Cornbread Dressing with Sausage and Apples
on Nov 08, 2019, Updated Jan 09, 2025
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This Cornbread Dressing is a flavor-packed holiday side dish that’s simple to prepare and delicious to enjoy! Made with cornbread, sausage, onions, and apples, this stuffing is full of fall flavors and is majorly easy to whip up for your Thanksgiving feast or Christmas dinner.
Thanksgiving wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a little dressing action. And this one is a great option if your family loves cornbread like mine does. My cornbread dressing recipe is a little out of the box compared to traditional dressings, but we absolutely love the crumbly, crunchy texture, flavorful ground pork, and medley of fall produce favorites that are included in this dish.
The sweet and savory flavors of cornbread dressing are so delicious alongside turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and all your other favorite holiday dish staples. Plus, with apple, celery, and onion, the flavors are rich and well-rounded for an ideal dressing situation that you’ll fall head over heels for!
Table of Contents
17 Best Cornbread Recipes Ever!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- I used my homemade cornbread recipe as a base for this stuffing. It is seriously the BEST cornbread ever, so you know this dish will be a favorite!
- The best part about cornbread dressing is it’s so incredibly simple to make! You can make the cornbread ahead of time and even double my cornbred recipe and freeze it for even easier prep.
- This recipe takes the stress out of holiday prep with a simple, flavorful, and quick dressing.
Recipe Ingredients
- Cornbread – cubed and toasted
- Ground sausage
- Onion – white or yellow
- Celery
- Apples – any color but they do need to be sweet!
- Dried poultry seasoning
- Chicken or turkey stock
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Cornbread Dressing with Sausage and Apples
- Brown the sausage and add onions, celery, and apples.
- Add dried cornbread cubes and sausage mixture to a bowl.
- Sprinkle the poultry seasoning over the sausage, drizzle with chicken broth, and stir.
- Place cornbread mixture in the bottom of a baking dish and bake until golden brown.
Recipe FAQs
Take your favorite cornbread, and cut it into 2-inch cubes. Place the cubes on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees F for about an hour or until the bread crumbs are dried out a bit and browned. They won’t be as dry as traditional bread cubes.
You can certainly add eggs to this dressing recipe if you prefer a stickier, bound-together stuffing consistency of traditional stuffings. I actually prefer this recipe without eggs because I like the crumbly pieces of it.
Yes! Just prep and make everything according to the instructions below. After it’s baked in the oven, let the stuffing cool completely before covering it tightly and storing it in the fridge overnight. Reheat by baking at 400 degrees uncovered for 20 minutes.
Expert Tips
- If you’d like to make the texture more sticky like a traditional dressing, beat 4 eggs together in a small bowl and drizzle the beaten eggs over the cornbread mixture once it is in the baking dish.
- Cornbread can be made up to a day in advance—just let it cool in the pan and wrap it with plastic wrap. I wouldn’t transfer it to a bowl unless it’s the one you are going to make the stuffing in. The cornbread will fall apart if you move it around too much.
- This is one of my most flavorful dressing recipes, so be sure to use the correct amount of seasonings to get great flavor!
How to Make Toasted Cornbread Cubes
Make a double-batch of my famous cornbread recipe, doubling everything EXCEPT the sugar. Just use 2/3 of a cup for the whole batch. Bake in a greased 9×13 inch pan for about 40 minutes, or until baked through in the center.
Let the cornbread cool for an hour or so (or overnight), and then cut the whole plan into 2-inch cubes. Place the cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer, and bake at 325 degrees F for about an hour, or until the bread crumbs are dried out a bit and browned.
This can be done up to a day in advance. Just let the cornbread cool in the pan, and wrap it with a little plastic wrap. Don’t transfer it to a bowl unless it’s the one you are goi
The Difference Between Stuffing & Dressing
The main difference between stuffing and dressing is how they are prepared. Stuffing is used to stuff another food, usually the turkey, before cooking it, while dressing is cooked in a regular dish or pan outside of the turkey. But many people use them interchangeably and I won’t be offended if you do, too!
More Thanksgiving Recipes to Consider
Cornbread Recipes
Southern-Style Cornbread Dressing (With Make-Ahead Tips)
Appetizer Recipes
Fresh Cranberry Salsa Recipe | Sweet & Spicy Holiday Dish
Pies, Crisps & Tarts
Healthy Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Pies, Crisps & Tarts
Homemade Coconut Cream Pie
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️ review and share it on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest!
Cornbread Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 cups toasted cornbread cubes (*see note below)
- 1 pound ground sausage
- 2 cups chopped onion, white or yellow
- 2 cups chopped celery
- 2 sweet apples, cored and chopped (no need to peel)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried poultry seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups chicken or turkey stock
Instructions
- In a large skillet or Dutch oven, over medium-high heat, start to brown the sausage. It's okay to let it brown up nicely on the bottom of the pan—the brown bits are flavor!
- When the sausage is mostly cooked through, add the onions, celery, and apple.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
- Place the dried cornbread cubes in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the sausage mixture to the bowl.
- Sprinkle the poultry seasoning over the sausage, drizzle with the chicken broth, and stir again gently to combine. Over-stirring will break of the cornbread too much—be gentle.
- Place the cornbread mixture in the bottom of a large baking dish that has been greased well (a 9×13 or 11×15-inch will work great).
- Cover tightly with foil, and bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes. Remove the foil, and bake uncovered for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve hot.
Notes
- *To make toasted cornbread cubes: Make a double-batch of my famous cornbread recipe, doubling everything EXCEPT the sugar. Just use 2/3 of a cup for the whole batch. Bake in a greased 9×13 inch pan for about 40 minutes, or until baked through in the center. Let the cornbread cool for an hour or so (or overnight), and then cut the whole plan into 2-inch cubes. Place the cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer, and bake at 325 degrees F for about an hour, or until the bread crumbs are dried out a bit and browned. This can be done up to a day in advance. Just let the cornbread cool in the pan, and wrap it with a little plastic wrap. Don’t transfer it to a bowl unless it’s the one you are going to make the stuffing in. The cornbread will fall apart if moved around.
- I used normal breakfast sausage from our pig. It’s a lot like traditional Jimmy Dean pork sausage. Feel free to use what you like.
- Cornbread stuffing does not stick together like traditional dressing or stuffing recipes. It’s more crumbly like cornbread. But if you want it to stick together more, beat 4 eggs together in a small bowl and drizzle the beaten eggs over the cornbread mixture once it is in the baking dish. This gives you a cornbread stuffing that sticks together more. I prefer it without the eggs, but it all depends on the texture that you like.
- The main difference between stuffing and dressing is how they are prepared. Stuffing is used to stuff another food, usually the turkey, before cooking it, while dressing is cooked in a regular dish or pan outside of the turkey. But many people use them interchangeably and I won’t be offended if you do, too!
Win! This is a yummy change from traditional stuffing. I’d definitely eat it again!
So glad you liked it Robert!