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Buttery Cornbread Dressing LOADED with flavour! Deliciously moist, light and fluffy with a perfect crispy, golden crust.
Every Thanksgiving table has a plate of the Best Sausage Meat Stuffing or cornbread dressing with Roast Turkey, Gravy and ALL the food! Made with optional sage sausages, onions, celery, homemade cornbread and delicious fresh herbs.
Why This Recipe Works
Even though there are many different ways to make cornbread dressing, this recipe is our family favourite.
What makes this recipe stand out? The addition of sage sausages, mushrooms and green bell peppers add even more texture and flavour to our dressing!
Ingredients
- Cornbread & day-old bread – The hearty base; absorbs stock and holds all the flavours together.
- Sausage – Adds savoury depth I use Sage Pork Sausages for a touch of spice
- Mushrooms, onion, celery & green capsicum – Bring texture, umami, and classic stuffing flavour.
- Garlic – Enhances the overall savoury profile.
- Fresh herbs (sage, thyme, parsley) – Add fragrance and earthy warmth.
- Chicken stock – Moistens the bread and infuses rich, comforting flavour.
- Melted butter – Adds richness and helps create a golden, crisp top.
Note: See the recipe card at the bottom for full list of ingredients and measurements
How To Make Cornbread Dressing
First, you need to use a good cornbread recipe. We have two on our site that we love to use, Buttermilk cornbread (more on the sweet side) and our Cornbread Recipe (more savoury).
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Chop pre-baked cornbread into roughly 1-inch pieces. Place into a large mixing bowl; set aside.
- Heat half of the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook sausages over for about 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, break up sausage with a fork while cooking. Add to the cornbread.
- Add remaining oil and add the mushrooms, onions, celery, parsley, sage, Green bell pepper, thyme, salt and pepper. Sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the softened. Add garlic and cook until fragrant
- Transfer mixture to the bowl with the cornbread. Add the stock and melted butter, mixing really well with a wooden spoon until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Pour the dressing into a 9×12-inch baking dish.
- Cover with foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned on top and hot in the middle. Serve warm.
My cornbread dressing is the perfect thanksgiving side to my Crispy Beer Roast Turkey or my Lemon Garlic roast Chicken.
Recipe FAQ’s
Homemade is best, but store-bought works too. Just make sure it’s slightly dry or day-old so it absorbs the flavours better.
Fresh sage, thyme, and parsley give the best flavour, but you can use dried if fresh isn’t available—just reduce the quantity.
Use enough chicken stock to moisten the bread mixture fully, and don’t overbake. It should be golden on top but soft inside.
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Cornbread Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 batch cornbread
- 4 slices day old bread cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1/2 pound sage pork sausages casings removed and crumbled, optional – substitute with chicken
- 7 ounces brown mushrooms sliced
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 stalks celery chopped
- 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh sage chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked pepper
- 5 cloves garlic large, minced, or 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1/2 cup butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Chop pre-baked cornbread into 1-inch pieces. Place into a large mixing bowl; set aside.
- Heat half of the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook the sausages over for about 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, breaking up the sausage with a fork while cooking. Add to the cornbread.
- In the same pan, add the remaining oil and add the mushrooms, onions, celery, parsley, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Sauté over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (30 seconds).
- Transfer mixture to the bowl with the cornbread. Add the stock and melted butter, mixing really well with a wooden spoon until all the liquid has been absorbed.
- Pour the dressing into a 9×12-inch baking dish.
- Cover with foil. Bake for 20-25 minutes until browned on top and hot in the middle. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve been making this for years now. I use multigrain croissants and avocado bread mixed in, chicken sausage and omit the bell pepper in place of dehydrated and celery seeds instead of stalks. I use about 2 c of chicken broth and follow my own cornbread recipe. This is perfection AND gorgeous.
used this recipe for thanksgiving, was the best dressing i’ve ever had! will be a go to for here on out
Once again back here to make this recipe for Thanksgiving! This is the talk of every single holiday, all anyone can ask is if im making that AMAZING stuffing again. I tweak it with gluten free cornbread and gluten free honey wheat bread and its fantastic. After its almost done cooking I turn up the oven to broil and brown the top for a few minutes which makes it have the perfect mixture of textures, not too mushy!
Everything on this is good, except under add-ins… if you add nuts, it’s no longer dressing. It might be stuffing… but I won’t serve it. Consistency gets ruined… fact! 😉
If I added eggs to this recipe, would that make the consistency stiff or thicker?
It would change the consistency to a thicker. It will be great! Let me know how it turns out! XO
Hello Karina!
Yes, the consistency was thicker but delicious! I followed your recipe for cornbread and dressing to a T! Wonderful! I received many comments! I was nervous as I always shy away from making this dish for the holidays but thanks to your recipe, I prevailed! Kudos!
This is very similar to my Grandmother’s cornbread dressing. Hers was very basic – no sausage, mushrooms or peppers. She made her cornbread a day or two ahead and used left over biscuits instead of white bread.
This recipe sounds very good!