Make-Ahead Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sausage & Pecans

Ingredient Notes

A complete list of ingredients and measurements is located in the recipe card below.

• Cornbread – I always make my own with my Easy Southern Cornbread with Buttermilk, and this recipe is based on it. My Old Fashioned Cornbread, which doesn’t contain any flour, works too.
• Store-bought cornbread – Most grocery stores have it premade around the holidays. If you buy it, make sure it is not sweetened.
• Onion and celery – are traditional ingredients in cornbread dressing. These classics add great flavor and crunch. 
• Pork sausage – is an essential ingredient in this recipe, with perfectly seasoned ground pork. It is sometimes called breakfast sausage and is often sold in a cylinder shape, near bacon in grocery stores. I usually use either regular or sage. You can also buy it in bulk from your butcher.
• Roasted pecans – are my favorite nuts and add a sweet, nutty, buttery element to this dressing. Roasting them brings out their delicious essence.
• Turkey or chicken stock – either stock works well in this recipe and adds moisture and flavor. 
• Egg – helps to bind everything together.
• Poultry seasoning – is full of sage and thyme and, with the kosher salt and pepper, enhances the flavors and rounds out this recipe. Some brands also contain marjoram, rosemary, and nutmeg. If you don’t have any, substitute equal parts ground sage and thyme.

A Note on Gluten: My Old Fashioned Cornbread contains no flour, but I can’t promise this dressing is gluten-free. Cornmeal, sausage, stock, and poultry seasoning vary by brand, so please check every label.

Recipe Variations

• You can bake this dressing in a cast-iron skillet, individual muffin cups, or a casserole dish. I haven’t tried these, so the baking time may differ. Check that the center reaches 165°F.
• I haven’t tried leaving the pecans out or swapping in other nuts, and I can’t imagine this dressing without them.
• You can substitute Italian sausage for breakfast sausage for a different taste profile. I haven’t tried this swap myself.
• Vegetarian: I haven’t tested this without the sausage. If you’d like to try it, leave the sausage out and use vegetable stock instead of chicken or turkey stock. The flavor will be different.

How to Make Cornbread Dressing with Sausage

Step 1: Gather your ingredients and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 2: Brown the sausage in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for four minutes.

Step 3: Add the chopped onion and celery and continue cooking for another ten minutes or until the sausage is thoroughly cooked. Remove from the heat and drain any grease. Set aside.

Step 4: Mix two cups of the chicken or turkey stock and the egg in a small bowl until well blended. Set aside.

Step 5: Place the cornbread in a large bowl. Add the cooked sausage.

Step 6: Add the roasted pecans, poultry seasoning, kosher salt, ground black pepper, and the egg and stock mixture from Step 4. Toss to combine.

Step 7: If you like a moister dressing, add the remaining cup of stock, about one-quarter of a cup at a time, until the dressing is the consistency you like. (It will dry out a little when it is cooked.)

Step 8: Place the dressing in a two-quart baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Step 9: Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional ten minutes or until the top is golden brown and crusty. Check that the center of the dressing reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer. If it hasn’t, bake it a few minutes longer until it does.

Step 10: Serve immediately.

Sharon’s Tips

• I almost always add the extra cup of stock, usually about half a cup at a time, because I like a looser dressing and don’t want it to be dry. Fresh cornbread needs less stock, and older, drier cornbread needs more.
• If you have a turkey with giblets, homemade turkey stock is easy. Combine the giblets, a handful of celery, chopped onion, one teaspoon of salt, one-half teaspoon of pepper, and four cups of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for about 45 minutes. Strain and voilà, turkey stock!
• Either chicken or turkey stock works great in this dish. If you would like to make homemade stock, here is a link for making homemade chicken stock.
• If I don’t have homemade stock, I use Better than Bouillon. It comes in chicken, turkey, beef, and ham flavors, and one tiny jar makes over two gallons of stock. I don’t have any relationship with this company. I like it and think you will too.
• If your pecans aren’t roasted, you can spread them out on a baking sheet and pop them in a 350°F oven for eight to ten minutes. If you are roasting them to serve as an appetizer, you might want to check out my recipe for roasted pecans, which coats them with butter and salt while roasting.
• Did you know you can also microwave pecans? This is an excellent method, especially if you only roast a cup. Place them on a microwave-safe plate in an even layer and microwave them in 30-second intervals until they are golden and toasted. Depending on their size, this only takes around five minutes.

How to Make Ahead and Freeze This Dressing

This is a perfect make-ahead cornbread dressing. You can make the cornbread, the sausage mixture, or the whole unbaked dressing ahead, and freeze any of them for 2-3 months.

Every year, about a month before Thanksgiving, I make several rounds of cornbread.

Then I turn around and make both this dressing and my old-fashioned cornbread dressing, and I freeze them unbaked so all I have to do on Thanksgiving Day is pop them in the oven.

Along with my southern turkey gravy, these three recipes are what Thanksgiving tastes like to me. That afternoon of cooking is one of my favorite days of the whole year. It’s almost like getting to celebrate Thanksgiving twice!

Then, on Thanksgiving morning, instead of waking up stressed and overwhelmed, all I have to do is prepare my turkey for cooking because most of the heavy lifting is already done.

And I can enjoy the day with my family and friends.

What You Can Make Ahead

• Cornbread: Make it at least a day ahead. It keeps for several days covered at room temperature, or you can freeze it for 2-3 months. I always use my Easy Southern Cornbread with Buttermilk, though my Old Fashioned Cornbread, which contains no flour, works too.
• Sausage, onion, and celery mixture: Cook it a day or more ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator for a day or two, or freeze it for 2-3 months. I like to keep it in a plastic freezer bag.
• The whole dressing, unbaked: Follow the recipe through mixing, but don’t bake it. Store it in a plastic freezer bag, or put it in your baking dish and cover it. It keeps in the refrigerator for a day or two, or in the freezer for 2-3 months.

How to Thaw and Bake

If you froze it, move it from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before and let it thaw.

Then bake it following the recipe directions, and check that the center reaches 165°F on an instant-read thermometer before you serve it.

Wrap it tightly so no air can get in. A casserole baked straight from the freezer can dry out around the edges before the center is cooked, which is why thawing first works better.

If it looks dry before baking, sprinkle a tablespoon or two of water or chicken stock over the top.

Cornbread Dressing with Sausage FAQs

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There is no doubt that Thanksgiving is a food lovers' nirvana. And, if you are looking for some new recipes, I think you might also like these collections, which are full of quick, easy, and primarily make-ahead options. 

And, no, it’s not too soon to start thinking about your Christmas menu! You’ll find all of my Christmas recipes here, and all of my Thanksgiving recipes here.

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