! It’s seriously the best texture and flavor! Made with cornbread for that classic crumbly texture and French bread to soak up all the amazing flavors.
Why add sausage to dressing? Mixing in some ground breakfast sausage adds more bold, savory flavor. Especially if you use the sausage with sage! It's the perfect blend of flavors and textures, making it taste like the holidays in every bite...it's just next-level.
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love Cornbread Sausage Dressing
- Best Side Dishes for the Holidays
- Ingredient List with Notes
- Ingredient Swaps and Additions
- How to Make Cornbread Sausage Dressing
- Recipe Tips
- What to Serve with Dressing
- Sweet vs Savory Cornbread for Dressing
- How to Dry Bread for Dressing and Stuffing
- Frequently Asked Questions
- More Holiday Recipes to Try
- Recipe
- Comments
Why You'll Love Cornbread Sausage Dressing
Flavor and texture. Just like my Southern Cornbread Dressing, this recipe is also moist and flavorful! Cornbread dressing is more traditional and classic, and Cornbread Sausage Dressing has the added flavor and texture of ground sausage. Either one of these would be an excellent side dish choice for Thanksgiving or Christmas!
Easy prep-ahead recipe. Make the cornbread 1-2 days before you make the dressing. Toast the French bread cubes 1-3 days before making the dressing.
Make-ahead friendly. You can mix everything up 1 day before you plan to serve it; that way, the only thing you need to do on serving day is bake it! Be sure to store it covered in the refrigerator, and you may need to bake it a few minutes longer to account for it going into the oven cold.
Best Side Dishes for the Holidays
Whether you're having a large crowd at your house, or you've been tasked to bring a side dish elsewhere, here are several side dishes that are always a hit:
Buttery Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream
Ingredient List with Notes
Here are the ingredients you need to make Cornbread Sausage Stuffing! However, this photo and list do not contain the ingredients for the cornbread so be sure to check the corn meal mix package for those additional ingredients.
- Cornbread and French bread - you got your crumbly texture from the cornbread and softness from the French bread to soak in all the wonderful seasonings and broth.
- Ground pork breakfast sausage - love sage? Pick the one with sage already in it! Not a fan? Use the bold, spicy, or regular flavor - pick your favorite!
- Unsalted poultry seasoning - classic dressing/stuffing seasoning. I like the unsalted version because the broth has plenty of salt in it. I use Walmart's brand, Great Value Poultry Seasoning.
- Onion and celery - the key to getting the most flavor from these two? Grate them! Because grating them is easy, yes! More importantly, they practically melt right into the dressing. You can barely see them in there, but they're there providing wonderful flavor and added moisture!
- Chicken broth - provides the moisture needed to keep the dressing from drying out. Also provides excellent flavor.
Ingredient Swaps and Additions
Sausage - not a fan of sage? Use regular or spicy ground breakfast sausage. You can use andouille, Italian link sausage, etc., but you need to remove it from the casing before using it in this recipe.
Turkey broth - if you baked a turkey, you can use the broth for this dressing! Adjust the salt and seasonings to account for this swap.
Vegetable broth - can be used instead of chicken broth.
Regular loaf bread - you could use loaf bread instead of French bread. Check on it frequently while it's drying in the oven to make sure it's not getting too brown.
Minced garlic - add 1-2 teaspoons of minced garlic; the kind that comes in a jar.
Boiled eggs - add 1-2 chopped boiled eggs to the mixture before baking.
How to Make Cornbread Sausage Dressing
Here is a short summary with photos of the directions; be sure to follow the recipe card at the bottom of the page when you get ready to make it.
Step 1. Cook the sausage, onion, and celery in a skillet over medium heat.
Step 2. In a large bowl, gently blend eggs, cornbread cubes, French bread cubes, chicken broth, parsley, poultry seasoning, black pepper, and sausage-onion-celery mixture.
Step 3. Pour the dressing mixture into a casserole dish.
Step 4. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes.
Recipe Tips
- To save time, make the cornbread and the dried French bread cubes 1-2 days in advance. Store them in airtight containers.
- Don’t be shy with seasoning. The sausage, poultry seasoning, and even a little fresh parsley can make a big difference.
- Cover your dish with foil for the first 30 minutes to keep it from drying out. Then, uncover for the last 10 minutes to get that nice golden, crispy top.
What to Serve with Dressing
Here are some delicious dishes from My Kitchen Serenity that would pair wonderfully with Cornbread Sausage Dressing:
- Thanksgiving Chicken – Perfect for 4 people. It's very flavorful and super moist thanks to the garlic herb butter that's rubbed under the skin and on top of the skin!.
- Green Bean Casserole – with its layers of green beans, creamy sauce, Velveeta cheese, and topped with crushed Ritz crackers!
- Fruit Salad – not too heavy and brings something a little different to the table with its honey lime dressing.
Sweet vs Savory Cornbread for Dressing
It all depends on what you prefer and probably where you live! Southerners typically make savory, unsweet cornbread for their dressing, and Northerners usually use sweet cornbread (with added sugar or Jiffy mix). As for this recipe, I make a pan of unsweet cornbread; in fact, I use the cornbread recipe printed on the Martha White Self Rising Corn Meal Mix package.
How to Dry Bread for Dressing and Stuffing
The bread you use must be dried or the dressing will be too mushy. You can use the oven method or letting the bread cubes air out on the countertop for a day. I prefer the oven method as it gets the bread hard as croutons, which is good when making dressing or stuffing. My best tips for success are:
- The oven method is the best method to get the driest bread cubes.
- Use French bread because it's less moist than regular loaf bread. Cut it into approximately 1-inch cubes until you have about 2 cups of cubed bread (you only need 1 cup for the recipe but I always make a little extra just in cases it's needed).
- Place on a sheet pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 300F for 15 minutes. Then let the bread cubes cool off. They should be fairly hard like croutons.
- You can make the oven-dried bread cubes the day before if you want to.
Frequently Asked Questions
I always use my 11.5 x 8 x 2-inch (2-quart) ceramic casserole dish when I make cornbread dressing. You could use a 9 x 13-inch pan (ceramic, glass, or metal) but be sure to check on it sooner since the dressing won't be as thick and could cook faster.
Traditional options are chicken, turkey, and ham. Other great meats that go with dressing are pork loin, pork chops, roast beef, smoked link sausage, duck, and lamp. Basically, whatever you want!
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Oh, they are so good the next day!
Making dressing with cornbread is more of a southern tradition. Also, it's almost always served a side dish, instead of being stuffed inside a turkey; hence, the name "stuffing." I would say this recipe is very much southern; it has cornbread as the main base, ground sausage, and seasonings, along with onions, celery, and broth.
More Holiday Recipes to Try
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Recipe
Cornbread Sausage Dressing
Equipment
- cheese grater for grating the onion and celery
- measuring cup(s)
- measuring spoons
- 11.5 x 8 x 2 inch (2 qt) casserole dish
- sheet pan for toasting the French bread cubes
Ingredients
- 1 pan cooked and cooled cornbread. Make sure you have the ingredients you need to make cornbread (corn meal mix, eggs, milk, oil, etc.) I tested the recipe with Martha White Self-Rising Corn Meal Mix
- ¼ loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch cubes and oven-dried see Notes for how to dry out the bread
Dressing Ingredients
- 4 cups cornbread cubes, about 1" cubes see Notes about the cornbread
- 1 cup dried French bread cubes
- ½ lb ground breakfast sausage
- ½ cup grated yellow onion (about ½ med onion) see Notes about grating the onion
- ½ cup grated celery (about 2 celery stalks) see Notes about grating the celery
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon unsalted poultry seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick spray. I tested this recipe with an 11.5 x 8 x 2 inch (2 qt) casserole dish.
- Add the sausage, onion, and celery to a skillet and cook until the sausage is browned and no longer pink. Turn off the heat and set skillet to the side to cool. If there is any grease in the skillet, drain it off.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and lightly whisk them. Then add the cornbread cubes, French bread cubes, chicken broth, parsley, poultry seasoning, black pepper, and sausage-onion-celery mixture.
- Toss gently, making sure the cornbread and French bread cubes are moistened but don't overmix because you want the cubes to remain somewhat intact but not completely crumbled.
- Pour the mixture into the casserole dish, spread it out evenly but don't mash it down.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes.
- If desired, serve the remaining loaf of French bread, sliced, buttered, and toasted, with the rest of your meal. Or save it for another day!
Notes
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy to my readers. I'm not a nutritionist and I don't guarantee the accuracy of this data. The data may differ according to the brands I used versus the brands you use. To calculate the data yourself using your brands, try using an online nutrition calculator or app.
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