Sausage and Corn Dumplings are the Perfect Baked Casserole for Your Family
Once fall and winter hit, I naturally start looking for meals to “warm the bones”. I love this meal because it leaves me feeling warm and full after, and I can feed the whole family with it. Warm baked corn dumplings will feel familiar to cornbread, and the sausage, bean, and tomato sauce gushes flavor and warmth.
The meal also really works on its own. The dumplings provide a source of bread, the beans and tomatoes provide vegetable and sauce, while the sausage makes the meal hearty and protein rich.
Do I really need both a slow cooker and oven for this meal?
This recipe slow cooks the sausage and vegetables, then bakes the meal together with cornbread dumplings in the oven. You can make a version of this meal many different ways with different results. For example
- You could just bake the biscuits into the slow cooker. They’ll come out a lot more moist and without much of a crust. I wanted my dumplings to have a nice crispy top, so I didn’t do this.
- You could bake the biscuits separately and assemble the meal at the end. This would give you perfectly formed biscuits and less of a dumpling. This would certainly be a delightful meal, but I wanted to serve the meal with wet dumplings that were baked into the sauce. A redditor made a meal sort of similar to this, and baked their dumplings on the side to fairly impressive results.
Alternatives for your sausage and corn dumplings
My sausage and corn dumplings rely on a Jiffy cornbread mix for the dumplings. If cornbread is not your thing, you can easily switch this recipe to a flour based dumpling. In fact you can check out my homestyle bake recipe for a flour biscuit recipe that you can directly substitute into this meal.
If you’d prefer not to use sausage, you can use cubed chicken, turkey, or beef. I would recommend browning those meats in a pan before cooking. This will greatly improve the texture of the meat in the end product.
Different types of sausage add different flavors to this meal
I used smoked kielbasa to make this meal, but it will work well with just about any kind of sausage! Chorizo or chipotle sausages will give this meal quite a spicy kick. Or use Italian sausage and substitute the cumin with dried oregano for an Italian flavor. This meal would even go well with chicken sausages, if you want to keep the calories low. You could also use ground sausage meat, if you don’t have any cased sausages around.
What if I don’t have a box of Jiffy mix?
I used a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix as a quick way to make my corn dumplings. However, this mix is easy enough to replicate if you don’t have one on hand. Simply combine the below ingredients as a bowl, and use it in place of the Jiffy mix in the recipe.
- ⅔ cup flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cornmeal
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
How to serve Sausage and Corn Dumplings
My sausage and corn dumplings is a very saucy dish, and is probably best served with a bowl. Some shredded cheese melted over top would go very well, as would a dollop of sour cream. I didn’t specify the recipe to be overly spicy, so your capsicn hounds might like to drizzle some sriracha over top.
If you’d like a side for the meal, I recommend some corn on the cob or other fresh vegetables. A roll would be redundant to the dumplings, but an ear of corn would match the theme of the meal.
Other great meals for your family
If you want to consider other weeknight family meals, look no further:
- Homestyle Bakes Chicken and Biscuits: a very similar meal to this one, it involves biscuits baked with what is essentially chicken pot pie filling.
- Spanish baked chicken: This is another good meal for a cold fall evening, and you can easily make enough for the whole family.
- Mediterranean Chicken and Raisins: This is a personal family favorite, it combines seasoned chicken with olives and raisins over rice.
How to make sausage and corn dumplings
Sausage and Corn Dumplings
Equipment
- 1 slow cooker
- 1 9x13" casserole pan or Pyrex
Ingredients
Corn Dumplings
- 1 box Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix (see blog for substitutes)
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ Cup Milk
Sausage Mix
- 6 medium sausages (kielbasa, chipotle, etc)
- 14.5 oz Dark Red Kidney Beans Canned
- 1 large bell pepper
- 1 stalk Celery
- 1 medium onion
- 1 quart Canned Tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 1 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
Instructions
- Start by combining all the “Sausage Mixture” ingredients into a slow cooker. You do not yet need to slice the sausage, but if they’re already pre-sliced don’t worry about it. Slow cook on low for 6-8 hours.
- At the end of the cook time, preheat your oven to 425F. Pull the sausages from the slow cooker, slice them, and return them to the mix.
- Prepare the Jiffy mix by mixing the dry ingredients with 1 egg and ⅓ cup milk.
- Pour the sausage mix into a large 9x13 Pyrex or casserole pan. Plop the jiffy mix into six similarly sized portions around the pan.
- Bake the pan uncovered for 20-30 minutes, until the dumplings are lightly browned on top. Serve and enjoy 🙂