Homemade Cornbread Dressing Recipe

Homemade Cornbread Dressing is a must on your Thanksgiving menu. Made from an heirloom recipe, this old-fashioned classic is deliciously seasoned with sage, celery, and onion. This is the soul food recipe you need this holiday season!

This recipe easily takes front and center at our table during the holiday season. It practically rivals the turkey! 

Dressing is one of those holiday side dishes that seem to be pretty polarizing. There are about a thousand ways to serve (and make) dressing, but this is the best dressing recipe and so easy. It can even be made ahead of time, frozen, then defrosted a few days before.

You will definitely want to add this recipe to your Thanksgiving Menu!

Southern Cornbread Dressing

The holidays are hectic for many families, so I totally understand wanting to scoop up that bag of stuffing from the store and be done with it. However, once you make this recipe, you will see just how easy it is and how much your family will love it. You will never go back to the bagged stuff again!

What is cornbread dressing?

Much like a traditional stuffing recipe, cornbread is a combination of cornbread, vegetables, seasonings, and chicken broth combined to create a super moist side dish.

There are many different versions of this recipe floating around the internet. Depending on where you live, others may add ingredients like nuts, oysters, sausage, eggs, or other additions.

I’m a dressing purist so I stick to my basic recipe!

Dressing vs. Stuffing

While dressing and stuffing recipes may be similar in that they are both a combination of breads, vegetables, and other ingredients, there are two very specific differences:

• Dressing is cooked outside of the turkey cavity in a casserole dish.
• Stuffing is cooked and served from the cavity of the turkey.

Ingredients for dressing

• Stale cornbread. This recipe starts with a skillet of cornbread that has been set out to stale.  You can make this up to 3 days in advance.
• Soft breadcrumbs. Using large breadcrumbs create a binder to absorb the liquids and create a casserole-like consistency.
• Butter. Use full-fat butter for sauteeing the onions and celery.
• Onions and celery for added flavor. These are sauteed down to tender pieces with just the right amount of crisp left.
• Rubbed sage. The seasoning is optional, but highly recommended. It is just the right amount without overpowering the dish.
• Eggs. The eggs hold the entire casserole together.
• Chicken Broth. Use homemade or store-bought. Stock can also be used in place of broth.
• Black Pepper

Best Bread for Stuffing (or Dressing)

Besides what you call this casserole, the subsequent debate over this dish is what “soft” bread crumbs are best for stuffing…or dressing.

The “soft” bread crumbs are used in addition to the stale cornbread to bind the ingredients together. Since they are both “stale”, they soak up the chicken broth and absorb the other flavors.

They can be any type of bread you have on hand…or have stowed in the deep depths of the freezer. 

Here are some ideas for soft bread crumbs:

• Hot dog/hamburger buns
• Loaf bread (white bread or wheat bread)
• French bread (or other artisan style breads)
• Biscuits
• Sourdough

It really doesn’t matter which kind of bread you use. I typically start collecting the heels of loaves and odds and ends of different kinds of bread  to use in this recipe.

Whichever breads you decide, they should be roughly torn or chopped and placed in the bowl along with your crumbled cornbread for about one day.

How to Make Cornbread Dressing

1. Prepare the breads. Make your cornbread and allow it to sit out on the counter, crumbled into a bowl or container. To the same bowl, add in the soft bread crumbs that have been torn into larger, thumb-sized pieces. Allow this bowl to sit out and the bread to become stale – at least 24 hours.
2. Mix the ingredients. Add in the sautéed vegetables, chicken broth, sage, pepper, and eggs and mix together.
3. Rest. Allow the mixture to rest in the fridge overnight so all the flavors combine and distribute throughout the casserole. Or, the uncooked dressing can be frozen up to 3 months ahead of time.
4. Bake. As you are ready to bake, transfer the mixture to one 9×13 and one 8×8 casserole dish and bake at 375F degrees. 

How long does it take to cook cornbread dressing?

Depending on the oven and the moisture level of the dressing, this dish can take up to two hours to fully cook.

If there was one piece of advice I would impart on readers: Do not wait until two hours before serving time to put this in the oven! Give yourself (and the dressing) plenty of time to work its magic in the oven.

If you are baking multiple dishes at one time, the baking time for the dressing may increase depending on your oven and how much “sharing” is happening inside.

Can you make cornbread dressing ahead of time?

Yes! Make the dressing, then let it sit for at least 8 hours in the fridge for all of the flavors to marry. I prefer overnight. 

Then, the dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Then, transfer to a casserole dish and bake.

To avoid shattering your dish, allow it to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes to bring it to room temperature.

Also, dressing can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow 3 days to defrost before baking.

Tips for Easy Cornbread Dressing

• When adding eggs to the bowl, make sure your bread mixture has cooled to avoid “scrambling” or cooking the eggs. 
• To keep dishes to a minimum, mix and freeze the dressing in the same container. I use a 4.5 liter container. 
• Don’t wait until November to begin “collecting” bread for soft bread crumbs. Toss heels, burger buns, etc. into a freezer bag all year round.
• Make the dressing several weeks in advance and freeze. Allow 2-3 days to thaw before baking.
• When crumbling the cornbread, break into larger pieces as they will continue to break-down when mixed with the liquid and other ingredients.

FAQ: Thanksgiving Cornbread Dressing Recipe