Cornbread Stuffing with Fennel Bulb, Dried Cranberries, and Toasted Pecans is richly flavored and so delicious! The perfect addition to your holiday table. This recipe can easily be made a day ahead of baking. Vegetarian and Gluten-Free adaptable. Video.
Saying this Cornbread Stuffing with Fennel, Cranberries, and Pecans is special is an understatement! Something about cornbread, and all its charm, just elevates this traditional holiday dish to higher heights!
The crusty cornbread absorbs all the lovely flavors and melts in your mouth marrying perfectly with the texture of toasty pecans and chewy bright cranberries. The sautéed shallots, fennel bulb, celery and fresh herbs give this savory classic all the anticipated flavor depth.
The cornbread is quick and easy to make. And actually it is best made a day or two ahead. Make cornbread one day, the next day make stuffing, and then bake on the third day!
Making this over the course of a couple of days feels like a lot less effort than doing it all in one shot. Either way, it is completely worth any effort.
Cornbread Stuffing | 60-Second Video
What you’ll need for Cornbread Stuffing
- cornbread (recipe included)
- butter
- shallots
- celery
- fennel bulb
- fresh sage, rosemary & thyme
- salt & pepper
- white wine
- toasted pecans
- dried cranberries
- chicken stock or vegetable broth
- egg
- fresh parsley
How to make Cornbread Stuffing
Step one
Make cornbread. The beauty here is that day-old cornbread works best.
You can make the cornbread a couple of days ahead of time. It’ll freeze well too.
Step two
Cut the cornbread roughly into 1-inch chunks. Use a sharp knife for fewer crumbles. Toast in the oven for 20 minutes.
Step three
While the cornbread toasts up, chop the shallots, celery, fennel and herbs.
Step four
Throw butter in the pan turn to medium heat, as it is melting add fennel, shallots, celery, sage, thyme and rosemary. Saute 5-8 minutes and add white wine. Turn heat up sautéing 2 minutes more. Add salt and pepper.
Cut down on the butter if you must but really, it is not so very often that we eat something like this. Just relish in the heavenly rich flavor and succulent texture it creates.
Step five
Mix together 1 & 1/2 cups chicken broth and egg. In a large bowl gently toss together the sautéed mixture with pecans, cranberries, toasted cornbread, fresh parsley and egg broth mixture.
Step six
Place stuffing into a buttered baking dish 9 x 13 or equivalent. Pour remaining broth over the top if needed to fully moisten.
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Cornbread Stuffing with Cranberries and Pecans
- Prep Time: 30
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: About 12 cups 1x
- Category: side dish, vegetarian
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Cornbread Stuffing with Fennel Bulb, Dried Cranberries, and Toasted Pecans is richly flavored and soul comforting. The perfect addition to your holiday table. This recipe can easily be made a day ahead of baking! Vegetarian and Gluten Free adaptable.
Ingredients
Cornbread
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup medium grind cornmeal
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk (sub yogurt, mixed with 1/2 water or use milk with a teaspoon of vinegar)
- 2 eggs
Stuffing
- Cornbread (from above)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cup thinly sliced shallots
- 1 cup celery, 2-3 ribs chopped small
- 1 cup fennel bulb, 1 medium bulb, chopped small
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 cup toasted pecans, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable broth
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
Instructions
Make the Cornbread ( Tip: Do this a day ahead!)
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Place cast iron skillet (or other baking dish) in the oven.
- Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Remove skillet from oven and put the butter in the hot skillet, stir around until it melts. Pour melted butter into a bowl. Now your skillet is buttered and warm. This will make a nice crust on your cornbread.
- Along with the melted butter, whisk in honey, buttermilk and eggs until completely mixed.
- Pour flour mixture into the wet ingredients and gently mix until just combined.
- Pour cornbread batter into the skillet, and spread out evenly. Bake at 400F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. It is ok if it overbakes a bit when used in the stuffing.
Make the Stuffing
- Pre-heat oven to 350F
- Cut the cornbread into 1-inch cubes and toast on a sheet pan in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Melt butter in the pan and sauté celery, fennel, shallots, thyme, sage, rosemary, salt and pepper for about 6-8 minutes until softened and fragrant. Add white wine and turn up the heat for 2 minutes more, cooking it off. Turn heat off.
- Whisk the egg with 1 & 1/2 cups of chicken broth.
- In a large bowl gently mix sautéed veggies together with toasted cornbread, pecans, cranberries, parsley and the 1 & 1/2 cups of the egg broth mixture.
- Place in a buttered baking dish, 9 x13 or equivalent, and pour over the remaining 1/2 cup of broth if needed to further moisten.
- Bake covered at 375 F for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for 15 more minutes, until golden and puffed.
Notes
Make stuffing a day or two ahead without baking and refrigerate, take out of the fridge an hour before baking and then bake per instructions.
The cornbread can be made a day or two in advance.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 375
- Sugar: 10.6 g
- Sodium: 464.9 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 11.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 31.7 g
- Fiber: 3.4 g
- Protein: 7 g
- Cholesterol: 91.2 mg
This is great. I bought a store bought cornbread gluten free mix. Replaced the shallots with leeks. Added bacon and sauted the veggies in bacon fat instead of butter. Added foraged wild frozen low bush cranberries instead of dried ones. Delicious and special. Couldn’t have made it without this outline. Thanks so much.
Amazing! Love your adjustments.
I left out the nuts. No one in my house eats dressing so normally I don’t make it. I made this for thanksgiving and my kids were eating it alone I was mad cuz I barely got any. By far the best stuffing I have ever had.
Awesome, love hearing this (aside from you not getting your fair share!).
I liked this and I think by adding more liquid (mine was very dry, I only had 1 1/2 cups of liquid), this will be even better. I also need to cut the cornbread in smaller pieces.
Glad you gave it go and have notes for next time.
I am 60 and somehow never hosted Thanksgiving. That all changes this year with a crowd of 17. This stuffing recipe looks fantastic and I am just wondering if anyone has ever made it using the boxed cornbread stuffing cubes they sell in the store. Any fellow slackers out there??? 😉 I am prepared to make the cornbread, but if I can cut this corner without ruining the dish, I think I could use the extra time….Thanks very much!
Totally Joanne, no shame for short cuts from us! It should work just fine.
In the ingredients for the stuffing, it calls for 2 cups of chicken stock, however in the instructions, at Step 4, it says whisk the egg with one cup of chicken broth instead of 2 cups. I figured out it maybe typo and did with 2 cups. The stuffing turned out super delicious. It will be my stuffing recipe for all the future Thanksgivings!
So happy you enjoyed the stuffing Margaret! Sorry for the confusion, there is a 1/2 cup broth reserved for the end to add if needed. I just adjusted the recipe to make it more clear. Thanks!
Second year in a row making this cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving and it was a hit again this year!
Wonderful Leslie, great to hear!
The 1/2 cup of butter listed in the stuffing section, is that for sautéing the veggies? I’ve already used the 1/2 cup for the cornbread. Just want to use too much butter… if there is such a thing.
Haha…That does seem like a lot of butter, but it makes the stuffing rich and delicious. Feel free to cut it in half! I just updated the recipe, yes sauté with veggies. Thanks Heather!
Thank you so much for the quick reply! My kitchen smells amazing. Can’t wait to try it eat it tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving! 😊
Loved it! I tried this recipe for a Thanksgiving get together and it was a HUGE hit. It will definitely be a go-to for us going forward. Thanks for another great recipe!
Wonderful, thanks for sharing Angie!
Made this for Thanksgiving today and it was absolutely delicious! I didn’t have the fennel so I left it out, and used about 3/4 of the stick of butter and it still turned out splendid. Everyone raved about it. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Perfect! Thanks Heather!
So far, the smells are amazing…..can’t wait to try it tomorrow on Thanksgiving. I am also making the pear arugula salad…love the seeds. They are delish!
My question…how many people does the stuffing serve?
Thanks
It yields about 12 cups.
Making this right now Sylvia… I love your website and I also am from the PNW.. SO your thoughts on using dried herbs instead of fresh?? Should the amount be increased a bit? Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge… Happy Thanksgiving.. So grateful for today…
Thanks for the kind words Pam! Fresh herbs just add more liveliness but dried herbs will work too! Use 1 teaspoon dried to 1 tablespoon fresh.
Hi Joy, This recipe is in the vegetarian category. In rechecking the recipe, I am not seeing where it is listed as plant based?
The recipe says to mix parsley with the pecans, cranberries and cornbread, but parsley isn’t listed in the ingredients. Is it 1 tbs or tsp, like the other herbs?
Thanks for the catch Joanna! Recipe is updated. 1/4 cup fresh parsley. 😊
Hi, the recipe says to pre-heat the oven to 375 but then says to bake at 400. Which is best?
opps! ok fixed. the cornbread cooks at 400 F and the stuffing bakes at 375!😊
Any suggestions for alternatives to the 1/2 c white wine? Thanks!
You can just leave it out and increase the broth or add 2 teaspoons of vinegar; like apple cider or champagne vinegar.
How do I make this gluten free??
You can use a gluten free flour blend for the flour in the cornbread.
Can you add sausage to this recipe? Maybe remove the cranberries? Do you think I would use the same amount of spices if I did that?
For sure, sausage would be perfect. I would leave everything as is except maybe cut down on the salt. Excited to hear how it turns out!