Cornbread Sausage Dressing

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This Cornbread Dressing is EVERYTHING! Homemade Cornbread (or store bought) mixed together with sausage, onions, carrots, and celery and then baked to perfection. Make it ahead or day of, tastes great either way. It is the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table!

 

Cornbread Dressing- My Favorite Thanksgiving Side!

Growing up, I strongly disliked all bread stuffing/dressing with a passion. My Mom always made wild rice stuffing and I grew accustomed to it. Actually, scratch that. It was the norm and so so delicious!

So, I went on a quest this year. Surely I could make some kind of turkey stuffing or dressing with a bread product that could be comparable to my beloved rice stuffing. Well, my friends, I’ve done it. I made a Cornbread Dressing that I LOVE.

This Cornbread Dressing is sweet, salty, has texture, and most importantly great flavor! AND, get this: it’s super easy to do too! Easy to make ahead or make day of. It’s a fabulous addition to turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and everything else you’re serving on Thanksgiving.

Main Ingredients Needed for Cornbread Dressing

Nothing crazy or hard to find ingredients on this list. A lot of staples and basic ingredients needed. For specific increments and directions, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post to the printable recipe card.

• Italian Sausage – I used a mild sausage but feel free to make this dish a little spicier!
• Onion, Carrots, and Celery – three flavor-packed veggies to fill out this dressing recipe.
• Cornbread – use store-bought or make some homemade cornbread.
• Poultry, Salt, and Pepper – seasonings to bring out flavors and add some savory notes.
• Chicken Stock – for flavor and for moisture.
• Eggs – eggs hold the dressing together while it bakes and helps retain moisture.

How to Make Cornbread Dressing

Very simple, basic directions here! If you’re wanting to keep this easy, be sure to buy pre-made cornbread in the deli/bakery section at your local grocery store. Marie Calendar also makes a great boxed version as well which works wonderfully.

1. Cook Italian Sausage in olive oil, breaking it apart while it browns.
2. Add in onion, celery and carrots into the skillet and saute until tender, about 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Remove pan from heat and add to large mixing bowl. Crumble cornbread over top.
4. Add in poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and half the chicken broth.
5. Stir in whisked eggs.
6. Add in remaining chicken broth (or as much as you think it needs to get it moist). Spoon dressing into buttered baking or casserole dish.
7. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

That’s it! Beautiful cornbread dressing that would be a delicious addition to any Thanksgiving meal.

Make it Ahead!

The beauty of this recipe is you can totally make it ahead and have it ready and waiting in your fridge.

Simply make the recipe according to the instructions listed in the recipe card up until it is time to bake. Store the unbaked cornbread dressing covered with foil in its buttered baking dish in the fridge for up to three days before you want to serve. To bake, simply pop it into a preheated oven and cook 30-40 minutes or until heated through with golden browned edges.

Before you bake it, double check that it doesn’t seem too dry. If you think it could use a little moisture, sprinkle over a little extra chicken stock before baking.

Variations

Go ahead and customize this cornbread dressing recipe with these suggestions:

• Cornbread Stuffing: this is technically a dressing recipe since it is cooked outside of the turkey. However, feel free to stuff this dish into a bird for extra flavor and moisture!
• Protein: you can replace the protein with a spicy Italian sausage, bacon or even some spicy chorizo. Yum!
• Veggies: switch up the veggies to match whatever protein you are using. Some good substitutes would be zucchini, butternut squash, peas or even apples, pears or craisins would be good, too!

Complete Your Thanksgiving Spread with these Recipes

If you’re still finalizing your Thanksgiving menu, here are some of my tried and true classic recipes that my family loves that we think you will love, too!

Main

• Perfect Roast Turkey with Homemade Turkey Gravy
• Amazing Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Ham Glaze

Sides

• Buttery Mashed Potatoes or  Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole or Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
• Potato Rolls or Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls or No-Knead Crescent Rolls
• Buttery Corn Casserole or Green Bean Casserole

Dessert

• Pumpkin Pie and/or Buttery Apple Pie
• Pumpkin Pecan Casserole
• Pumpkin Pie Sheet Cake
• Sweet Potato Pie or Pecan Pie

Love Cornbread Dressing? Try some other variations:

• Amazing Thanksgiving Stuffing
• Wild Rice Stuffing with Bacon

That’s it! Delicious and moist Cornbread Dressing perfect for any Thanksgiving table.

The printable recipe card is below, enjoy!