This rustic dressing drizzled in giblet gravy is a long-time Thanksgiving staple in my family. You can make it ahead and freeze it to ease some of the stress of holiday cooking, and it’s a great way to utilize every part of your turkey!
My Mama is a wonderful cook. Her home is, and always has been, the gathering place of our entire family. Because she’s one of five children, you can imagine the beautiful chaos that ensues when all of the aunts, uncles, and cousins come to town.
I have the most incredible memories of endless hours spent gathered with everyone in my Mama’s kitchen on Thanksgiving, and this dressing has always been a family favorite.
You Can Make It Ahead of Time
Because Thanksgiving is such a production for us, involving multiple courses and an elaborately decorated tablescape, Mama starts preparing weeks in advance. Therefore, anything that can be made ahead and frozen is in the works as early as Halloween.
So, there are two versions of this recipe:
The quick method using store-bought stuffing and cornbread mix, and the more hands-on, made-from-scratch method.
Mama always makes a huge sheet pan of cornbread, and one of biscuit dough. But, you don’t have to actually make biscuits, it’s more of a biscuit cake…which sounds like a fabulous idea now that I type that out. Maybe that will be a future recipe! For now, let’s stick to the dressing.
Once the cornbread and biscuit cake is made, she crumbles them both up and freezes them in gallon bags. Then she just pulls them out the week of Thanksgiving and uses them to make this delicious dressing!
Rustic Dressing with Giblet Gravy
This rustic dressing drizzled in giblet gravy is a long-time Thanksgiving staple in my family. An old-timey classic that is sure to become a favorite for your family too.
Ingredients
Dressing
- 3 stalks celery diced
- 2 pkgs Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing already baked per instructions
- 1 onion diced
- 2 boiled eggs diced
- 3 turkey livers chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- t tsp pepper
- 4-6 tbsp ground sage to taste
- 2 eggs whipped for binding
- 12 frozen biscuits baked
Giblet Gravy
- 5-6 turkey or chicken livers baked and chopped
- 2 hard boiled eggs chopped
- 4 tbsp butter
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 4 c turkey or chicken broth
- 1/2 c milk or half and half
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
Dressing
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Crumble cornbread stuffing and biscuits
- Combine all ingredients
- Spread in 9x13 inch lightly greased glass baking dish
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until top is golden brown and dressing is firm
Giblet Gravy
- Heat oil in pan over medium/high heat until you can flick water droplets at it and they skip across the pan.
- Add flour, reduce heat to medium, and saute' until roux is just turning brown (stir continuously to avoid scorching).
- Add broth, milk, salt, pepper, liver, and eggs.
- Let it come to a boil while stirring continuously.
- Reduce heat to low and stir until thickened.
Notes
A great way to utilize every part of your Thanksgiving bird is to boil the neck in your broth. When it is cooked, pull the bits of meat off the bone and add those morsels to your gravy.
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Check Out More Thanksgiving Sides…
I’ve partnered with some wonderful blogger friends to share even more delicious side dishes for the upcoming holiday season. With all of these wonderful recipes, we’ve got your Thanksgiving menu covered!
Rice Pilaf by Essentially Handmade | Bacon Parmesan Brussels Sprouts by Vintage Kitchen Vixen | Herbed Garlic Mashed Potatoes by The Bluebonnet Homestead
Buttery Scalloped Corn by Hearty Sol | Sourdough Cornbread Stuffing by Farmhouse Basic Collection | Bordeaux Mushrooms by Our Amyable Farmhouse
Sweet Potato Stackers by Our Future Homestead | Easy Homemade Cranberry Sauce by Our Gabled Home | Homemade Buttery Dinner Rolls by St. Martha’s Lens
Gluten Free Gravy by Life on Leetown | Rustic Dressing with Giblet Gravy by Homegrown Hopes
Jersey
Your mama sounds smart. I usually make my cornbread on day 1 and the stuffing on day 2. It makes sense to freeze it. It was great doing a blog hop with you 🙂
Caitlin
I had so much fun blog hopping with you too! And yes, I’m all about prepping ahead of time 🙂
Sylvia
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a recipe that includes giblets in the dressing–I’m intrigued! I really love the tip about preparing as much as possible in advance. It really reduces the stress of hosting!
Caitlin
It can be so easy to let stress steal the joy of hosting Thanksgiving, so I am all about early prep 🙂
Dana
This looks great but I love your table set up even more! and I can definitely imagine your family coming 8nto town… I think of that often because we now have 5 kiddos. I look forward to that very chaos!
Caitlin
Thank you! I had so much fun doing that Thanksgiving table 🙂
And I look forward to the years when my kids will bring home all of their babes and our home will be filled with happy chaos too!
Jen
I love that you used the giblets! This looks delicious! Oh and that Thanksgiving table? Absolutely beautiful!!!
Caitlin
Thank you! I had so much fun doing that table.
EMILY TWETEN
This looks scrumptious! love me some gravy, and homemade is the way to go!
Caitlin
Yes! Can’t beat scratch-made gravy 🙂