Cornbread Dressing

Southern Cornbread Dressing is a must during the holidays. But it is easy enough to have anytime. A traditional southern recipe that until now has been intimidating. We show you how easy and delicious it is. Savory notes of onion, sage and celery will satisfy any preference and help win folks over from the stuffing team.

What is the difference between Dressing and Stuffing?

Ah, the great debate. Almost as heated as the one between Butter Beans and Lima Beans. Well I am here to settle it for you. It is DRESSING, ALL. THE. WAY. Seriously though, all kidding aside, the truth is really in how it is prepared. Stuffing is really for what goes IN the bird. You can totally use a good dressing recipe and STUFF your bird. But really, WHY would you? This stuff is so delicious on its own, don’t waste it in the cavity of your T-Bird. That is short for Thanksgiving Turkey.

 

Instead, fill that T-bird with aromatics like onions, rosemary, thyme, lemon or orange, just to name a few. Prepare this Cornbread Dressing and serve it proudly next to that T-bird like the rockstar it is!

 

How to make Cornbread Dressing

Y’all know I love dump and cook recipes right? Here is the King of all of them. AND I love recipes that can be conformed to fit your own particular tastes. Southern Cornbread Dressing can be modified to be as dry as you like it or as soupy as you like it. Here at The Buttered Home, we like it Juuuuuust Right so this recipe gets it firm but moist. feel free to lessen your liquid for a dryer dressing or add a little more to make it soupier.

~ Ingredients ~

For the Cornbread:

• 2 cups self rising cornmeal

• 1 & ¾ cups buttermilk
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup canola oil, divided in half

For the Dressing:

• Pre made cornbread crumbled or zipped in a food processor until finely chopped

• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground sage - optional
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 medium yellow or white onion, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• ½ cup Butter, cubed
• 2 cups chicken broth

~ Method ~

1. For the Cornbread. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Use half of the canola oil to grease a heavy, 10 inch, cast iron skillet and place in the oven while preheating. Mix all ingredients together. Mixing well, but some lumps are ok. Remove skillet from oven and pour in batter. Return to preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool and save for dressing. I like to do this the day before.

2. For the Dressing. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Crumble the pre made cornbread to your liking. I like mine finely crumbled so I zip it in the food processor for just a bit. Melt butter in a skillet and sauté onions and celery and salt in the butter until softened and translucent.

3. In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, onions, celery and their pan drippings. Mix well. Add in beaten eggs and pepper and mix well. Next, add the broth, one cup at a time until desired consistency is reached. *Keep in mind a lot of the liquid will evaporate during cooking so 2 cups is a good rule for a firm yet moist dressing. You can add less but it will be dry. You can also add more but it will be soupy.

4. Bake for 30-40 minutes until firm and slightly browned. * May require more broth when reheating after cooked and refrigerated. Enjoy!

Is Dressing better than Stuffing?

In my humble opinion, YESSIRREE! Everyone knows the side dishes for the Thanksgiving T-Bird are JUST as important as the T-bird himself! If the turkey is the star, this is the best supporting actor, right here! Dressing has a taste that just screams HOME. If you haven’t had it, I challenge you to try it and see for yourself.

It is also important to note, the Sage is optional. Feel free to leave it out if you want to have the other ingredients to shine in the recipe. Sage can sometimes overpower everything else, but it is sooo good too so I also challenge you to make it with and without to see the difference. After all, Dressing is something that can also be made on a Sunday or any day for that matter. Not just for Thanksgiving!

Southern Cornbread Dressing for Thanksgiving

We hope you will see that Dressing, like many old fashioned recipes, is really not as intimidating as you may think. Once you fix yourself on how firm or how soupy you want it, there will be no stopping you! You will become a legend in kitchens everywhere with this recipe!

As always, we would love it if you shared this recipe with your family and friends. Over to the side on this post and all of the others are handy dandy share buttons. We would sure be grateful if you shared the love!

Stuff we used!