Southern Cornbread Sausage Dressing comes together with simple pantry ingredients and only requires just a little bit of effort. No standing over the stove for hours is needed.
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Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sausage recipe shows you how to transform a box of cornbread mix and a loaf of French bread into an upscale side dish recipe without too much hassle. With just a handful of ingredients, you can make a side dish that is worthy of any Thanksgiving table!
This dressing recipe goes so well with any of your other favorite sides. Pair it with a nice scoop of Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and don't forget your juicy Turkey Breast!
Why this recipe works
This Dressing is simple enough for a regular weeknight dinner, but is fancy enough for your Thanksgiving menu. Making homemade dressing is an easy way to use up extra, stale bread.
The leftover dressing is absolutely delicious the next day and has way more flavor than the boxed stuff from the grocery store! Sausage cornbread dressing goes incredibly well with some homemade Cranberry Sauce.
Ingredients needed
- Cornbread mix: I used classic Jiffy cornbread, you'll need eggs and milk. You can also make your own sweet cornbread with my recipe.
- French bread: you want a sturdy white bread loaf
- Ground pork sausage with sage: I wouldn't suggest spicy sausage
- Butter: unsalted since we add salt later
- Onion: a medium diced onion. White or yellow work best
- Celery: diced
- Carrots: large carrots diced up
- Herbs and spices: garlic cloves, fresh sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, salt, and black pepper
- Chicken stock: low sodium
How to make Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sausage
- Step 1: In a mixing bowl, add cornbread mix, eggs, and milk. Mix well.
- Step 2: Pour the cornbread mixture into a prepared baking dish and bake.
- Step 3: Cut the cornbread and French bread into one-inch cubes and place them on a baking sheet and bak
- Step 4: In a large skillet, add ground sausage and start to cook.
- Step 5: Add in the butter, onions, celery, and carrots.
- Step 6: Mix all together and cook until the sausage is browned and the vegetables are soft.
- Step 7: In a large mixing bowl, add the dried bread and cornbread cubes, sausage mixture, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper and mix.
- Step 8: Add chicken stock and beaten egg mixture to the bowl, toss and then transfer the mixture to a prepared baking dish.
Recipe Tips
- Fresh herbs bring more flavor to this dressing recipe and are preferred over dried.
- When adding the chicken stock to the bread crumbs and the cornbread, be sure not to add too much to make it too soggy, and be sure to add enough so it isn't dry.
- If you have turkey broth, that should work as well.
- I use a wooden spoon to mix everything together so I don't break down the dressing when stirring.
Recipe Faq's
Cut your French bread loaf into long strips and then it is easier to cut those strips into cubes for dressing.
Transfer any leftover Southern Cornbread Stuffing to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4-5 days. Reheat in the microwave of a 300-degree oven for 15 minutes. You can also make my delicious Deep Fried Stuffing Balls.
Southern cornbread dressing and stuffing are quite similar. Both are typically made with a combination of bread cubes, vegetables, herbs, and broth. With dressing, the ingredients are cooked in a separate casserole dish from the bird, while stuffing is usually cooked inside the bird or another animal. Dressing also uses a higher ratio of bread cubes to other ingredients than stuffing does. Additionally, many southern variations of dressing include spices such as sage that aren’t typically used for stuffing dishes.
Yes, the dressing can be made the night before you plan to make it.
Then cover the dish with aluminum foil and refrigerate. When ready to use, simply bake the dish following the original instructions on temperature and time.
Additionally, you can bake this ahead of time, then freeze until ready to use again. Thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven before serving.
More Holiday Dishes
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Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sausage
Ingredients
- 2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup milk
For the dressing
- 6 cups french bread
- 1 lb ground pork sausage with sage
- 8 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 ribs celery, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon sage, chopped
- 1 tablespoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2-3 cups low sodium chicken stock *see notes
- 2 eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Bake the cornbread according to the package instructions and let cool. see notes
- Cut the cornbread and french bread into one-inch cubes and place them on a baking sheet.
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees bake for 40-45 minutes tossing every 15 minutes.
- Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat and brown the sausage for 5 minutes.
- Add in the butter, onions, celery, and carrots cook until the sausage is browned and the vegetables are soft.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl add the dried bread and cornbread cubes, sausage mixture, fresh herbs, salt, and pepper and mix.
- Pour 2 cups of the chicken stock and beaten eggs over the mixture and gently toss. Add the additional cup of chicken stock if desired.
- Spoon the dressing into the prepared baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and place the dressing into the center of your oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes, remove the foil, and bake another 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
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