Who else remembers this yummy cornbread stuffing recipe from two years ago?! ME!
It was SO SO good, I had to share it with you again, and this time I’m back with even more tips and tricks to leave you feeling inspired to run to the store, grab the ingredients and make it ASAP.
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In the thanksgiving of my dreams, I have sweet cornbread drenched with honey butter. There’s also fresh cranberry sauce with a hint of bourbon, sweet potato casserole, fresh green bean casserole and creamy silky smooth mashed potatoes. Finally, pumpkin pie!
Turkey is of course optional because let’s face it, Thanksgiving is all about the people you’re with, the wine you’re drinking and all of your favorite side dishes.
Today’s thanksgiving inspired meal involves putting two of my favorites sides together: cornbread + stuffing. Or as some people refer to it: dressing.
Truth be told, I never loved stuffing until a few years ago when I started creating my own and now it’s one of my favorite sides EVER. Frankly, I wish could dive in this dish like an Olympic swimmer.
What makes this gluten free cornbread stuffing healthy?
- Homemade GLUTEN FREE cornbread! This cornbread stuffing recipe is made with gluten free oat flour and it IS FANTASTIC 😍 seriously oat flour is life and you can easily make your own by simply blending oats in a blender until they resemble flour. Check out my tutorial with all of my best tips & tricks. So easy!
- You can easily make this cornbread stuffing dairy free if you’d like. 🙏🏼Even though I’m neither dairy free or gluten free, I am still totally in love with this stuffing. It’s flavorful, healthier than the regular version that’s laden with butter and cream, and literally the best I’ve ever had (and I don’t say that lightly!)
- It’s vegetarian! This vegetarian stuffing is packed with walnuts, cranberries, onion, celery, sage and thyme. It’s sweet, savory and SO addicting. I ate it for days straight last week with nearly every meal. #noshame
How do you dry cornbread for stuffing?
It’s easy! I included all of the details for drying out the homemade cornbread (or store-bought cornbread) within the recipe, and you’ll simply cut it into cubes and bake it in the oven.
Is drying the cornbread absolutely necessary?
If you’re trying to save time, just skip drying the cornbread. I made it just a few weeks ago without drying the cornbread first and it was still PERFECT.
How to make stuffing ahead of time
This healthy stuffing can be made a day or two ahead of time, so keep that in mind when prepping for the big Thanksgiving day. Simply make the stuffing as directed but instead of baking it, cover it with foil and place in the fridge until ready. Once ready to bake, follow the recipe as instructed! It will come out delicious either way.
I REALLY hope you get a chance to try it out because like I said, it’s my favorite stuffing in the WORLD.
If you make this recipe leave a comment below to let me know how you liked it! Be sure to tag #ambitiouskitchen on Instagram so that I can see your creations. xo.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Ingredients
- For the gluten free cornbread:
- 3 tablespoons melted butter (or sub melted coconut oil or olive oil)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons honey (or pure maple syrup)
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 cup gluten free oat flour (or if not GF, use whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour)
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal (medium grind)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- For the stuffing:
- 2 tablespoons butter (or can sub olive oil)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 1/2 cups vegetarian broth (plus another 1/2 cup if you like a very moist stuffing)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
- Freshly ground salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter, diced into small pieces (or olive oil)
Instructions
- To make the cornbread: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 10 inch skillet or a 9x9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: melted butter, eggs, honey and almond milk until well combined.
- Stir in the dry ingredients: oat flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
- Pour into the greased skillet and bake for 15-22 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Allow cornbread to cool completely in skillet. (NOTE: You can make this a day ahead if you'd like, then continue with the next step the next day.)
- Next, reduce head in oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the cornbread into 1/2 inch cubes and place them on a baking sheet. Spray the tops of the cornbread with nonstick cooking spray or drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes to dry out bread. Optional to skip drying out the cornbread if you are short on time!
- While the cubes are baking, place a large skillet or pan over medium heat. Add in butter, garlic, thyme, sage, onion, celery and salt. Saute for 4-5 minutes until onion has softened.
- Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add in the cornbread cubes, beaten egg, vegetarian broth, cranberries and walnuts. Gently toss to combine, making sure to try and keep some of the cornbread cubes intact.
- If you want to make it in the turkey: Stuff the cavity of the turkey.
- Otherwise to bake separately: add the stuffing into a greased 9x9 inch baking dish and dot the top with butter pieces or drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy! Serves 8-10.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by: Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen | Photography by: Eat Love Eats
178 comments
Yummmm! 3 day countdown! AHH! Loved following along with you and cannot wait to see your big day!
Thanks Carly! So excited 🙂
I’m not finding the print button 🙁
Did something change or am I just getting old? 😉
Confirmed, I’m getting old! Found it. Happy Wedding week to you and Tony!! 🙂
We’ve been going through some updates so that might be why you didn’t find it at first! Thanks so much Shannon 🙂
can’t find it either!
LOL – I can’t find the print button – where did you find it? I have opened this in 2 different browsers ;-/
Thanks!
Hi Shannon! If you click in the white space under the box where it says “Cook Time” and “Total Time” it will open a tab where you will find a printable recipe (we’re working out some technical issues with the button popping up, but it’s there!)
I can’t find it either!
I finally found it! Its hidden, but if you put your cursor on it, you will see it change allowing you to click it. Just move the cursor under the small box on the right and you will see how there is a link.
Hi Carole! If you click in the white space under the box where it says “Cook Time” and “Total Time” it will open a tab where you will find a printable recipe (we’re working out some technical issues with the button popping up, but it’s there!)
OMG YUM! Love the cranberry walnut addition for sweet and crunchy…and anything cornbread has my name all over it 🙂
YES the sweet + crunchy combo is the best part! Hope you get a chance to try this one 🙂
Ohhh girl I am so pumped about this. Happy almost Thanksgiving!!!
Happy early Thanksgiving to you, too! Hope you get to try this one out 🙂
Ohhh girl I am so pumped about this. Happy almost Thanksgiving!!!
Love this gluten free stuffing! Looks delicious!
Enjoy!!
Love this gluten free stuffing! Looks delicious!
Enjoy!!
I made this last night and it was amazing!! Can’t wait to repeat Thanksgiving!
So great to hear!! Only a few more days 🙂
I made this last night and it was amazing!! Can’t wait to repeat Thanksgiving!
So great to hear!! Only a few more days 🙂
Hi! I’m going to make this for Friendsgiving for 10-15 people. Do you know how many people this recipe serves? Thank you!
this recipe serves 8, I would double it for the amount of people you want to serve and put it in a 9×11 inch pan 🙂
Can I use vegan butter or does olive oil taste better?
vegan butter would be great!
Can I use vegan butter or does olive oil taste better?
I made this to test out for Thanksgiving, and it was AMAZING! So delicious with great flavor. I also added Italian seasoning. My family devoured it and I would say it makes enough for 6 servings depending on how much each person eats of course. Thank you for a great recipe!
Yes, so sorry, this recipe serves about 8 people.
So happy to hear that, Lexi! Italian seasoning sounds delicious in here. Have an amazing Thanksgiving!
this recipe serves 8, I would double it for the amount of people you want to serve and put it in a 9×11 inch pan 🙂
Hi! I decided to make the cornbread ahead of time and am going to refrigerate it until it’s needed. Should I leave it out 24 hours before to dry out before I make the stuffing or should I start at spraying the bread and putting it back in the oven for the extra 20mins? Thank you!!
Hi Christina! Leaving it out for 24 hours is a great idea and will work well. You can skip the step of putting the bread back in the oven for 20 mins and just go straight to making the stuffing.
Looks great but what could I substitute for the honey in the cornbread? Could I just leave it out?
Looks great but what could I substitute for the honey in the cornbread? Could I just leave it out?
I made this for friendsgiving and it was delicious! Thanks:)
Ohhh I want it! Yum!
So good!!
Ohhh I want it! Yum!
So good!!
Can I substitute this recipe with almond or a general gluten free flour?
Thanks,
You could use regular gluten free flour 🙂 maybe add a splash more milk.
Can I substitute this recipe with almond or a general gluten free flour?
Thanks,
You could use regular gluten free flour 🙂 maybe add a splash more milk.
Hi! Will flax eggs work in this? Thanks!!
Hi! Sure you could try it, I think it would work well!
Hi! Will flax eggs work in this? Thanks!!
Hi! Sure you could try it, I think it would work well!
This is the first year doing gluten free for my daughter’s needs. Have done walnuts and cranberries in my stuffing before. I am going to use TJ’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Vermont Maple Syrup instead of honey, GF one to one measure flour instead of oat flour in the cornbread. I think it will turn out good. Can’t wait to try!
Perfect! I hope you and your daughter love this one 🙂
What can be used in place of eggs to make this vegan?
I used a flax egg! 1 tbsp ground flax seed with 2.5tbsp water, let sit for 15 min and then add!
Flax eggs should work well!
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A RECIPE LIKE THIS HALLELUJIA!!!
Best. Stuffing. EVER!
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A RECIPE LIKE THIS HALLELUJIA!!!
Best. Stuffing. EVER!
Looks sooooo good! Thank you!
It’s delicious! Enjoy 🙂
How many do you think this will serve? Considering making a double recipe.
This should serve about 9 people!
Do you know if a finer ground cornmeal would work?
That should work!
Do you know if a finer ground cornmeal would work?
That should work!
How do you think it would be without cranberries?
Still very delicious!
I’m so excited to make this for thanksgiving- thinking about adding jalapeños to the cornbread prior to give it a little spicy kick. Question though- once it’s done cooking do I need to serve immediately or can it sit while I finish the green bean casserole for about 40 mins? Trying to figure out my oven space and various temperatures! Thanks so much!!
Jalapeños would be amazing! I would recommend cooking them at the same time, or when you pull the green bean casserole out you can stick the cornbread stuffing back in the oven for 10 minutes to warm up.
I just finished making this stuffing for Friendsgiving tonight and it’s out of this world. Definitely different from what I grew up with, but in a good way! We are not vegetarian so we replaced a little bit of the cornbread with sage sausage and made cornbread croutons out of the leftovers. I doubled the recipe and found that the sausage may have made it a bit more moist than the original, so I baked it covered for a little longer and then removed the foil and broiled it on low for 10 mins or so to crisp up the top a tiny bit. I also added a little bit less sage to the recipe since I put quite a bit in the sausage. So yummy! Thanks Monique!
Sounds absolutely delicious! Great idea with the sausage and cornbread croutons 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
Can you sub almond flour?
Want to make the gf cornbread stuffing but you forgot to write what temperature to back the cornbread at
Hi Jessica! In step 1 of the recipe you’ll see that you bake it at 400 degrees Farenheit. Enjoy!
Made the GF CORNBREAD STUFFING today and it turned out good. Should have cubed the CORNBREAD a day earlier. Use turkey broth GF from Trader Joe’s.
Delicious! Glad you enjoyed.
Hi! Could you make this ahead of time and just pop it into the oven 20 minutes before it’s time to eat?
Hi Ashley! Yes, feel free to make it ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake + eat.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was SO GOOD. I’ll definitely be filing this recipe away for using every year!
Amazing! So happy to hear that.
Hi!
Could you swap out the eggs with anything to make it vegan? Thanks!
Hi! I haven’t tried to make this vegan, I assume you can do without the egg when you mix everything in a bowl and then just do flaxeggs for the cornbread itself.
Oh my goodness this is AMAZING! was eating it for days afterwards! My family, who are very loyal to my aunt’s stuffing, loved it as well! I will not be able to wait for the holidays to make this again.
So happy to hear that, Rebecca! This is my all-time fav for the holidays 🙂 I’m glad everyone else loved it, too!
I brought this to my Friendsgiving and it was a huge hit! If you can find them I recommend using fresh cranberries
Amazing! So happy to hear that.
LOVED LOVED LOVED this recipe! Since my Celiac diagnosis I’ve been looking for a good gluten free stuffing recipe and none have really worked. Until this one! I will say, the cornbread is very mild and not a recipe I’d make on its own, but the bread is perfect in this recipe. I put my cast iron skillet in the oven while preheating it up to 400….then when I was ready I dropped 1T of butter into it before adding the cornbread batter….it did give me that nice and dark crust I like on my cornbread. I used regular milk in the cornbread, and went with dried cranberries and pecans in the stuffing. I skipped drying out the bread and see no need to do it in the future. I thought about using dried herbs, but luckily my grocery had fresh so I went with that. Definitely my new keeper recipe!!
Love that! So happy you found this one!
Hi there, excited to try this but for simplicity’s sake looking to buy already dried cornbread cubes. What size bag/box of dried cornbread cubes can you recommend to be the right ratio with the other ingredients? Thanks in advance 🙂
1 pound of cornbread should work!
Approaching my first GF Thanksgiving with some apprehension, so I decided to test this out ahead of time. I LOVE the flavors! I found that even with re-toasting the cornbread cubes, the stuffing was a bit mushy and did not hold its structure well. (I used all purpose GF flour and olive oil instead of butter, for the record). I think I will try broiling the cubes next time for some added crisp to support it in keeping its structure. Anyone have others tips for keeping the cornbread cubes in-tact (other types of flours/fats/etc)? Thanks!
I think it depends what kind of cornbread you like. Some like softer and some like more crispy. If you like more crispy, next time I recommend baking with the foil off until top is nice and golden brown.
This looks delicious! I’m planning to make this week for Thanksgiving but I was wondering how long I should bake the cornbread for if I’m using a 8×8 pan? Thanks!
This is THE BEST Cornbread Stuffing I ever made! I made my own Oatmeal flour as I didn’t have any. And used my own homemade broth from when I made my Ribs 2 weeks ago so left out the “salt and pepper for taste”.
Thank you for a great recipe. This will be my “Go To” from here on out!
Love that! So glad you enjoyed!
Such a fun twist on traditional bread stuffing! My fave was snacking on the cornbread as I was making it. Loved the crunch from pecans!
Absolutely! One of our favs 🙂
This was great for our thanksgiving menu! I used the Trader Joe’s gluten free cornbread mix and skipped the dried cranberries (sure it would have been delicious with them but I didn’t have any) and still turned out perfect.
Sounds perfect! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Made this recipe for Thanksgiving this year and it was perfect! Everyone’s favorite dish of the entire meal.
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
This was delicious. I made this for Thanksgiving, but wanted to make sure I came back and left a rating because it was so good. Great texture, great flavors. I used walnuts, dried cherries, and chicken broth. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks so much for a wonderful, gluten-free recipe!
Amazing! So glad you enjoyed and thanks for the rating!
This was the first time I made stuffing EVER and it was not only super easy, but oh so delicious! My partner loves Thanksgiving foods (but more so the very very traditional recipes, so he was at first a bit sceptical when I told him about this one) and he loved it so much! It was my favorite part of our thanksgiving meal. I veganized it by using flax eggs instead of chicken eggs and olive oil instead of butter! can’t wait to make this again
Amazing! I’m glad those swaps worked out well!
I have an egg allergy – can I sub the egg with anything? Will the recipe still work out?
Possibly an egg replacer like Just Egg, but I’m not totally sure as I haven’t tried it!
Just made the cornbread for a luncheon tomorrow. Subbed avocado and avocado oil for butter and oil. So so delicious! Will definitely make this to use in dressing next week. One question – they were more cake like than crumbly. Should it be more dry fro the stuffing?
SO happy you loved it, Nancy! In Step 5 of the recipe, you bake the cornbread cubes in the oven to dry them out, so they’ll soak up the egg/broth mixture nicely 🙂
This was absolutely delicious. Got rave reviews from my Thanksgiving guests.
Nice
Thanks!
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Woww
nice one
Cornbread is a staple of Thanksgiving and winter meals everywhere. It adds a delicious texture and a variety of flavors flagle to the dish. But did you know that cornbread can be used to make great stuffing?
Cornbread is one of my all time favorite things to eat. It’s flavorful, healthy and very filling. Plus, it’s gluten free! This cornbread stuffing recipe is made with cornbread, onion, celery and a little bit of chicken stock for flavor. It’s delicious!
wow this was so good i like it thank you
Major flow in this recipe: you should not ask us to toss the cornbread cubes in a bowl because half of them disintegrated. The cubes are delicate and should be put in a baking dish with the egg/broth mixture poured overtop. This recipe has taken me HOURS to prepare and I am so unimpressed with this mushy mess.
Hi, Anita. Thanks so much for the feedback. That’s never happened to me (you can see they didn’t fall apart in the photos above) so I’m wondering if maybe your cornbread dried out and was more crumbly? Sorry that happened, though!
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i made it last weekend and turned out great! Thank you!
YUM! So glad this recipe turned out amazing for you!
Question! If I want to make this ahead of time to bring to my in laws house who are hosting thanksgiving, how would you suggest I do that? Fully bake ahead of time the morning of, but maybe pop more butter on top to broil for a little before serving?
You’ll simply make the stuffing as directed but instead of baking it, cover it with foil and place in the fridge until ready. Once ready to bake, follow the recipe as instructed! It will come out delicious either way. Enjoy!
Would it be OK to use almond flour,chickpea flour or rice flour instead of oat flour?
I haven’t tested this recipe with anything besides GF, Oat or regular flour so I cannot say how it would turn out with either of these.
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Can you sub regular milk for almond milk?
Sure!
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So great
I made this cornbread yesterday, Trust me it was very delicious 😍
So happy you loved it!
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this would be really delicious
I brought this to my Friendsgiving and it was a huge hit! If you can find them I recommend using fresh cranberries, it’s delicious!
Absolutely! Glad everyone loved this!
I tried this and it came out great! I can’t wait to make it again. Thank you!
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