Gluten-Free Cornbread Dressing

My mom’s stuffing is one of my favorite memories of childhood holidays. She always used bakery Italian bread, which she would pull apart into cubes. I have yet to find a suitable GF yeast bread replacement, so I have adapted her famous recipe to use cornbread.

When I was a child, we always used to add a small can of water chestnuts to this dressing. I think that at some point far back in my family tree, someone had seen a dressing recipe that called for chestnuts and, lacking those, they found a can of water chestnuts in the back of a cabinet, figured it was close enough, and went with it. We all loved it. However, many “outsiders” just can’t get used to the idea, so I didn’t list it here. If you aren’t opposed to the crunchy little chestnuts, I highly recommend them. Just add them to the mixing bowl along with the seasonings.

Other additions to this dressing include diced pepper (red and/or green), green chilies, chili powder, frozen corn, or dried cranberries. It is pretty adaptable to whatever stuffing additions you normally enjoy!

Just in case you were wondering: this is technically a dressing, not a stuffing, because it isn’t “stuffed” into the bird. It is cooked in a separate dish. If you intend to stuff your bird, omit the eggs.

Grease one casserole pan and set aside.

Prepare

1 recipe gluten-free cornbread

Break up the cornbread into cubes. Place in a large roasting pan and toast in a 400°F oven until golden brown. About 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown in a nonstick skillet over medium heat:

1 lb bulk mild sausage, breaking into small pieces with a mixing spoon.

1 large onion

2 ribs celery

When the sausage is cooked and the onions and celery are translucent, move them to a large mixing bowl.

Add the toasted bread cubes to the mixing bowl.

Chop

½ cup parsley leaves

1 small handful sage (optional)

1 tsp fresh or dried rosemary

Add the herbs to the stuffing mix

Season with

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste, depending on the saltiness of the broth you use)

½ tsp ground black pepper

Stir to mix.

Add

½ to 1 cup chicken or turkey stock or broth – just enough so that the stuffing sticks together, but not so much that it’s saturated and compressed.

For a firm stuffing, add

2 beaten eggs

Stir to mix

Transfer the mixture into the prepared casserole pan.

Bake at 350°F for about 35-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.