Easy Cornbread Stuffing Recipe
Easy Cornbread Stuffing is made with savory sausage, herbs, jalapeño, mushrooms, dried cherries, a hint of citrus, and stale cornbread.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- ¾ c chicken stock, warm or room temperature, not hot
- salt to taste
- 6 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 lb sweet Italian chicken sausage, casing removed
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp black pepper plus ore to taste
- 2 tbsp sage, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 lb crimini mushroom, thinly sliced
- 2 leeks, thinly sliced
- 3 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 c celery, diced (5-6 stalks)
- 2-3 jalapeno, seeded and minced (optional)
- ⅔ c dried, sour cherries
- 3 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tsp orange zest
- ½ c white wine
- ¼ c parsley, finely chopped, to garnish
- ½ c toasted pine nuts or pecans/walnuts, optional
- 6-8 c stale cornbread crumbled into large pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine the eggs, chicken stock. add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- In a 10 inch skillet over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil. Once hot, cook the sausage until browned, using a spatula to cut it into bite size pieces, 4-6 minutes.
- Remove the sausage, leaving any rendered fat behind. Add the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil and let it heat up, then add the mushrooms and salt to season and cook until tender and browned, 10 minutes.
- Remove the mushrooms, add 2 tbsp olive oil and 2 tbsp butter to the pan and add the sage, rosemary, and 1 tsp pepper. Cook for 1 minute, then add the leeks, shallots, celery, jalapeño, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until tender 8-10 minutes. Add the cherries, orange juice, zest, and white wine and increase heat to medium high. Cook for 4-5 minutes until wine reduces. Taste for salt and season.
- In a very large bowl add the sausage (and juices), pine nuts and stale cornbread along with the eggs and chicken broth, then add the vegetables and stir to combine. Taste for additional seasoning and transfer to a greased baking dish and cover with foil.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes covered, then remove the foil and broil until golden and crisp on top and around the edges (don't take your eye off the stuffing as it broils, you don't want to burn the top!) about 2-5 minutes depending on the boiler.
- Serve warm garnished with parsley!
Nutrition Facts
Calories: 739kcal, Carbohydrates: 97g, Protein: 25g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g, Monounsaturated Fat: 8g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 185mg, Sodium: 1508mg, Potassium: 1120mg, Fiber: 7g, Sugar: 27g, Vitamin A: 2021IU, Vitamin C: 20mg, Calcium: 526mg, Iron: 12mg