greens & chocolate

Butternut Squash Bacon Cornbread Stuffing is a little sweet and a little savory, and a LOT delicious!  Tender cubes of cornbread are combined with roasted butternut squash, smoky bacon, and a mixture of onion and celery.  

Okay so we’ve done green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole so far this year.  Now – onto the stuffing!! I could make an entire meal out of stuffing.  Sure, I love mashed potatoes, rolls, and sweet potato casserole. But I could eat stuffing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, any month of the year.

I mean, it basically has all of the components of a meal – carbs, some sort of veggie (sometimes), and a protein (again, sometimes).  Regardless, the stuffing will definitely cover us on the carbs.

Inspiration for Butternut Squash Bacon Cornbread Stuffing

I actually don’t remember loving stuffing at Thanksgiving when I was growing up.  I’m guessing we had a pretty basic recipe that didn’t stand out to me. Plus, my grandma made some stellar Czech dumplings and gravy that I always loaded my plate with.  Who needs stuffing when you have grandma’s dumplings?

However, I remember one particular Thanksgiving that we spent in Kansas City, when my mom and aunt decided to try a Food Network recipe that had apples and sausage in the stuffing.  It was around the time when people started to become more adventurous with their cooking, so I remember this being a pretty big deal. It was the best stuffing I had ever had, and I’m pretty sure my Thanksgivings have never been the same since.  

Every year I try to think of new, fun stuffing recipe ideas, and I am in love with what I’ve come up with this year – Butternut Squash Bacon Cornbread Stuffing.  It reminds me of a stuffing that you’d find in the south – with a sweet cornbread base and smoky bacon throughout – along with a generous amount of butternut squash. This stuffing is salty and sweet!

In my (stuffing) book, you can’t make stuffing without fresh sage.  It gives it that recognizable stuffing flavor, regardless of the other ingredients you have in it.  

One note about this recipe for Butternut Squash Bacon Cornbread Stuffing – you’ll notice there aren’t any eggs in it.  The cornbread stuffing is simply moistened by a cup of chicken broth, which keeps the texture of this stuffing super light, which I loved.

If you’re a huge stuffing fan like myself and like to experiment every year with a new recipe – give this one a try for this year’s Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving/Sunday afternoon when ya just need some stuffing!

Looking for other Thanksgiving recipes?  Check these out!

Green Bean Casserole From Scratch

Brown Sugar Glazed Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Goat Cheese

Crunchy Honey Butternut Squash Casserole

Baked Butternut Squash and Gouda Tortellini

Butternut Squash Brussels Sprout Gratin

Serves 8 servings

Butternut Squash Bacon Cornbread Stuffing

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Yields 9x13" baking dish

20 minPrep Time

60 minCook Time

1 hr, 20 Total Time

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Ingredients

• 1 9” baking dish of cornbread (about 6 cups of cornbread cubes)
• 4 cups butternut squash 1” cubes (about 1 small butternut squash)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 white onion, diced
• 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped, plus additional for topping
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into approximately 1 teaspoon cubes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spray 9x13” baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
3. Toss butternut squash with olive oil and place on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until roasted.
5. While squash is roasting, cook the bacon over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
6. Once cooked, remove but keep bacon grease in the pan.
7. Add the onion and chopped celery to the bacon grease and cook over medium heat for 7-10 minutes.
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
9. Add sage and cook one more minute.
10. In a large bowl, combine cornbread cubes, butternut squash, bacon, and onion/celery mixture.
11. Pour the chicken broth over the mixture and toss gently to combine.
12. Pour into prepared baking dish and top with dots of butter.
13. Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.
14. Bake stuffing in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until warmed through and golden on top.
15. Serve topped with additional fresh sage.
16. Enjoy!

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