This old fashioned southern cornbread dressing recipe is the perfect side dish has been enjoyed in our family every Thanksgiving since I can remember. It is so simple and delicious, and perfect alongside oven roasted turkey breast!
This is my mother’s family recipe. She adapted it from her mother and her Aunt Laura, so there’s no telling how many generations this goes back! It is true old fashioned cornbread dressing.
Here in the southeastern USA, it is tradition to make authentic southern cornbread dressing to go with our turkey at Thanksgiving dinner.
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And y’all, side note: Don’t miss my mom’s oven roasted turkey breast! These two dishes go together SO well. Our family counts down to Thanksgiving every year when we get to enjoy them!
My mouth is literally watering as I look at these pictures…LOL!
But back to the southern cornbread dressing! We do not stuff ours inside the turkey to make cornbread stuffing like some do. Instead, we prepare our southern dressing in it’s own casserole dish on the side. I prefer it this way. It is just simpler, and I cannot imagine it tasting any better. It is truly the best cornbread dressing!
How to make southern cornbread dressing
First, gather your ingredients.
Ingredients
For tastiest results, always use the best quality ingredients you have access to. For this southern cornbread dressing recipe, you will need the following simple ingredients:
- Cooked cornbread (yes, stale cornbread or fresh both work!)
- Sliced white bread
- celery
- onion
- butter
- raw eggs
- chicken stock, chicken broth or vegetable stock/ broth
- salt and pepper
- cooking spray (or oil or butter to grease the casserole dish)
You can use my skillet corn bread as a base for this recipe. I have also made a pan from the White Lily cornbread mix, and it works great! I do not recommend the boxed cornbread mix (like Jiffy) for using in this recipe. Many of them contain sugar, and that will not work as intended in this recipe.
But the cast iron skillet is a must. That crispy crust makes the dressing taste amazing.
Turkey broth also works well for the liquid in this recipe as well.
Assembling southern cornbread dressing
Once your cornbread is baked and cooled, you just rip it up into chunks with your hands.
You will also need some sliced white bread. Sometimes my mom will use biscuits instead of the white bread. You can totally do this too! She has used sliced white bread in the last few years, though, because it is just simpler. And it still tastes great!
Just mix your ripped up bread, celery, onions in a large bowl.
Then pour over the melted butter next, and stir it into the bread mixture. Next, pour over the egg and broth mixture, and stir until well-combined.
Then transfer the dressing mixture to a baking dish.
Baking
So what time and temperature is best to cook cornbread dressing? Bake the southern cornbread dressing in a preheated oven at 375 degrees F until it starts to turn golden brown on top, about 45 to 50 minutes.
It’s funny, as I was talking to my mom, I realized that she rarely follows a recipe exactly. A lot of her instructions are “just add more until it looks right.” Or “cook it until it’s done.” LOL!
So I tried to put some structure for y’all, with actual measurements and times. 🙂
Frequently asked questions
Yes! My mom does this almost every year. To freeze it, just perform all recipe steps, right up until you pour the uncooked mixture into the casserole dish. From there, just cover it well with plastic wrap and foil, and stick it in the freezer.
When it comes time to prepare it, you will want to take it out of the freezer a day or more ahead of time. You want to fully thaw it prior to cooking.
The best way to do this is to let it sit in a refrigerator for three days or so. However! We have also let it sit on the kitchen counter to thaw quicker than that. It can thaw in about 12 hours, give or take, depending on the temperature inside your house.
This recipe is easy to make vegetarian. Simply substitute the chicken broth with vegetable broth/ stock instead.
Yes! Simply add your cooked shredded chicken to the mixture, and stir it in prior to baking. My easy shredded chicken recipe and my Instant Pot shredded chicken would both work great for this.
About 5 days in a sealed, airtight container. It makes a great leftovers!
Yes! I would suggest preparing it within 24 hours of when you plan to bake it. Also, if the mixture looks a little dry when you pull it out of the fridge, you can add a little bit of chicken broth/ stock. Make sure it is well covered while refrigerated.
Serving
Serve with oven roasted turkey, or even air fryer turkey breast, and don’t forget the easy homemade cranberry sauce!
More holiday recipes you may enjoy
If you are cooking a holiday meal, you may want to check out these delicious recipes for the holiday season:
- cream condensed soup from scratch (replaces a can of cream of chicken soup in any recipe)
- green bean casserole
- sweet potato casserole
Share this recipe
Did you try my mom’s southern cornbread dressing recipe? Give it a star rating. Pin it and share it if it looks good to you. And be sure and stay connected on social media!
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Southern Cornbread Dressing
Ingredients
- 14 ounces corn bread crumbles (weighed on a food scale, or 4 cups)
- 4 slices white bread, torn (I used Sunbeam)
- 2 celery stalks very finely minced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion very finely minced
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 3 eggs
- 3.5 cups chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- cooking spray, oil or butter to grease the casserole dish
Instructions
-
Tear the white bread and cornbread into chunks.
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In a large bowl, combine the bread chunks, onions, celery.
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Pour the melted butter over the bread, onions, celery, and stir.
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In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, and stir in the chicken broth, salt and pepper.
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Pour the egg and broth mixture over the bread/ celery/ onion mixture, and stir to combine.
-
Transfer to casserole dish that has been greased or sprayed with cooking spray.
- Bake at 375 for about 45 to 50 minutes minutes.
Recipe Notes
Nutritional information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
To freeze it, just perform all recipe steps, right up until you pour the uncooked mixture into the casserole dish. From there, just cover it well, and stick it in the freezer.
When it comes time to prepare it, you will want to take it out of the freezer a day or more ahead of time. You want to fully thaw it prior to cooking.
The best way to do this is to let it sit in a refrigerator for three days or so. However! We have also let it sit on the kitchen counter to thaw quicker than that. It can thaw in about 12 hours, give or take, depending on the temperature inside your house.
This post originally appeared on A Pinch of Healthy on November 7, 2017.
Deb says
Additional comment to my previous post…
I also use the broth from the cooked Turkey. And if there isn’t enough I will mix the turkey broth with the chicken broth(assuming this is canned or boxed). If I have no turkey broth then I will pour all my chicken stock in a pot and add a sick of butter, salt and pepper and let that simmer until the butter is well melted and then I will pot that in my dressing.
Lynette says
Delish! Had to make it twice one christmas break when my son was home. A real hit!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Amazing to hear Lynette!❤️
Shelley says
This sounds so good, it is going on the list for this year’s Thanksgiving Dinner menu! I remember my mom used to saute the onions and celery in the butter when making her Yankee stuffing. Since that aroma was so wonderful, and the caramelizing of the veggies adds a depth of flavor, I will do that with this recipe. I agree on the sage.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
You can absolutely do that if you prefer, Shelley. We actually used to do that too, until my mom tried it one year without. I hope y’all enjoy it!
Brenda Williams.. says
Where’s the sage, salt & pepper? Got to add that to be dressing!
Numan says
nice post about southern dressing,thanks
Brenda Burns senburns@aol.com says
I revise my recipe every year! Two questions on this recipe:
1: What size casserole dish do you bake it in? Seems that 9×13 might be too small? You don’t give a size in the recipe directions.
2: I see you don’t add sage but that is a ‘must’ ingredient for us….Will it still be good if I add sage to it?
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
I used a corningware white 2.5 Liter baking dish. 9×13 works great too, and I have used that in years past.If y’all love sage, go ahead and add it. My family happens to have the opposite preference, so I leave it out. If you like it, it would be delicious in this recipe, though.
Beth says
Marjorie, and so it continues on through the family! Never ever put sage in the dressing!
I’m doing the prep work for this very recipe right now, and going to use your mom’s recipe for roasting a turkey breast!
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!
Beth
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
I am so glad, Beth! Oh yeah, totally on the same page with no sage. 😉👌🏻 Happy Thanksgiving to you!💖
Deb says
I finally found someone that makes their cornbread dressing almost the way I do. My mother’s recipe as well. And I’m also from Alabama, Athens area. I can’t believe so many people just about pulverize their cornbread. Nooo! You gotta leave it in chunks. It will break up on its own when mixing. It makes it way too dense and dry. You have to make sure and leave it with broth on top before baking just like yours. The cornbread soaks it up while cooking and it will come out perfect.
Where we differ—
I add poultry seasoning, sage, salt and pepper
I also add white loaf bread AND biscuits because I make for a crowd of 20.
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
Yay Deb!! Yes, very traditional. Somewhere along the way, way back, my family became sage haters. 😂 Which is why I don’t put it in mine. But a lot (most?) people do. We have done white bread and biscuits before. All great options, depending on what you have on hand.👌🏻
Deb says
Marjorie—sage is such a strong herb I can only tolerate a little. I don’t put celery in mine. My mom never did so I just never did either (I don’t know why because everyone I see puts it in theirs). I do like the celery flavor though. I’m glad I found your page with all the recipes. Thanks so much!
Adriene Hughes says
Today I am making cornbread stuffing for the first time because I had leftover Mixi type cornbread I made a few days ago. I used wheat bread instead of white but had other ingredients. Thanks for sharing your family recipe and I am excited to make it myself!
Shelby Brushwyler says
Do you dry out the cornbread for this? Like make it a couple of days before?
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Hi Shelby! You can, but the ones in these pictures used bread made the same day. So either way works.👍🏻
Shelby Brushwyler says
Thank you!
Beth Mitchell says
You certainly can make it ahead but you don’t need to. Ive been using this recipe for years and years. It was Mama Lena’s. I never used celery but our family loves it. absolutely no sage, ever!
Marjorie @APinchOfHealthy says
That is right, Beth! (for those reading this, Mama Lena is my great grandmother!) I love how this recipe has been passed down in our family.💖 I think Aunt Laura started using celery, and them my mom did too. But YES, absolutely no sage for us either.👌🏻 Love and miss you!
Laurie says
This is very similar to my Mom’s recipe, but we sauté the onions and celery in the butter. So yummy!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
Funny! 🙂 I think my mom used to do that too. Then she figured out if you mince them up fine enough, you can skip that step. Happy Thanksgiving!
Karly says
As both a stuffing and cornbread lover, I just can’t believe I’ve never thought to make something like this. I am SO glad I stopped by and found this gem! Need to try it ASAP!
Marjorie@APinchOfHealthy says
I hope you enjoy it Karly! We have enjoyed this every Thanksgiving since I can remember.