This Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing with Sausage is a traditional, Southern recipe and it's delicious. This Homemade Cornbread Dressing is filled with flavor and will completely WOW your Thanksgiving guests!
I am a sucker for a homemade cornbread and this old fashioned cornbread sausage dressing is no different. Sometimes, the traditional way is just best!
This recipe starts from this cornbread recipe without buttermilk that needs to be made two days ahead of time. It will get nice and stale this way and be the perfect texture for our cornbread dressing.
This traditional cornbread dressing has the perfect blend of savory and sweet. Pair it with my Red Skinned Mashed Potatoes and Green Bean Cream Cheese Casserole.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- It is absolutely full of flavor from the homemade cornbread to the sausage and sage.
- The recipe is really easy to make!
- It combines all the traditional flavors from thanksgiving, plus sausage. YUM!
If you looking for more Easy Thanksgiving Recipes to pair with this dressing, try our homemade Cranberry Orange Sauce, Butternut Squash in the Air Fryer, Skillet Mac and Cheese, and Mini Apple Pies.
Ingredients:
Stale Cornbread: Creates the perfect texture and brings in just a bit of sweetness. It's important to use stale cornbread or it will result in a soggy texture.
Sausage: Pairs perfectly with cornbread & brings in extra flavor.
Onions and Celery: Must have vegetables in any stuffing or dressing.
Cranberry: For just a bite of tart and holiday flavor.
Chicken Stock: Brings the proper moisture to the recipe.
Sage: A traditional Thanksgiving herb and I love a good tradition.
See the recipe card below for ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations:
If you don't want to make my homemade cornbread muffins, just whip up a large boxed mix.
Not big on cranberries? Leave them out.
Need a vegetarian version? Take out the sausage.
How to Make this Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing:
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Here are the Step by Step Instructions for this Old Fashioned Cornbread.
Step 1: Prepare the Cornbread: Two days ahead of time, bake the cornbread. Use my homemade cornbread recipe or a boxed mix, like jiffy, is fine too. You need 6 cups of cooked cornbread. Once baked and cooled, crumble up and allow to dry out in the air for 2 days.
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Into a large dutch oven over medium low heat, add in the olive oil and butter. Once the pot is hot, add in the onion, celery and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Increase the heat to medium. Add in the sausage. Stir and cook for another 7 to 8 minutes, until no longer pink. Add in the sage and cook for 1 minute.
Step 3: Turn off the heat and add in the stale cornbread and cranberries and stir.
Step 4: Slowly add in the chicken stock to the mixture, stirring to incorporate.
Transfer the dressing into a casserole dish and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. After baking, turn to broil. Broil for about 3 minutes for a nice brown crust on top.
Step 5: Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving & enjoy!
Expert Tips:
- It is highly recommended to bake the cornbread 2 days ahead to allow it to become stale for this recipe.
Love Traditional recipes? Try my Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Casserole too!
Recipe FAQs:
Technically speaking, stuffing means stuffed in the bird and dressing is in a separate dish. However, I think of traditional stuffing as chopped up large chunks of bread, while dressing is more of a crumbled up texture like the crumbled cornbread that we use in this recipe.
Personally, I would wait until the morning of Thanksgiving. It will get dried out if you bake it twice, but it will be mushy if you let it sit too long in the fridge before baking.
Storage:
Store the casserole dish in the fridge covered with plastic wrap or transfer to sealed container. Eat within 3 days.
To reheat, place back in a 350 degree oven and heat up until hot, approximately 15 minutes.
More Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Love:
If you tried this Cornbread Dressing Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
Description
This Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing with Sausage is a traditional, Southern recipe and it's delicious. This homemade dressing is filled with flavor and will completely WOW your Thanksgiving guests!
Ingredients
- 6 cups of crumbled stale cornbread (recipe linked below) or 2 boxes jiffy cornbread
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 small yellow onion, diced fine
- 3 ribs of celery, diced fine
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 16 ounce sweet Italian sausage with no casings or 16 ounce mild country sausage, like Jimmy Dean
- 4 sage leaves, minced
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 and ¾ cups chicken stock
Instructions
- Prepare the Cornbread: Two days ahead of time, bake the cornbread. Use my homemade cornbread recipe or a boxed mix, like jiffy, is fine too. You need 6 cups of cooked cornbread. Once baked and cooled, crumble up and allow to dry out in the air for 2 days.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Into a large dutch oven over medium low heat, add in the olive oil and butter. Once the pot is hot, add in the onion, celery and salt. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Increase the heat to medium. Add in the sausage. Stir and cook for another 7 to 8 minutes, until no longer pink. Add in the sage and cook for 1 minute.
- Turn off the heat and add in the stale cornbread and cranberries and stir.
- Slowly add in the chicken stock to the mixture, stirring to incorporate.
- Transfer the dressing into a casserole dish and bake uncovered for 30 minutes. After baking, turn to broil. Broil for about 3 minutes for a nice brown crust on top.
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving & enjoy!
Notes
*Be sure to use stale cornbread for the recipe to get the best results!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Sides
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Thanksgiving
Holly says
This is the BEST cornbread dressing! Total hit on Thanksgiving and really like the sausage in it.