I’m going to lay a truth bomb on your right now. Cornbread Dressing (Stuffing) is my favorite dish at Thanksgiving. Hands down.
My Dad and I have been making this stuffing together since I was 4 years old. Over the years we added a few new ingredients, changed some of the techniques, experimented here and there and I’d like to think now it is better than ever. I’m not going to call it your average cornbread stuffing because it’s so much more than that.
Is it just cornbread dressing (stuffing)?
It’s so much more than your regular old cornbread stuffing or dressing! And here’s why:
- My Dad makes cornbread from scratch (overachiever)–also not required
- It has andouille sausage mixed throughout the stuffing
- It starts with the holy trinity of Cajun cooking (onion, celery, green bell pepper) plus we add in some spicy chiles for a little pop
- We use homemade turkey stock to give it extra flavor (luckily I have a recipe for that)
- We add cranberries for a little pop of color and sweetness
So is it dressing or stuffing?
For us it’s dressing but I always end up calling it stuffing. Back in the day we used to stuff the turkey with the cornbread stuffing. One year, we made a little too much stuffing so we baked the extra in small dish on the side. Overwhelmingly everyone loved the “dressing” compared to the stuffing. It gets crispy on top and moist in the center compared to stuffing baked in the turkey which just gets really soggy. Since that Thanksgiving, we have never stuffed the bird again.
The perfect bite
If you end up making this recipe (and I hope you do), I want to let you in on a little secret which is the perfect bite. It’s a corner piece of the dressing + Thanksgiving Mushroom Gravy. It’s literally my favorite bite out of the entire Thanksgiving meal.
Cornbread "Dressing"
Ingredients
- 4 cups cornbread, either homemade or store bought broken into chunks and dry
- 4 cups french or italian bread cut into cubes and dry
- 1 pound andouille sausage sliced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 ½ small onions small dice
- 1 each green bell pepper small dice
- 1 each celery stalk small dice
- 4 each garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1 each poblano pepper charred, skin removed and chopped
- 2 each serrano chiles chopped (if you want to it less spicy then remove the seeds)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries rehydrated in hot water
- 2 each eggs lightly beaten
- 1-2 cups turkey stock
- 2 tsp chopped thyme
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- 2 tbsp sliced scallions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- In a large saute pan, heat over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp butter.
- Add andouille sausage and saute until brown on the edges about 5 minutes. Once brown, remove the sausage from the pan and set aside.
- Turn the heat down to medium-low and add 1 tbsp butter, once melted, add onions, green bell pepper and celery stalks. Cook for 7-10 minutes until softened.
- Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Turn the heat to medium and poblano peppers and serrano peppers and saute for 4-5 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are soft, turn the heat off and let them cool for 10 minutes on the stove.
- In a large mixing bowl, add andouille sausage, cornbread, french bread, softened vegetables and dried cranberries. Mix together gently making sure not to break up the cornbread.
- Next, add the eggs and 1 cup of turkey stock, herbs and scallions.
- The “dressing” should be moist but not mushy, add another 1-2 cups of stock to moisten it.
- Next add the dressing to a buttered baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes and then remove the foil bake for another 20 minutes until golden brown.
