Southern Cornbread Dressing

Southern Cornbread Dressing is deliciously moist and wonderfully seasoned with sage, onions, and celery. It’s a classic that makes it to the Thanksgiving table year after year.

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it’s time to start planning that Thanksgiving menu. This year I want the food to be extra good and special since this is the first year my son has been away at college. I miss him dearly and I know he misses my home cooking. (Note: This post was originally published November 10, 2015. But my son is still coming home for Thanksgiving 😊)

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You cook for your boys mamas, and they’ll always want to come home to see you.  🙂

The Thanksgiving side dish that my kids look forward to the most is the dressing.

What Is Dressing?

Dressing is what southerners call stuffing. Typically dressing is made with cornbread. Variations on cornbread dressing are many and varied. Depending on the region of the south, ingredients like pecans, sausage, crawfish, or oysters can be added.

Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe

Probably the most looked forward to part of Thanksgiving dinner, besides dessert, is the dressing and it’s not uncommon for us to have more than one kind. I personally really love this Andouille Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing.

This Southern Cornbread Dressing is a more traditional southern dressing made with crumbled cornbread along with lots of onion, celery, and sage. It’s savory, moist, and delicious.

How Far In Advance To Make The Cornbread

You should make the cornbread a day or two in advance. You want the conrbread to be somewhat dry and stale. This will allow it to absorb more liquid and flavor.

Recipe Tip

Since we typically fry our Thanksgiving turkey, I solely use canned broth to make dressing, but if you have turkey drippings, you could add them to the dressing and it will taste even better.

Along with cornbread dressing we love to have Cheesy Green Bean Casserole, mashed potatoes, and Broccoli Casserole for Thanksgiving dinner. And this year I think I’ll add Savory Sweet Potato Casserole to the list. You can never have too many casseroles! I also always make these Yeast Rolls and Southern Sweet Potato Pie.

Equipment Needed

1. Cast Iron Pan– You will need a 9 to 10-inch cast iron pan for baking the cornbread. A 9-inch cake pan or baking dish can be used instead.
2. Baking Dish– a 9×13-inch baking dish is a good size.

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Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make Southern Cornbread Dressing.

Southern Cornbread Dressing

4.90 from 198 votes

By Christin Mahrlig

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

Servings: 8 servings

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A traditional southern cornbread dressing flavored with onion, celery, and sage. Super moist and flavorful.

Equipment

• 9 to 10-inch cast iron pan

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Ingredients

Cornbread

• ▢ 1 cup self-rising cornmeal, I use Martha White
• ▢ 1/2 cup self-rising flour, I use White Lily
• ▢ 3/4 cup buttermilk
• ▢ 2 eggs
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Vegetable oil

Dressing

• ▢ 8 tablespoons butter, (1 stick)
• ▢ 3 medium onion, chopped
• ▢ 4 stalks celery, chopped
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
• ▢ 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• ▢ 3 pieces toast, crumbled
• ▢ 1/2 cup milk
• ▢ 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• ▢ 2 to 2 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
• ▢ 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, stir together all ingredients for cornbread. Pour into a lightly greased 9-inch cast iron pan or a 9-inch baking pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Before using, crumble into small pieces.
• Heat butter over medium heat in a large pan. Add celery and onion and cook until soft.
• Add sage, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper to onion mixture.
• In a large bowl combine crumbled cornbread and toast.
• Whisk together milk and eggs and add to bowl. Stir in 2 cups of chicken broth.
• Stir in onion mixture. Mixture should be very moist. Add more broth if necessary.
• Transfer to a greased baking dish. Cut butter into small slivers and scatter on top of dressing.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until it turns light brown on top.

Notes

Note: The cornbread should be made a day or two in advance.

I use a regular white sandwich bread for the toast.

Nutrition

Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 678mg | Potassium: 250mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 667IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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