Homemade Cornbread Stuffing
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This homemade cornbread stuffing is made with grainy and buttery from-scratch cornbread and flavored with savory herbs. The subtle sweetness from the cornbread makes this a perfectly balanced side dish for your Thanksgiving spread or any special holiday menu.
THE STUFFING REMIX FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE STUFFING
Are you a stuffing fan? It’s my favorite Thanksgiving side dish. A close second is green bean casserole (without mushrooms) followed even closer still by mashed sweet potatoes, and up until I tried this cornbread version of my favorite traditional bread stuffing, I would have told you there was only one stuffing recipe I ever needed.
As it turns out, there is room in my stuffing-loving heart for this homemade cornbread stuffing, and while it definitely takes a little more elbow grease than the kind that starts with a bag of pre-cubed bread, I’m here to tell you that the work is worth it. We are officially two-types-of-stuffing people. Come on over, there’s plenty go to around!
START WITH MY FAVORITE CORNBREAD RECIPE
Now, this recipe begins with from-scratch cornbread. I’m always going to encourage you to make as much as you can from scratch, but I recognize that everyone’s situation and circumstance is different, so starting with a cornbread mix is totally an option.
CAN I USE PREMADE CORNBREAD?
Absolutely, yes! If the bakery section of your grocery store has pre-made cornbread, even better! You’ll need about 8 cups of 1″ cubes for this recipe, so keep that in mind if you’re going that route.
Regardless of which cornbread situation you choose here, this is my big disclaimer: you will need to make the cornbread ahead of time so that it has time to dry out a bit. That information is in the recipe/instructions, but be sure you’re building in that time so you’re not stuck having to wait when you weren’t expecting to.
Another option? Make the cornbread well ahead of time and pop it in the freezer until you’re ready to use it.
CORNBREAD STUFFING INGREDIENTS
There are two ingredient groups to this recipe: the cornbread ingredients and the stuffing ingredients. Here is a visual of what you’ll need, but be sure you’re scrolling to the recipe at the bottom of this post to find the exact measurements.
CAN I ADD SAUSAGE TO THIS STUFFING RECIPE?
Yes! In fact, a lot of cornbread stuffing recipes include sausage, which makes this stuffing attractive for non-holiday meals and stretches it a bit to make hardier servings.
To add sausage: add up to 1 pound of cooked sausage (I recommend sweet Italian) to the herb/veggie mix in step #4 of the “stuffing” section in the recipe card and proceed as directed. If you are starting with raw sausage, be sure to cook it before you start this step.
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE CORNBREAD STUFFING
This recipe combines my favorite skillet cornbread as well as the framework of my traditional bread stuffing, so if you want to read any additional information about those recipes, please visit those posts. I’ll just touch on an overview of all of the steps in this post.
MAKE THE CORNBREAD (A DAY AHEAD OF TIME)
Whisk together the dry ingredients: whisk throughly so that the cornmeal and flour are evenly dispersed. Cornbread from scratch can tend to hold on to pockets of both.
Add the wet ingredients + bake: the wet ingredients go right into the dry ones, and you’ll just want to be sure you’re not overmixing the batter, otherwise your cornbread can wind up dense and tough. You can bake this in everything from a 9-10″ cast iron skillet to an 8-10″ round cake pan to a 9″ pie plate.
Allow the cornbread to cool + sit overnight: it is crucial you’re working with completely cool cornbread, so I urge you to take it out of the pan and let it sit out overnight uncovered. This cornbread is super moist, so you might even go so far as to cut it into cubes and let those sit out overnight and exposed.
PREPARE THE CORNBREAD CUBES
Cut the cornbread: we’re looking for approximately 1″ cubes, but it’s also nice to have different sizes because smaller pieces will crisp up more in the next step than the larger ones. This means all kinds of textures and flavors (because brown = flavor!) happening in your cornbread once it’s baked.
Toast the cornbread cubes: this can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes depending on how moist or dry your cornbread is. You will still have a lot of moisture/buttery feeling in a lot of the pieces, but the edges, especially at the tops and bottoms of the cubes, will have started to crisp up and turn brown. Feel free to flip some of the larger pieces about halfway through.
MAKE THE STUFFING (THE NEXT DAY)
Cook the vegetables + herbs: melt the butter, then add in the veggies to soften them up a bit. Next, add the herbs and cook everything to create the aromatic and flavorful base.
Add the toasted cornbread + wet ingredients: here come the rest of the ingredients! It will seem like this uncooked stuffing has a lot of liquid, and it does, but I promise that it will all soak in and cook up in the oven.
Bake the stuffing: the stuffing will be fully baked after about 45 minutes, but I like to check mine halfway though to make sure the browning is progressing to my preference. The dryness of your cornbread can change how it performs in the oven, too.
CAN I MAKE THIS CORNBREAD STUFFING AHEAD OF TIME?
This is a great recipe to make ahead of time! As I mentioned already, you can simply prepare the cornbread well ahead of time, up to 3 months ahead, in fact. Thaw the cornbread at room temperature before using.
Up to 24 hours in advance: this stuffing can be assembled and kept wrapped tightly in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before baking. When you are ready to bake the stuffing, allow the stuffing to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Remove the wrap and proceed with baking directions.
Up to 3 months ahead: I have also frozen completely baked stuffing, thawed, and baked covered at 200ºF (93ºC) until heated through (about 25-30 minutes). You can also freeze unbaked stuffing up to 3 months. Bake frozen and add 5-10 minutes to the initial bake time.
And here’s your reminder not to limit cornbread stuffing to Thanksgiving! Sure, stuffing usually makes us think of Thanksgiving, but as a diehard stuffing lover, I say we don’t have it enough.
So if you’re having something delicious for dinner and you decide to make this cornbread stuffing… Invite me over for a plate, would ya? I promise to bring you cookies!
Round out the rest of your Thanksgiving dishes: turkey tenderloin, easy yeast rolls, green bean casserole (without mushrooms), Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes, cranberry salsa, and pumpkin pie And be sure to check out my best Thanksgiving recipes for a full picture.
Cornbread Stuffing
Ingredients
CORNBREAD
- 10 Tablespoons (142g) unsalted butter melted and divided
- 1 cup (120g) cornmeal
- 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- ⅔ cup (132g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (480mL) milk1 any
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
STUFFING
- ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter
- 2 medium stalks of celery chopped
- ½ medium onion white or yellow; diced
- ¼ cup (15g) dried parsley leaves
- 1 and ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 and ½ cups (600mL) chicken broth or chicken stock2
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
CORNBREAD
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF (204ºC). Pour 5 Tablespoons of the melted butter into an 8" or 9" square or round baking pan. Set aside.10 Tablespoons (142g) unsalted butter
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the remaining 5 Tablespoons of melted butter, the milk, and the lightly beaten eggs, then stir gently until batter just comes together.1 cup (120g) cornmeal, 1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup (132g) granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 cups (480mL) milk1, 2 large eggs
- Pour the batter into the prepared skillet, then bake for 38-40 minutes or until the top is nicely browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely to room temperature or ideally overnight to dry out a bit.
STUFFING
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- Cut the cornbread into 1" cubes (you will have approximately 8 cups of cubes). Spread the cubes onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cubes are slightly crisp on the edges (the middles may still be buttery, and that's ok– look for toasted brown edges). I like to flip some of my larger pieces about halfway through to make sure all the sides are getting some color.
- Remove the toasted cubes from the oven and set them aside to cool as you prepare the rest of the stuffing. Do not turn the oven off.
- Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with nonstick spray, then set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 8-10 minutes). Add the parsley, thyme, sage, and oregano, and continue to cook until fragrant (about 1 minute), then add to a large bowl.¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, 2 medium stalks of celery, ½ medium onion, ¼ cup (15g) dried parsley leaves, 1 and ½ teaspoons dried thyme, 1 teaspoon dried sage, ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Add the chicken broth/stock, egg, salt, and pepper to the cooked vegetable mixture and stir everything together until completely combined. distribute until all of the bread is coated and the herbs are well-combined.2 and ½ cups (600mL) chicken broth or chicken stock2, 1 large egg, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Add the toasted cornbread cubes to the large bowl, then stir gently until everything is coated and the herbs are evenly distributed. It will look like you have too much liquid, but it will absorb into the cornbread as it cooks.
- Pour the coated bread cubes into the prepared dish, then bake uncovered for 40-45 minutes. Check on the stuffing about halfway through and cover with foil if it's browning too much for your liking. Allow the stuffing to cool for 15 minutes before serving. Store leftovers covered tightly in the refrigerator up to 5 days. See notes3 for freezing instructions.
- Make ahead: this stuffing can be assembled and wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before baking. When you are ready to bake the stuffing, allow the stuffing to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and proceed with baking directions.
Video
Notes
- Milk: my original recipe calls for 12 ounces of evaporated milk and 4 ounces of water. I have made this with many different combinations of milk and water such as how it was originally written and also 2 cups of regular milk, 1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of water, and I have also used non-dairy milk. The recipe is very forgiving and can accommodate whatever milk you have or want to use.
- Chicken broth or stock: this is personal preference or whatever you can find. Chicken stock tends to have a more flavorful taste and heartier mouthfeel, but I find it doesn’t matter too much in this stuffing recipe.
- Make ahead: I have also frozen completely baked stuffing, thawed, and baked covered at 200ºF (93ºC) until heated through (about 25-30 minutes). You can also freeze unbaked stuffing up to 3 months. Bake frozen and add 5-10 minutes to the initial bake time.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.