For this year’s Thanksgiving menu, we decided to make cornbread stuffing. We started with our basic cornbread recipe, then brainstormed lots of delicious ingredients to add to it. We ended up narrowing it down to sausage (or veggie sausage,) diced sweet potatoes, and chopped dried cranberries.  As always, we include substitutions to make it gluten and dairy free. If you’ve never made cornbread stuffing before, give it a try! We’re pretty sure that you’ll love it. Cornbread Sausage Sweet Potato Stuffing with Cranberries was a hit when our families tasted it. If you want to hear us talking about how we made it,  check out Podcast Episode 156, our Thanksgiving episode. We also spotlight the gorgeous heritage breed Slate turkey and visit the equally gorgeous Slate Run Farm in Ohio.

Eggs are scarce this time of year if your hens are molting, so you can get away with making this recipe with one egg. But if you prefer a firmer stuffing that is a bit closer to stuffing that has been roasted in a bird, you’ll want to use two additional eggs.

If you make our Cornbread Sausage Sweet Potato Stuffing with Cranberries, please let us know! Even better, send us pics! We’d love to hear about what you liked, what you changed, and whether or not you used the 2 optional eggs.

Cornbread Sausage Sweet Potato Stuffing with Cranberries

Cornbread stuffing is a delicious alternative to traditional bread stuffings. We made our version with sausage (or veggie sausage,) diced roasted sweet potatoes, and dried cranberries for some tartness.

You can make your own cornbread, or start with our recipe from episode 81. You’ll need 1 egg. Make and bake the cornbread and let it cool. Once it is completely cooled, cut it into cubes and let them sit out and become stale. In a pinch, you can put it on a cookie sheet and dry it out in a 400F oven, checking every 5-10 minutes.

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Equipment

• 1 Large Skillet
• 1 Large Baking Dish

Ingredients

  

• Stuffing Ingredients
• 1 recipe cornbread cubed and dried out/stale
• 1 lb sausage or veggie sausage
• 2 cups peeled sweet potatoes cut into small cubes
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1/4 cup butter
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries chopped a bit smaller
• ½ cup of fresh parsley chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
• ⅓ - 1 cup chicken broth as needed to moisten
• 2 beaten eggs optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or butter a large casserole dish and set aside.
• In a large skillet, cook the sausage or veggie sausage until it’s starting to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel lined plate to drain.
• Pour off some or all of the sausage fat and add butter. Add sweet potatoes, onion, and celery and cook on medium/low heat until onions and sweet potatoes are beginning to soften, 8 or so minutes. Stir in garlic and cinnamon and cook for about 2 more minutes. Pour the contents of the skillet into a large bowl.
• Add the sausage, the parsley, the thyme, the sage, and the cranberries to the bowl. Toss gently to evenly mix the ingredients together.
• Add enough broth to moisten the stuffing. If you want the stuffing to be firmer, the way it would come out of a turkey, pour 2 beaten eggs over top and quickly toss to mix in completely.
• Pour into a large casserole dish and bake, uncovered for crispy top, covered for softer, in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes. The stuffing should be heated through and starting to brown on the top. Taste to make sure the sweet potatoes have cooked all the way through