I'm fairly traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving food, or as traditional as you can be when you don't eat turkey. I like cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie (ideally made with Festal pumpkin, although I'll be using up my stash with this year's pies). Even in the years when I'm not celebrating Thanksgiving at my parents' house, the holiday food I make tends to echo the recipes I grew up with.
Then I discovered two bread stuffing.
I've enjoyed cornbread stuffing before (like this acorn stuffed squash from way back in the archives), but since I grew up with white bread stuffing, that's what signaled Thanksgiving to me. It never occurred to me, until I stumbled across the Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing in a recipe roundup, that I could have stuffing with both white bread and cornbread. I've made this recipe for the past few Thanksgivings, and I am happy to report that it is greater than the sum of its parts—it has the comforting texture of white bread stuffing, the flavor oomph of corn bread stuffing, and a nice brightness thanks to the fresh sage, garlic, and parsley. As a turkey-eschewing carb lover, I consider it Thanksgiving main course-worthy.
I use store-bought white sandwich bread and have had good results with Country Hearth (a Midwestern brand) and Sara Lee, which is available nationally. However, I do make the cornbread from scratch a day or two ahead of time, using the Southern Buttermilk Cornbread recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook (similar recipe available online here). Store the cornbread in an airtight container or zip top plastic bag at room temperature until you prepare the stuffing.
This recipe fills 9x13 inch baking dish, which is a deceptively massive amount of stuffing—I need to mix it in two of my largest mixing bowls. If you have an extra-large bowl you should be able to mix it in one batch.
Adapted from Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing by Kristen Kish
Ingredients:
- butter or shortening, for greasing baking dish
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups finely chopped onion
- 2 cups finely chopped celery
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 8 inch by 8 inch pan of prepared cornbread
- 1-pound loaf of white sandwich bread
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease baking dish with butter or shortening.
Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil and tilt to evenly coat bottom of pan. Add onion and celery and cook until softened, about 10 minutes.
While vegetables are cooking, cut cornbread and sandwich bread into 1-inch pieces. Place bread pieces in a very large bowl.
Add sage and garlic to the saucepan and cook until garlic is golden, about 2 minutes. Add the prepared vegetable mixture, parsley, salt, and pepper to bread and mix until combined. Gradually add stock and mix until bread is evenly moistened.
Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until stuffing is hot and lightly browned.
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