30-Minute Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing
This savory gluten-free cornbread stuffing is packed with caramelized mushrooms, fennel and sage. The cornbread forms a crust quickly thanks to the skillet, which makes it a great option for making ahead of time and reheating right before the meal. Though I love a little butter around the holidays, you can also make this stuffing / dressing dairy-free. For the gluten-free cornbread, I prefer to make my cornbread in advance, cube it, and allow to dry out for a day. Then I store it in the fridge in an airtight bag or container. If you are not making the cornbread in advance, that’s fine too as my recipe is on the denser side and not overly moist. Simply begin with this gluten-free cornbread recipe in step one and use the same skillet for the stuffing. For the mushrooms, feel free to pulse or finely chop the caps for extra shroom essence and less waste. Just sauté along with the sliced caps. If you’re not a vegetarian, some sweet or hot Italian sausage would be wonderful in this recipe. Simply brown the sausage (no casings) before adding the fennel.
Servings 8
Ingredients
- 1 gluten-free cornbread
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter olive oil or ghee
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped sage rosemary or thyme work too
- 1 fennel bulb thinly sliced
- 1 shallot thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 8 ounces cremini or shitake mushrooms or a mix, thinly sliced (see note)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1/2 cup veggie or chicken stock
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- If you haven’t made your gluten-free cornbread in advance, proceed with this recipe. The cornbread can be made up to a week in advance and stored in the fridge.
- Once cooled, cut the cornbread into ½-inch cubes. Add to a large mixing bowl.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large ovenproof skillet or saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the sage and cook until just fragrant, about 1 minutes. Transfer the butter to a small bowl or liquid 1-cup measure.
- Return the same skillet to a medium flame and sauté the fennel and shallots in the dregs of the butter, adding more butter or oil if needed, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt and continue sautéing until the mushrooms release some of their moisture and reduce in size, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat up to high and add the wine, scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce by half, then remove from the heat. Add the veggies to the mixing bowl with the cornbread and allow to cool. Reserve the skillet (no need to clean it).
- Once room temperature, stir in the eggs and stock until well incorporated. Transfer the mixture to a casserole dish or return it to the same skillet or saucepan you were already using, if ovenproof. Drizzle the gluten-free cornbread stuffing evenly with the sage butter. You can also use a pastry brush to ensure every crouton gets covered.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until cooked through and turning golden brown on top. If your stuffing isn’t browning enough, turn up the oven to 425F for 5 minutes. The stuffing can be made a day in advance up until this point. To serve, return to the oven at 425 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes, or until a crust has formed on top.