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Cornbread Stuffing with Bacon and Sage

Cornbread stuffing with bacon and sage is a Southern side dish made by baking crumbled day-old cornbread until golden and crisp. Crisp bacon, sautéed onion and celery, and a sage-thyme aroma come together with an egg-and-broth custard for a tender, cohesive stuffing.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 10 servings
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Southern American
Calories: 420
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cornbread stuffing base
  • 8 cup day-old cornbread Crumbled into chunks
  • 8 bacon Chopped
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1 onion Large, diced
  • 3 celery Stalks, diced
  • 2 clove garlic Minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh sage Chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 cup chicken broth
  • 2 eggs Large
  • 0.5 tsp salt
  • 0.5 tsp black pepper

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan

Method
 

Prep and preheat
  1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
  2. Cook the bacon until crisp, then remove it and leave the drippings in the pan.
Sauté the aromatics
  1. Add the butter, onion, and celery, then cook for 8 minutes until soft.
  2. Stir in the garlic, sage, and thyme and cook briefly just until fragrant.
Combine and moisten
  1. Toss the crumbled cornbread with the vegetables and bacon in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk the chicken broth, eggs, salt, and black pepper, then pour over and gently toss until moistened.
Bake
  1. Spread the mixture into the greased dish, cover with foil, and bake for 25 minutes at 350F.
  2. Uncover and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350F until golden and crisp on top, with a brown, set edge around the dish.

Notes

For the best texture, use truly day-old cornbread so it soaks up the broth without turning gummy. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator up to 3 days; reheat in a 325F oven until hot. Freezing is not recommended for the custard-like bake, but you can freeze assembled (unbaked) stuffing and bake from thawed. For a lighter option, use turkey bacon and slightly reduce the butter to 3 tablespoons while keeping the egg-and-broth ratio the same.