Cornbread Sausage Stuffing and Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole
Delicious decadent and shareable recipes for your holiday table!
Thanksgiving can be tricky on a gluten-free diet unless you make all the recipes yourself. When invited to someone else's home, I bring a few gluten-free casseroles, like stuffing and sweet potato casserole, to share with family and friends.
I love leftovers, so Steve makes us a small turkey for sandwiches the next day. Heaven is a turkey and homemade cranberry sauce sandwich on French bread!
I also wanted to share a link to a delicious gluten-free pumpkin cheesecake recipe from my blog—perfect for a holiday dessert!
Here are two recipes that we love. I hope you enjoy them.
Sweet Potato Pecan Casserole
Serves 8
Sweet Potatoes: Bake the sweet potatoes and scoop out the flesh.
Milk or Cream: You can also use non-dairy milk.
Butter: Melted butter adds extra creaminess to the sweet potatoes.
Spices: Cinnamon, salt, and pepper flavor the sweet potatoes.
Pecan Crumble Topping: This is a blend of chopped pecans, brown sugar, flour and butter.
For the Sweet Potatoes:
3 pounds sweet potatoes, about 4 large sweet potatoes (1361 grams before baking)
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
For the Pecan Crumble topping:
1 stick melted butter
1 cup finely chopped pecans (pulse in high-speed blender)
1/2 cup flour (use gf flour if gluten-free)
1/2 cup whole pecans for topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Wash the sweet potatoes and pierce each one several times with a knife or fork. Place an inch between each potato on the lined-rimmed baking sheet for airflow. Bake for 50-60 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the skins can easily be removed.
Toward the end of the cooking time, place the butter in a saucepan and heat over low-medium heat. Melt the butter and stir in the cream, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Remove from heat and set aside.
Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and let them cool enough to handle for about 5 minutes. Carefully peel the skin from the sweet potatoes and discard them. Cut the sweet potato flesh into chunks and place in a sizeable high-powdered blender. Puree the sweet potatoes until they are mostly smooth, scraping the sides of the blender with a rubber spatula as needed.
Lower oven temp to 350 degrees F.
Pour the butter/cream mixture over the pureed sweet potatoes and blend until smooth, with no chunks, and the spices are fully incorporated.
Transfer to an oiled 9x13 casserole dish.
In a large mixing bowl, add one stick of melted butter, one cup of fine-chopped pecans (pulse in blender), 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt, half a cup of brown sugar and half a cup of whole pecans. Mix until combined.
Sprinkle the pecan mixture evenly over the sweet potatoes. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 20-30 minutes until bubbling. You can loosely tent the potatoes with foil for the first 15 minutes and then remove the foil.
Substitutions
Dairy-free: Use dairy-free butter and plant-based milk. It will not be as creamy, but it will still be delicious.
Not Gluten Free - use any flour of your choice
No Sweet Potatoes - you can also use butternut squash (baked flesh side down in the oven)
Pecans - you can also substitute walnuts
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Cornbread Sausage Stuffing
I have been making this recipe for years. I use a shortcut for the cornbread: Pamela’s Gluten Free Cornbread Mix. I make it exactly as the package describes, but cut the sugar by half. If you are doubling this stuffing recipe, make two packages of cornbread. I also love this cornbread when I make Turkey Chili or my Unstuffed Peppers and ‘doctor’ it up with a package of sweet corn. So good! You can also use any packaged or homemade cornbread.
Ingredients:
2 lbs bulk chicken sausage or pork breakfast sausage (I purchase sausage from the butcher)
1 package of Pamelas GF Cornbread mix (use any cornbread if not gluten-free)
1 large onion diced
2 leeks, small dice (my secret ingredient for an extra layer of flavor!)
4 celery ribs diced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
1 tablespoon fresh chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
4 large eggs
1 cup milk or cream
6 tablespoons of butter
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
Instructions
Make the cornbread per the package directions. Cool to room temperature. You can make it the day before.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
Turn the cornbread out onto a cutting board. Slice it into 1-inch cubes (giant croutons). Line a baking sheet with parchment and spread the cubes evenly. Bake until lightly toasted for about one hour. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. This is a critical step to keep the stuffing from getting soggy.
Raise oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Cook the sausage in a large pan over medium-high heat. Stir and break apart with a wooden spoon until no longer pink, about 5-10 minutes. Remove sausage from pan.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, leeks, celery, and three tablespoons of butter to the pan. Cook the vegetable mixture until softened for 10-12 minutes. Add the garlic and herbs and cook 1 minute more. Remove vegetables from the pan and mix with the cooked sausage.
Whisk together the stock and cornstarch and pour into the pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes on a low simmer until thickened.
Pour the chicken stock mixture over the vegetables and sausage mixture. Add the whisked eggs, milk, and salt. Add the cornbread and carefully fold together, being careful not to break up the cornbread cubes. Scoop into an oiled 9 x 13 pan. Dot the top of the stuffing with three tablespoons of butter. Bake tented with foil for approximately 30-35 minutes. Remove foil after 20 minutes and bake until golden and crispy.
I hope you enjoyed these Thanksgiving recipes!