Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing
I have been making this stuffing for over 35 years without a recipe. I promise you if you make this, it will be a favorite. I make this 2 weeks ahead of time and freeze it. Remember: This is a moist savory stuffing. Not a dry one!
I have been making this stuffing for over 35 years without a recipe. I promise you if you make this, it will be a favorite. I make this 2 weeks ahead of time and freeze it. Remember: This is a moist savory stuffing. Not a dry one!
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- salt
- vegetable oil
- flour
- white pepper
- 4 large eggs lightly beaten
- stuffing
- 4 bundles celery coarse chop
- 2 bundles green onions chopped fine
- 3 jalapeã±os chopped fine
- 8 onions - chopped coarse
- 2 bundles parsley chopped fine
- 6 pork sausages by jimmy dean-2 should be spicy
- 3 boxes giblets (optional)(chopped fine)
- 1 box butter
- thyme (heavy handed)
- sage (heavy handed)
- rosemary (ground)(heavy handed)
- tarragon (heavy handed)
- poulty seasoning
- cornbread
- 16 tablespoons bacon drippings
- 6 cups coarse or medium stone-ground cornmeal
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 6 cups well-shaken buttermilk
- 1 bottle maggi seasoning (very salty) so no salt needed in
- quick gravy
- knorr swiss chicken stock
- turkey drippings and sausage drippings
- 2 bags cornbread stuffing (makes work easier… cubed)
- Carbohydrate 15.1895658039206 g
- Cholesterol 102.397523820511 mg
- Fat 19.7995828927062 g
- Fiber 0.668516092736887 g
- Protein 3.88826363153912 g
- Saturated Fat 9.90306130402201 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (66g)
- Sodium 468.152511552164 mg
- Sugar 14.5210497111837 g
- Trans Fat 1.40755467377302 g
- Calories 253 calories
Step-by-step
- Add some of the drippings from the sausage in a 9-inch cast-iron skillet sprayed with Pam. Place the skillet in the oven as the oven preheats to 450°F. You may need larger pan.
- Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and buttermilk, pour into the cornmeal mixture, and stir just until blended.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and scrape in the batter. It will sizzle and pop, so be careful. Return the skillet to the oven and bake until the cornbread is firm in the middle and golden brown on top, about 25 minutes
- Cook Jimmy dean sausage in iron skillet and set aside pan for gravy.
- Glaze white onions in butter with the herbs listed and then add other ingredients. Use a heavy hand on the herbs. You can put some of the sausage grease also for flavor.
- Add boiled giblets chopped fine if you want also. (Save some giblets for gravy).
- Add jalapeños (3) chopped super fine to pan. Taste it to check for spiciness before in case you want to add more (I usually taste it with the stuffing the next day to give it time to mix favors).
- Break up cornbread in 1" chunks (try not to make it too small and put in a large aluminum roasting pan. Add packaged cornbread crumbs now plus all cooked veggies. Use your hands to mix up. Add all herbs. Add some chicken stock to moisten and save some chicken stock for heating up the next day. Moist is better.
- Add salt and pepper. Pack down, cover with foil and you can refrigerate it now. Thursday morning let it stand at room temp. If you are short on room in your fridge, use ziplocks. Using your hands, carefully loosen it up, add more jalapeno now if you want and fluff it after you have heated it for dinner.
- Sausage and turkey drippings with chicken stock and super browned flour (in a dry pan). I use a bit of Maggi liquid seasoning. Watch the saltiness because Maggi is salt. If too salty, add flour. Remember that white pepper is hotter than black pepper! I usually cover and simmer gravy on low, half covered pan, to thicken and add finely chopped giblets if you want.
Preheating a cast-iron skillet loaded with bacon drippings at four hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit provides the thermal shock necessary to achieve a deeply golden crust on the cornbread base without overcooking the interior crumb. When folding the components together in a large aluminum roasting pan, maintaining one-inch chunks of cornbread prevents the starch from dissolving into a dense paste during baking. Heavy-handed seasoning with ground rosemary, sage, thyme, and tarragon is required because the sweet cornmeal and rich pork fat blunt botanical pungency. Substituting gluten-free flour directly into the cornbread formula alters hydration requirements; stone-ground cornmeal absorbs liquid differently than refined wheat flours, so monitoring the buttermilk ratio visually ensures the batter remains pourable rather than stiff. Managing dietary restrictions within a holiday spread often demands careful pork sausage omissions or swaps, yet replacing the meat entirely shifts the fat-to-moisture equilibrium, necessitating extra butter or poultry stock to preserve the characteristic tenderness of the dish. Preparing this side dish up to two weeks in advance and freezing it yields distinct advantages, as extended refrigeration allows the aromatic vegetables, jalapeños, and savory poultry stock to fully permeate every crumb. Allowing the frozen mixture to temper entirely at room temperature on the morning of service guarantees even heat penetration when covered with foil in the oven.
