Easy Sausage Cornbread Stuffing Recipe

Sausage Cornbread Stuffing is, well, stuffed with deliciously seasoned sausage, vegetables, and a handful of herbs for an abundance of flavor and a tender texture. In just two hours, you’ll have a whole batch of the most delicious cornbread sausage stuffing made and ready to go for Thanksgiving Day. You’ll love this delicious stuffing! 

 

Save yourself some time and oven space this holiday season by preparing my best cornbread stuffing recipe ahead of time! 

It’s moist, tender, and better than any plain ol’ boxed mix you can find.

If you’re looking for new recipes that make the perfect Thanksgiving recipes, this is the best cornbread sausage stuffing of your life!

I love this easy recipe because it pairs perfectly with all the other flavors on your Thanksgiving table.

The savory herbs paired with the small pieces of cornbread and sausage are what create the perfect flavor of the cornbread with minimal effort. 

Each bite has lots of flavor and is one of my favorite things to make. If you are looking for a fun spin on old fashioned cornbread dressing, this will give you the best flavor for the big day!

Add this to your must-have stuffing for your holiday table this year. It really is the perfect side dish! 

Sausage Cornbread Stuffing

Holiday cooking is really all about the seasonings — balancing the salty and savory with the sweet and herbal. 

It might seem tricky, but you can’t go wrong with my best cornbread stuffing recipe!!

Complete the meal with my ultimate Thanksgiving menu and desserts list.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Buttermilk Cornbread – My recipe for sweet Southern cornbread is what I recommend using. 
  
  I find it has the perfect body and flavor for sausage cornbread stuffing! But, if you find yourself short on time, then store-bought is fine.
  
• Italian Sausage – I use mild, but you could use sweet or hot if that’s your preference. 
  
  Other ground meats make suitable substitutes, or leave the sausage out entirely!
  
• Celery, Yellow Onion, and Minced Garlic – The three most flavorful veggies you can find! 
  
  There’s room to mix and match: carrots can replace celery, any onion is fine, and chives can sub in for garlic in a pinch.
  
• Ground Black Pepper, Thymex, and Sage – Fresh herbs are usually preferable, but I find that the concentrated taste of ground seasonings adds the most flavor to this make-ahead stuffing.

Tips for Making Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage

• Have the cornbread ready

Don’t wait too late to bake the cornbread. In fact, you can get started on this cornbread sausage stuffing recipe well in advance! 

Bake the sweet cornbread 2 to 3 days ahead of time, then just chop it up and leave it out to dry.

• Avoid the crumble

Cornbread tends to be much more crumbly than regular bread cubes, so be gentle! 

Add all of your cornbread, meat, and veggies to your pan before pouring broth over the top. Use a spoon, spatula, or flipper to simply fold everything together.

• Keep the grease! 

Don’t drain the grease after sauteeing the meat! That fatty stuff adds so much flavor to cornbread stuffing with sausage and can make the veggies really stand out.

Best Cornbread Stuffing Recipe FAQ

Make Ahead Instructions

You have two choices: bake and reheat later, or assemble and chill before baking the day of.

To bake and reheat, just follow the recipe outlined below! 

Store in an appropriate airtight or freezer-safe container, and give it plenty of time to thaw if you go the freezer route — at least 2 days. 

Pop sausage cornbread stuffing right back in the oven and bake until warmed through. Keep extra broth on hand in case it looks a little dry.

If you prefer to store it uncooked, simply add everything to your baking dish and cover — either with a lid, or tightly wrapped with aluminum foil or plastic wrap.

Unbaked stuffing doesn’t last quite as long. It will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge, but still up to a month in the freezer.

Bake as directed, adding extra time as needed, and be sure to thaw first if frozen.

Storing and Reheating Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

An airtight container is absolutely crucial for the best cornbread stuffing leftovers! Unwanted moisture will compromise the texture of the whole dish. 

And, if you’re freezing, make sure your storage container is freezer-safe.

To reheat sausage cornbread stuffing, transfer leftovers to a baking sheet or dish lined with parchment paper. 

I recommend tenting with aluminum foil or keeping the pan on the center or bottom rack of the oven.

Have your oven a bit warmer, around 350°F, and simply heat until warmed through. This shouldn’t take more than 7-10 minutes — keep an eye on it!

Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours. 

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Other Delicious Thanksgiving Sides

Easy Sausage Cornbread Stuffing Recipe

Donna Elick

Sausage Cornbread Stuffing is incredibly moist and delicious! It's the best cornbread stuffing recipe, and you can make it ahead of time!

5 stars from 2 reviews

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

drying time 1 hour hr

Total Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Method Oven, Stovetop

Servings 8

Equipment

• mixing bowls
• medium skillet
• 9 x 13 baking dish

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 8 cups Buttermilk Cornbread, cubed (1 batch)
• ▢ 1 pound mild Italian sausage
• ▢ 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• ▢ 1 cup diced yellow onion, (about 1 medium onion)
• ▢ 1 cup diced celery, (about 3 stalks)
• ▢ 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• ▢ 2 cups chicken broth, or stock
• ▢ 1/2 cup whole milk
• ▢ 2 large eggs, beaten
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• ▢ Fresh parsley for garnish, if desired

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 250°F. Cut the cornbread into 1-inch cubes and spread in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until dried and light brown, about 1 hour. Set aside to cool
• Raise oven temperature to 325 °F
• In a medium skillet, cook ground sausage until no pink remains. Transfer to an extra large mixing bowl.
• To the same skillet, add 2 tablespoons of butter to the leftover sausage grease. Add the onions and celery and saute over medium heat until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and saute for another minute. Transfer the vegetable mixture to the mixing bowl with the sausage.
• Add the cooled cornbread cubes to the sausage and vegetable mixture. Toss gently to combine the ingredients.
• In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, eggs, milk, salt, pepper, thyme, and sage.
• Pour the broth/egg mixture into the bowl of cornbread mixture. Stir gently to combine.
• Transfer the stuffing mixture to a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into pieces and scatter them evenly over the top of the stuffing.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until the stuffing is warmed through and the top is golden brown.
• Garnish with freshly chopped parsley or other fresh herbs. Serve warm.

Donna’s Notes

Alternatively, cut the cornbread into cubes and lay it out on a sheet pan at room temperature for 2-3 days to dry out.

No need to drain the extra grease from the skillet before cooking the vegetables – the fat all goes into the stuffing to add flavor and moisture.

Store baked stuffing in the refrigerator, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. Alternatively, bake, cool to room temperature, transfer to a freezer safe container, and freeze for up to 1 month.

Cornbread does crumble apart more easily than bread. For the least disturbance to the cornbread pieces, you can spread the cornbread, sausage and veggie mixture into the 9×13-inch pan, then pour the broth mixture over the top and use a spoon to gently combine.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 312cal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 115mg | Sodium: 814mg | Sugar: 2g | Fiber: 0.5g | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 1mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published November 2011, updated and republished October 2024

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