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My grandmother made the best Cornbread Dressing. I loved helping her crumble up the stale hamburger buns to mix with the cornbread and gushing my fingers through the gloopy mixture of cornbread, spices and chicken stock to make sure that everything was well mixed.
When John started a gluten free diet five years ago, I started making the cornbread dressing from Joy of Cooking because it didn’t call for any breadcrumbs. It’s a good recipe. Really, it is. But it’s not my grandmother’s.
So this is my attempt.
I did a trial run Sunday night. It was too moist, the texture wasn’t quite right, and John didn’t really like it. I’ve made some alterations and the recipe below is what I’ll be cooking on Thursday. Many thanks to Ginger at Gluten Free in Georgia (and Florida) for her dressing recipe. It reminded me of some things I’d forgotten about my Grandmother’s recipe and sent me in the right direction.
Instructions
- 1 recipe Gluten Free Southern Cornbread
- 2 c. gluten free bread crumbs*
- 2 c. onion, diced
- 1 c. celery, diced
- 1 stick butter or margarine
- 1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning
- 1 Tbsp. rubbed sage
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 4 c. chicken or vegetable stock **
- 2 eggs, well beaten
- 2 Tbsp. baking powder
- Bake a recipe of Gluten Free Southern Cornbread (or any sugarless cornbread recipe). Set aside to cool. Make some gluten free bread crumbs* if you don’t have any on hand.
- Dice the onions and celery. Melt a stick of butter in a large skillet. Saute the onion and celery in the butter until the onion is transparent. (Yes, a whole stick of butter. You can diet next year =)
- Crumble the corn bread into a really large bowl. Add the bread-crumbs, and the onion and celery, and then, all the rest of the ingredients. Stir everything really well. We’re looking for homogeneous stuff here.
- Pour the dressing into a 9 x 13 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour. If, after an hour, the dressing is not brown on top or is not firm in the center, keep on cooking until it is.
* I used leftover heels from loaves of Gluten Free Sandwich Bread and Brown Rice & Buckwheat Sandwich Bread that I had frozen. A short defrost in the microwave and a few pulses with the Cuisinart and I had some lovely breadcrumbs =)
** In the test run I used six cups of stock and the dressing was too moist. I usually use two cups of stock which makes a dressing that is drier than I like, but perfect for John. Thursday I’ll be making it with four cops of stock, so that’s what I put here. If you’re the least bit hesitant about four cups, then just use two and make extra gravy =)
Now that you’ve got this recipe down, how about some gluten free pie for Thanksgiving? Take a GF Pie Cooking Class (complete with tutorials, video guides, and recipes) and handle Thanksgiving like a rockstar!
The stuffing looks wonderful, Mary Frances! Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
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I made the dressing and gravy for my husband for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. It tasted just like regular dressing to me and we were so pleased. The only thing that I did differently was that I only added 3 cups of stock instead of 4 cups. I think one more would have made it too soggy. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe!
@Julia: I think the level of wetness/dryness is a family preference thing. I was discussing this with my brother a few days ago. His new bride likes very dry stuffing, while my brother and I likes ours to be more moist the way our grandmother made it.
There are 4 celiacs in my family and we’ve been looking for a good cornbread dressing recipe forever. I tried this recipe this year and it was a hit – everyone loved it……even those who are non-celiac. I will definitely keep this recipe in my recipe box. Thanks for sharing!
I consider myself to be a real dressing snob, and I have to say that this is the BEST dressing I have EVER had, even before I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. Being a Southern gal, cornbread dressing is a serious matter, and I have missed it so much! Even my very traditional meat and potatoes in-laws ate it at Thanksgiving and loved it. I didn’t bother to tell them it was GF. And my family and I are having it with our Christmas dinner- yea! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful recipe, and I look forward to trying more of your yummy food! Happy Holidays! ,
Amy, I’m so glad you liked it!
Once again, another winner. I made this for a client yesterday, and she said it was the best dressing she ever had, gluten free or not! She was so happy to have her own Thanksgiving dishes to enjoy with her family. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes. The cornbread was wonderful, too! p.s. – I did use the 4 cups of broth. It was the texture of our family’s favorite dressing – soft on the inside, a little crispy on the outside. Yummy.
why didn’t you put it into the bird?
How would I modify this to put it into the turkey? I presume I’ll cut back on the broth amount and make it a drier mixture going into the turkey.
WOW your site and recipes look fantastic! Thank you, I’ll be starting this recipe tonight. Not to mention that after taking a quick look around today, I will definitely need to come back soon, for more.
This recipe was such a major hit for Thanksgiving, 2009 that I’m making it tomorrow for Christmas. This is the BEST dressing I’ve EVER had… and it’s the first time I’ve ever had cornbread dressing. I will make this over and over for every Holiday. Thanks so much! 🙂 Also, I’ve been gluten free for over a year and I’ve never visited your site before. I’ll have to check out the rest of your site! Thanks again and God bless!
I have a question on this cornbread stuffing. I have a great recipe for “swiss chicken” Which I make with a gf cream of chicken soup recipe that I love. It calls for pepperidge farm cornbread stuffing mix – dry on the top. I use corn bread crumbs, but I’d sure like to be able to make some stuffing mix up ahead of time with the sage, etc. and just keep it on hand. Any suggestions?
A big distinction needs to be made here. Mary Frances, I don’t know where you are originally from, but you are definitely a Southern girl if this recipe is anything like your grandmother’s. For those who are confused, Southerners do not “stuff” the bird. We eat pan dressing smothered with giblet gravy. This is not a recipe for stuffing, which is a bit more dry in nature because the drippings from the bird moisten it as it cooks. The dressing is more like a modified cornbread. One tip to add to the recipe, which my family has done and may be what you are missing in your recipe Mary Frances, is that the “stock” added should actually be part turkey drippings and part broth from the cooking of the giblets. In my family (which is pretty big), the one who cooks the turkey is the one who cooks the dressing and gravy because one can not be done without the others. Then when you are done with making the dressing, put about a cup of the finished product into your giblet pot and all is well! I am unfortunately going this year to dinner where they will be eating gluten free but not having anything like this. Definitely, I will be giving it a try GF like this next year for myself. Good luck to everyone. And thank you Mary Frances.
Wonderful! I really enjoyed this, and I made this with your cornbread. This was my first time to your web site. I will be back. Thanks!