Pumpkin Cornbread Stuffing with Country Sausage and Sage is hands down the best stuffing I’ve ever had. The flavors are phenomenal, and to be honest, when you’ve got a dressing like this, you don’t really need the turkey at all!
Pumpkin cornbread stuffing is a new classic!
I had to do it, I had to make another batch of that pumpkin cornbread just to see if it could knock it out of the park as a stuffing and man, did it ever. This was fabulous, and I’m not even a stuffing kind of person.
This cornbread stuffing is moist, and full of flavor with sausage and fresh sage
The appeal of plain stuffing has always been lost on me. But when you substitute homemade cornbread enriched with pumpkin, molasses and a little brown sugar for those brittle dried breadcrumbs in the bag, then add country sausage and fresh sage, you can’t help but get something special. You could easily make this a vegetarian stuffing, just replace the sausage with some roasted mushrooms, add in a few walnuts, and use veggie stock. I think dried cranberries would be nice, too.
Stuffing is all about texture
I cut my cornbread in large chunks so it wouldn’t completely fall apart as the stuffing is mixed. I crumbled the larger pieces as I added in the liquid to get a combination of textures. I also cut the onion and celery in relatively large dice, so they are recognizable in the final dish; you can taste them and they still have some crunch..
The peppery country sausage and the fresh sage gives this pumpkin cornbread stuffing so many layers of flavor.
TIP: Fresh sage is well worth it, the flavor is far superior to the dried. If you have extra leftover, I’ll show you how to dry herbs in the microwave, it’s a fabulous technique for preserving extra fresh herbs.
This beats the dried packaged mixes by a mile, I hope you give it a try!
I guess I’m going to have to call myself a stuffing person from now on.
I love all the extras on a holiday menu, and I have lots more side dish inspiration on the blog ~
-
Maple Candied Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
-
Butter Pecan Pumpkin Souffle
-
Buttered Rutabaga
-
Easy Crock Pot Cranberry Butter
Pumpkin Cornbread Stuffing with Country Sausage and Sage
Ingredients
- 1 recipe Pumpkin Cornbread, get recipe here
- 8 oz country sausage, the kind that comes in a tube, or from the butcher
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 onion, chopped (2 big handfulls)
- about 6 inner stalks of celery, leaves included, sliced (2 big handfulls)
- salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 4 Tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves
- more butter for dotting
Instructions
- Set oven to 350
- If you have the time, let the cornbread sit on the counter overnight to dry out. Then cut it in large bite sized cubes. Set aside.
- Crumble the sausage into a large heavy bottomed pot. Brown the sausage, continuing to break it up into small bits as it cooks. When it is completely cooked, remove from the pan and set aside.
- Melt the butter in the same pan and sautee the onion and celery for several minutes until the onion starts to turn translucent.
- Add the sausage back to the pan.
- Turn off the heat and toss in the cornbread cubes and fresh sage. Add salt and pepper, and stir briefly to combine.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a measuring cup, and then stir in the stock. Pour this mixture into the stuffing pan, stirring lightly as you add the liquid. Break up any extra large chunks of cornbread as you mix. If it seems dry to you, add a little more stock, but not too much or the stuffing will get mushy. When it is all combined, but not overly mixed, turn into a buttered baking dish or casserole.
- Dot with butter, and then bake for about 30 minutes until hot and browned on top.
Notes
- You can bake this stuffing in well buttered muffins cups for individual portions…
- As I said above, this can be made vegetarian/vegan with just a few tweaks.
How do you reheat it so it doesn’t dry out
I would add some moisture and then cover tightly with foil and reheat in a low oven.
Hi again – Also, I wanted to mention that last year I tried cooking it in the crockpot because we needed the oven space. It worked great! It didn’t get the super crisp top, but it actually wasn’t mushy or anything like I worried might happen from the crockpot. I’m planning to cook it the same way this year too.
Wow, that’s great to know, I always worry that the crock pot makes everything into mush 😉
Hi! I’ve been making this stuffing for the past 4 or 5 years for Thanksgiving and it is what I most look forward to! I use the Jimmy Dean sage breakfast sausage for some extra sage flavor and it is absolutely delicious! The first year or two I was using Trader Joe’s boxed pumpkin cornbread mix, but then they discontinued it. Since then I’ve been using your pumpkin cornbread recipe on here, but substituting pumpkin pie spice for the spices you list (using same total quantity, but using the pumpkin pie spice). So yummy! Thank you for this wonderful recipe that has become a staple on my Thanksgiving table.
I’m thrilled to hear this Meredith, have a happy holiday this year!
How many days in advance could you make the cornbread?
Hey Kara ~ you can make the cornbread way in advance, up to a week I’d say, because it doesn’t have to be fresh.
Hi! The link to the pumpkin cornbread no longer works. Can you redirect me or is there anywhere else that I can find a comparable recipe to use for this? Thank you in advance!
Should work now Megan, and here it is, as well: https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/pumpkin-cornbread/
Can this be made in advance and baked the next day?
That should work fine.
I am going to make this stuffing as it looks and sounds so good. Really though, I was hoping to be able to tell you how much I respect and emulate your style of cooking. I read a lot of cooking blogs and time after time, I go back to yours! I learn so much from you and Love your photography as well as your shares from your home front/experiences…
Thanks for making my day Gillian ~ and I hope you enjoy this stuffing as much as we do ~ happy (almost) holidays 🙂
I made this for Thanksgiving dinner and it was a hit! Several people asked me for the recipe!
Yay ~ that’s the ultimate compliment!