Easy Cornbread Stuffing (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)

This amazingly easy cornbread stuffing (aka cornbread dressing) is made with our favorite cornbread, fresh vegetables, and herbs for incredible flavor and taste. Use this for stuffing your turkey or serve as a side dish on Thanksgiving and during the holidays! It’s also gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian but no one would know!

What is Cornbread Stuffing?

Stuffing, also known as dressing or filling, is basically an edible mixture made with cut up pieces of bread, seasonings, and vegetables. It is mainly served as a side dish or to fill up a cavity in another food item while cooking, such as chicken or turkey. When used as a filling, stuffing fulfils the purpose of keeping the meat moist, while also adding to the mix of flavors of the stuffing, and the food being stuffed.

Cornbread stuffing basically refers to stuffing made primarily with cornbread as opposed to normal bread. Some recipes use a mix of both cornbread and normal bread, but in this gluten-free stuffing recipe, I’m using only cornbread.

Why This Recipe Works

This cornbread stuffing recipe is so easy to make, with just 15 minutes of hands-on preparation before it goes into the oven! From start to finish, this delicious cornbread dressing is ready to serve in just 40 minutes. You can also make it beforehand and store in the fridge until you want to eat it, or freeze it for later!

Incredibly tasty and bursting with the flavors of herbs, vegetable broth and our favorite gluten-free cornbread, you’ll love this dressing whether you eat it as a side dish or use it for stuffing your Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey, or when filling your chicken any other time of the year!

Best of all, this stuffing recipe is both gluten-free and dairy-free, but honestly, I bet no one would be able to tell!

Ingredients You’ll Need:

Ingredient Notes/Substitutions:

• Cornbread: I use our favorite recipe for gluten-free skillet cornbread to make this savory cornbread stuffing. However, if you aren’t keen on cornbread, or don’t want to bake cornbread for this, you can also use gluten-free bread or normal bread if you’re not Celiac or have allergies to gluten. Simply cut the bread into cubes and dry it out using the method mentioned above.

• Vegetable Oil: I use any neutral vegetable oil, but if you are not lactose-intolerant, feel free to use butter in equal quantities instead.

• Vegetable Broth: I prefer using unsalted vegetable broth and then adding salt and pepper to taste later on. This way I can control how salty the stuffing is. You can either make your own vegetable broth, or buy pre-made vegetable broth. Alternatively, you can also use mushroom broth, chicken broth, or beef broth if you prefer.

• Herbs: I always have dried herbs on hand and they impart a beautiful flavor to this stuffing recipe. You can change up the proportions of the herbs as you wish, if you prefer one herb more than the others.

How to Dry Cornbread to Make Stuffing (2 ways)

Make sure you dry your cornbread before making this gluten-free stuffing recipe as you need it to absorb the liquid broth.

1. Air Overnight: Cut the cornbread into cubes and then spread out the cubes on a large baking pan. Let it air for 1 or 2 days if you have time.
   
2. Dry in the Oven: If you’re in a rush, place the baking pan in the oven and let the cornbread bake for 250F for 40 minutes, tossing them every 10 minutes to ensure they dry out evenly.

How to Make Cornbread Stuffing:

1. Preheat

Preheat the oven to 350F and arrange the rack to the middle section.

2. Chop the Veggies

Dice the onion and celery and then minced the garlic. Roughly chop up the fresh parsley.

3. Sauté the Veggies

Heat up the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sauté the diced onions, diced celery, and minced garlic until the vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally with a spatula (approximately 5 minutes).

4. Add Herbs and Broth

Add the dried rosemary, thyme, oregano, fresh parsley, and vegetable broth. Bring heat down to low and let simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Place Dried Cornbread to Bowl:

Transfer the dried cornbread cubes to a large mixing bowl.

6. Toss Cornbread with Broth Mixture:

Ladle the broth mixture a bit at a time over the cubed cornbread, mixing as you go along so the liquid is distributed and absorbed all over (you don’t want to add too much broth or the cornbread dressing will become too mushy and the cornbread stuffing will become dense). Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Bake

Transfer the cornbread dressing mixture to a 9×13 inch baking dish and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Helpful Tips/Tricks:

• Serving as a Side Dish: If serving this cornbread dressing as a side dish, follow all the instructions to the end.

• Using as Turkey Stuffing: If using this cornbread stuffing to stuff a turkey, follow all the instructions up till just before baking.

Recipe FAQs:

Other Holiday/Thanksgiving Sides You’ll Love:

• Soft Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls (Dairy-Free)
• Skillet Cornbread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Rosemary Cornbread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Easy Cornbread Muffins (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Jalapeño Cornbread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
• Crispy Hasselback Potatoes (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
• 20-Minute Homemade Cranberry Sauce (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
• Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Lemon and Parmesan (Gluten-Free)

Bread Recipes You’ll Enjoy:

P.S. If you try this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating below, and/or a review in the comment section further down the page. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to check out my entire Recipe Index for all the recipes on the blog. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram! Sign up for my Email List to get fresh recipes in your inbox each week!

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