Cornbread Stuffing with Sausage, Sage and Chestnuts
This hearty cornbread stuffing is speckled with savory pork sausage, celery, sage and crumbly, nutty chestnuts —a wonderful combination of flavors that everyone at your Thanksgiving table is sure to enjoy.
Servings: 8
Ingredients
Homemade Cornbread
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/3 cup neutral oil plus more for the pan
- 1 large egg
Cornbread Stuffing
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter plus more for the pan
- 8 ounces pork sausage breakfast sausage or mild Italian
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 stalks celery diced
- 6 fresh sage leaves finely chopped
- 1 8x8 pan cornbread see recipe above
- 10 ounces roasted and chestnuts coarsely crumbled *see notes*
- 2 cups chicken or turkey stock homemade or store bought
- 2 large eggs
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
For the Cornbread:
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Grease an 8x8-inch square baking pan.
- In a large mixing bowl whisk together the cornmeal meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a separate bowl whisk together the buttermilk, oil and eggs.
- Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients; stir just until combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or a until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan.
For the Stuffing:
- Preheat your oven to 350 F. Generously butter a 9x13-inch baking dish, set aside.
- Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Heat the butter then add in the sausage. Cook the sausage in an even layer, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon breaking it into bite-sized pieces until browned, about 10 minutes. Next, add the diced onion, celery and sage. Season generously with salt and pepper. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onion and celery are soft and translucent then turn off the heat and set aside.
- While the sausage and onion mixture is cooking, use clean hands to crumble the cornbread into a large mixing bowl. The mixture should resemble coarse sand mixed with small and large bite-sized pieces. Next, add in the sausage, onion and celery mixture as well as the crumbled chestnuts.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the stock, eggs and a few turns of freshly cracked black pepper. Pour over the cornbread mixture, toss to combine. Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish, cover with foil. Bake, covered for 15 minutes then remove the foil and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until the surface of the stuffing is lightly golden brown.
Notes
Storing and Reheating:
This stuffing can be made ahead and reheated in the oven at 350 F, for 10-15 minutes. For leftovers, microwave briefly to warm through.