A Family That Eats Together: The Best Cornbread Stuffing for Thanksgiving

Marin Mommies presents this week's guest recipe from Nicole Cibellis, Marin mom and author of the blog A Family that Eats Together, where she shares meal plans and recipes that will please foodies and children alike. Here's her meal plan for this week.

For as long as I can remember, my mom made cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner. Her stuffing is sweet from the cornbread and savory from the herbs. This recipe can’t be beat. It is always so popular at our Thanksgiving dinner that I have to double the recipe to feed everyone!

Servings: 12+
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 loaf of day old bread, cubed – the more dry the better, ideally a white bread but can be a plain wheat bread
• Cornbread, cubed – recipe follows*
• 6–7 cups warm turkey or chicken stock
• 6 celery stocks, peeled and chopped
• 2 large yellow onions, peeled and chopped
• 3 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh sage, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 stick of butter
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. In a large sauté pan, add butter. Let heat on high until the butter is mostly melted. Add onions and celery. Cook until softened but not browned. About 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
2. Split the cubed bread to 2 large mixing bowls. (Make sure to evenly mix the two breads together)
3. Pour half of the onion and celery mixture over each bowl. Add all the herbs, also splitting them in half for each bowl.
4. Using a large spoon or your hands, mix the ingredients in the bowls together.
5. While mixing the ingredients together, add the stock to each bowl slowly until the bread is absorbing the liquid and is holding together like crumbly dough. You don’t want to add so much liquid that the stuffing is soggy but you also don’t want it to be dry.
6. Use the stuffing to stuff the turkey and/or cook it in a 350ºF oven for 30 minutes or until the top is browned.

*Cornbread Recipe

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/3 cup white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease an 8-inch square pan.
2. Melt butter in large skillet. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly add eggs and beat until well blended. Combine buttermilk with baking soda and stir into mixture in pan. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well blended and few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.