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 😊)
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
- 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.
- Baking Dish– a 9×13-inch baking dish is a good size.
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItNever miss a recipe. Follow Spicy Southern Kitchen on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make Southern Cornbread Dressing.
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Equipment
- 9 to 10-inch cast iron pan
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
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Thanksgiving Favorites
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Excellent recipe
I made this for first time 2 years ago and it was hands down the best dressing I have ever had! My family loved it ! Making again now for this years dressing for our family Thanksgiving lunch!
My husband and I first Thanksgiving together ; we made it together,, it turned out perfect. .We are very HAPPY
How many cups does the cornbread recipe make?
Yes I made it recipe was on point
Has anyone made this the night before? If so, were there any issues with that?
You can make the cornbread and mix everything the night before then cook in the oven the day of and it’s fine!
Best dressing ever and easy to prepare. Will definitely prepare again. Try it you’ll love it !😍
You use the whole skillet worth for a big family and it should fit in one of this larger sized silver plate. You can add chicken to make chicken and dressing too. I have never used 3 whole onions and I grew up in the deep south. We use one large onion and we sauté it with celery because it’s not about the onion flavor. Also you may need more broth as you want it wet just not soupy and so if you use a whole pan of the cornbread, think about adding more broth. Happy Cooking!
Thank you SHELLS. You answered my questions and I feel more confident about putting it all together tommorow .
Happy Thanksgiving y’all !
Made this, used extra sage and cream of mushroom! It’s delicious.
For this single recipe for 8 servings, is ALL the cornbread from 9″ skillet used?? Other similar recipes say only 3 cups.. just need clarification please.
Also, 3 medium onions seems excessive for this one recipe. Is that a typo??
I’m wondering the same thing myself. Did you finish your dressing yet ? I think I need to make another pan of cornbread.
I’m thinking the same thing—I love onions, but 3? Seems a bit much. I would say just one or maybe 1 1/2.
Also 4 stalks of celery seems a bit much. After I cut up 4 stalks I decided to only use 2. I’ll let you guys know tomorrow how it turned out.
How did it turn out