Cornbread Dressing, Paleo Style

Ah, the holiday season….6 weeks of dinners, cocktail hours, family feasts, and fun. It’s a double edged sword, because despite all the great traditions, it can be stressful to figure out how to stay healthy. Caleb wrote a little about how to navigate events in last week’s post on 11 Practical Tips for Staying Paleo for the Holidays, so I asked him to expand a little bit on one of my favorite tips this week - Bring Paleo.

When the suggestion to bring Paleo comes up, a lot of people just think of heading to their local grocery store and grabbing a veggie tray or some fruit, but that can get really old, really fast. I asked Caleb how to apply the “Bring Paleo” principle to one of the trickiest meals for any Paleo eater faces - Thanksgiving - and one of the most anti-Paleo dishes most people can think of - Cornbread dressing - and he was kind enough to share his recipe for Paleo Cornbread and Cornbread Dressing. I only wish that I could bring this to my Thanksgiving this year, but I’m down for salad this time and I don’t want to upset the apple cart.

Paleo Cornbread

Yield - 30 servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond butter
• 8 oz coconut oil, melted
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp honey
• 8 cups almost flour
• 2.5 Tbsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Mix all wet ingredients together, set aside
2. Mix all dry ingredients together, set aside
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients
4. Spread evenly into a greased sheet pan
5. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a knife comes out clean when inserted

To make breadcrumbs, crumble the cornbread into small chunks and place on a sheet pan in a 250 degree over until completely dry, or leave out on the counter for a few days until dry.

To make honey cornbread, add 8 oz honey to the wet ingredients.

Paleo Cornbread Dressing

Yield - 30 servings

Ingredients

• 1 sheet pan of cornbread breadcrumbs
• 1 pound of ghee
• 8 cups celery, chopped
• 4 onions, chopped
• 4 quarts chicken stock
• 4 tsp salt
• 4 tsp black pepper
• 4 tsp sage
• 20 eggs, beaten

Instructions

1. Melt ghee in a large skillet over medium heat
2. Add onions and celery and cook until onion is transparent
3. Pour the vegetable mixture over the cornbread and mix well
4. Add the stock and sage to the mixture
5. Add salt and pepper to taste
6. Add in the beaten eggs and mix well
7. Pour mixture into greased sheet pan and spread evenly
8. Bake at 325 degress for 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean

YES, this recipe makes an insane amount of dressing, because people tend to invite an insane amount of guests to their holiday meals. If your party is smaller, this recipe can be scaled down.