If you are looking to make something other than stuffing for Thanksgiving, I’ve got a DELICIOUS alternative! Try this sensational cornbread casserole instead! It not only makes a fabulous side dish to turkey, but it’s also absolutely wonderful as a main course dinner. You can enjoy it that way any night of the week. Each side serving has 190 calories and 6 grams fat. See the Skinny Facts below for the main course serving.
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons reduced-fat butter or Smart Balance Light
- 1 (14.5 oz.) can cream-style corn
- 1½ cups cooked chicken sausages, about 2 sausages, diced, see shopping tips
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries
- 1 egg, I love Egg-Land’s Best eggs
- 1 tablespoon fat-free milk
- ½ teaspoon sage
- ¼ teaspoon thyme
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 (8.5 oz.) box Jiffy’s Corn Muffin Mix, see shopping tips
- ½ cup fat-free Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup light cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a 9 x 9” baking pan with cooking spray.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, add onions and butter. Cook in microwave on high for about 4 minutes until softened. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together cream-style corn, sausages, dried cranberries, egg, milk, sage, thyme, and black pepper. Blend well. Stir in cornbread mix and only stir until blended. The batter will be a bit bumpy. Spread cornbread batter into prepared pan. Spread evenly.
- Spoon cooked onions/butter and liquid left in the bowl and using a rubber spatula spread evenly over the top.
- Spoon the yogurt in small dollops evenly over the onions. Using the same rubber spatula, carefully spread yogurt a little but keep the dollops.
- Sprinkle cheese evenly over top of yogurt.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes so the entire casserole will be cooked through. It will look very golden brown.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into 12 squares if served as a side dish and 6 slices for the main course. This casserole may be baked ahead of time, refrigerated and reheated. It also freezes great.
Notes
Makes 12 side servings and 6 main course servings (each serving, 1 slice)
Shopping Tips
Most supermarkets sell Jiffy corn muffin mix in the baking aisle. If you can’t find it use another brand that is about 8.5 ounces. Trader Joe’s has a terrific selection of reduced-fat chicken sausages. I love their garlic herb but they sell other varieties such as chicken apple, spicy Italian, and spicy jalapeño. Each 12 oz. package contains 4 fully cooked sausages. The garlic herb contains 130 calories, 7g fat, 17g protein, 0g carbs, 0g fiber, 510mg sodium, 0g sugar. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s in your town, look for other reduced-fat brands in your supermarket. Most of these sausages have from 6-8 grams of fat each. I also like Brat Han’s line of healthy, fully cooked sausages sold at Whole Foods. Jody Maroni’s Smoked Chicken Apple Sausages would also work for this recipe. Or, use your favorite fully cooked sausages.
For one side serving
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 6-Blue
WW SmartPoints 7-Green
WW Points Plus 5
For one main course serving
WW Freestyle SmartPoints Blue-12
WW SmartPoints 14-Green
WW Points Plus 10
Shopping Tips
Most supermarkets sell Jiffy corn muffin mix in the baking aisle. If you can’t find it use another brand that is about 8.5 ounces. Trader Joe’s has a terrific selection of reduced-fat chicken sausages. I love their garlic herb but they sell other varieties such as chicken apple, spicy Italian, and spicy jalapeño. Each 12 oz. package contains 4 fully cooked sausages. The garlic herb contains 130 calories, 7g fat, 17g protein, 0g carbs, 0g fiber, 510mg sodium, 0g sugar. If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s in your town, look for other reduced-fat brands in your supermarket. Most of these sausages have from 6-8 grams of fat each. I also like Brat Han’s line of healthy, fully cooked sausages sold at Whole Foods. Jody Maroni’s Smoked Chicken Apple Sausages would also work for this recipe. Or, use your favorite fully cooked sausages.
For one side serving
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 6-Blue
WW SmartPoints 7-Green
WW Points Plus 5
For one main course serving
WW Freestyle SmartPoints Blue-12
WW SmartPoints 14-Green
WW Points Plus 10
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 side serving 190 calories, 6g fat, 2g sat fat, 37mg chol, 6g prot, 27g carbs, 498mg sod, 1g fiber, 11g sugar |
| FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints (1 side serving) 169 calories, 2g sat, fat, 5g protein, 10g sugar |
| SKINNY FACTS: for 1 main course serving 380 calories, 13g fat, 4g sat fat, 67mg chol, 12g prot, 54g carbs, 995mg sod, 3g fiber, 22g sugar |
| FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints (1 main course serving) 337 calories, 3g sat, fat, 10g protein, 20g sugar |
Skinny Facts
Serving: 1sliceCalories: 190kcalCarbohydrates: 27gProtein: 6gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 37mgSodium: 498mgFiber: 1gSugar: 11gBlue Smart Points: 6Green Smart Points: 7Plus Points: 5
Hi I have all of your books and just started weight watchers. I’m doing the purple plan. I noticed you don’t show the purple. Is there an easy way for me to calculate them for your recipes ?
Kathy, I’m so sorry but at this point, I’m only including Blue and Green points. For all of these years, I use a different program than WW to input all of my recipes to do the nutrition facts and points.
I have hundreds of recipes and don’t have the time to input them into WW to make the calculations for the purple plan.
Best of luck to you on WW!
Nancy
Nancy