This old fashioned Southern cornbread dressing recipe is a classic that’s a must-have for every Thanksgiving table. It’s made with celery, onions, homemade cornbread, white bread and plenty of herbs. You’ll never look at cornbread stuffing the same way again!
Looking for the perfect cornbread stuffing recipe for your holiday meal? This cornbread dressing is a staple in many Southern households for good reason – it’s absolutely delicious! Serve it alongside other side dish recipes such as slow cooker creamed corn and bacon roasted brussels sprouts.
Today we’re talking about stuffing, because Thanksgiving is almost here! There are about ten million ways to do stuffing, but this Southern cornbread dressing is my favorite. It’s moist and delicious with a light and fluffy texture and the perfect blend of sweet and savory. Not gonna lie, my husband and I both made this our dinner after I took these photos, it’s just that good.
Table of Contents
Southern Cornbread Dressing Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need cornbread, white bread, butter, onion, celery, chicken broth or turkey broth, eggs, sage, parsley, salt and black pepper.
How Do You Make cornbread Dressing?
Prepare my honey cornbread recipe, or use store bought cornbread if you’re short on time. Place the cornbread and cubes of white bread in a large bowl. Preheat the oven and grease a baking dish. Melt some of the butter in a pan or large skillet, then add the onion and celery. Cook until the vegetables are soft, then add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with the cornbread mixture. Melt the rest of the butter and pour it into a bowl. Add the broth, eggs, salt, pepper and sage, then whisk it all together. Pour the butter mixture into the bowl with the bread and vegetables, then toss to combine. Place everything into the casserole dish, and bake until golden brown. Sprinkle with parsley, then serve and enjoy.
Tips For The Perfect Dish
- You can make your homemade cornbread up to a month in advance and freeze it until you’re ready to make stuffing.
- I prefer to crumble my cornbread into larger pieces as it will break down some more when you mix everything together.
- This recipe is really best when baked as directed in a dish, rather than using it to stuff a turkey. If you use this to stuff a bird you won’t get that same great crispy texture on top!
- I recommend to use fresh herbs here as they have a lot more flavor than dried herbs. If you need to use dried herbs in a pinch, cut the amounts by 2/3.
- Serve your stuffing alongside Thanksgiving main course favorites such as spatchcock turkey, honey glazed ham, smoked turkey breast and baked ham.
Quick Tip
While I typically use plain old white bread in this recipe, you could also use wheat bread, or an artisan bread like a baguette.
Recipe FAQs
It is mostly a regional preference as to whether you call it stuffing or dressing.
Dressing tends to be baked almost exclusively outside the bird, while stuffing can either be inside the turkey or in a separate dish. I actually tend to mostly refer to it as stuffing because that’s what it is called in my geographic area, although I never stuff my bird. In the South people tend to call it dressing, and this is a Southern style recipe which is why I’ve labeled it as dressing.
I find that stuffing is always better with some eggs in the mix. The eggs add moisture, a rich flavor, and also help bind all the ingredients together. I would not recommend omitting the eggs in this recipe unless there is an allergy. In the case of an allergy, you’d want to use an egg alternative to make sure everything holds together.
The best way to prevent dry stuffing is to be careful not to overcook it! You want the dressing top to be crispy and golden brown, with a soft and tender interior. It’s important to keep an eye on your dish as it bakes to make sure the top is not getting overly browned. If you feel like the top is brown before the inside is done, simply cover the dish with foil. In a situation where the stuffing bakes for too long and is dry, mix 2 tablespoons of melted butter with 1/3 cup warm chicken or turkey broth. Drizzle this mixture over the stuffing and let it soak in for a few minutes, and that should help to fix the problem.
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Flavor Variations
This recipe is great as-is, but you can add other ingredients to customize the flavors to your tastes.
- Protein: Feel free to add some cooked breakfast sausage, bacon, prosciutto or smoked chicken apple sausage to your stuffing. It’s also common to add oysters to stuffing!
- Vegetables: Stir in some extra sauteed veggies such as mushrooms, carrots, fennel, parsnips, or even butternut squash.
- Fruit: Cooked apples are a popular addition to dressing, as are dried cranberries, apricots, figs or cherries.
- Herbs: Amp up the flavor with extra herbs such as thyme, rosemary or marjoram.
Make Ahead Instructions
You can assemble your dressing up to 8 hours before the big meal. Simply cover your baking dish with foil and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it. You may need to increase the cooking time a bit since you’ll be starting with a cold dish. You can also prepare the dish, bake as directed, then seal tightly and store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Bake the covered dish from frozen at 350 degrees F until it’s warmed through, about 45-60 minutes.
I have a lot of people in my family that are stuffing haters, I can’t wait to unveil this Southern cornbread dressing to them this year to see if they change their minds! In my opinion this is the best stuffing recipe I’ve tried, and I try a different recipe almost every year trying to find one my family will like. The combination of the veggies, two types of bread and fresh herbs is simply the best. It’s buttery and delicious just like any good Thanksgiving recipe should be!
More Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Bacon Green Bean Bundles
25 mins
Slow Cooker Glazed Carrots
3 hrs 5 mins
Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows
1 hr 50 mins
Cranberry Jello Salad
6 hrs 10 mins
Cornbread Dressing Video
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 recipe honey cornbread or any 9″ square cornbread that’s homemade or store bought
- 5 slices stale white bread cut into cubes
- 10 tablespoons butter divided use
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1 cup celery finely chopped
- 3 1/2 cups chicken or turkey broth
- 5 eggs
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
- cooking spray
- optional: sage leaves for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the honey cornbread according to post instructions.
- Cool the cornbread and crumble. Place the cornbread in a large bowl with the bread cubes and toss to combine.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9″x13″ pan with cooking spray.
- Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 6-8 minutes or until softened. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste. Place the vegetables in the bowl with the cornbread mixture.
- Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter and pour into a large bowl. Add the chicken broth, eggs, salt and pepper to taste, and sage and whisk to combine.
- Pour the butter mixture into the bowl with the cornbread mixture and stir to combine.
- Transfer the stuffing mixture to the prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until dressing is browned and cooked through.
- Sprinkle with parsley and garnish with sage leaves if desired. Serve.
Notes
- You can make your homemade cornbread up to a month in advance and freeze it until you’re ready to make stuffing.
- I prefer to crumble my cornbread into larger pieces as it will break down some more when you mix everything together.
- This recipe is really best when baked as directed in a dish, rather than using it to stuff a turkey. If you use this to stuff a bird you won’t get that same great crispy texture on top!
I love cornbread stuffing and I remember that my grandmother use to make it on Thanksgiving. Stuffing is my fav Thanksgiving dish. Thanks so much for this great recipe. I looks yummy.
I am hosting my first Thanksgiving dinner and this looks so delicious! I am pinning this to remember
Oh my, this looks absolutely delicious! Going to try it for this week’s Sunday dinner.
Hope you enjoy!
I just love a good traditional dish for the holidays. Stuffing is quite possibly my favorite for Thanksgiving dinner! Great recipe, thank you for sharing!
Omg!! this sounds so good!! I might have to try this out for Friendsgiving!
Trying this for the first time for an event tomorrow. Wish me luck and I’ll upload pictures and let you know how it goes.
Looks so good, gotta try it!!! Do you boil the eggs before you add? Really want to make this, just want to make it right.
Nope, just add them raw!
I wonder if this could be made in a instapot? If so what would have to be done differently Timewise ect..
I think it could, you’d likely need to put it in a baking dish on a trivet in the instant pot and put a little water at the bottom of the Instant Pot. I’d cook it on manual for 15-20 minutes. It won’t get that same crispy browned top in the Instant Pot, that’s the only down side!
Looks GREAT! Where do I find Honey Bread?
The honey cornbread is a recipe on my site: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/honey-cornbread/. If you don’t want to make your own cornbread, a store bought cornbread will work!
I have been making cornbread and putting away pieces of it in the freezer to save for cornbread dressing. Could you tell me how many cups this recipe translates too?
A 9 inch pan holds about 8 cups of batter, so you’re probably looking at 6-7 cups of cooked cornbread!
Made this to go with fried turkey for Christmas. Used gluten free cornbread and no bread (gluten free bread doesn’t dry out the same). It was fluffy and delicious. I have missed cornbread stuffing since having to go gluten free. This was a big hit. Thank you!
It looks so tasty and packed with flavor! It’s definitely something that I’d love to have on my table this year. Thanks for the recipe, I’d love to give it a try.
I have never made dressing before! I have been looking for a good dish to take to our family Thanksgiving, and I think this is the winner. It looks so delicious!
Yes I am going to use the recipe, this will be my first time making dressing for Thanksgiving wish me luck
Hope you enjoy it!
Cornbread dressing is ,h family’s favorite type of dressing. We have it at every holiday.
Oh yum! I think the honey cornbread flavors sound pretty good. The little hint of sweetness would be nice!
This looks like a really delicious recipe for stuffing. Let me see if my sisters would agree to a deviation from the staple stuffing we have every year. I think your recipe is better!
Thank you for this recipe. Some of my family members don’t like dressing (or stuffing), while some feel incomplete without it on Thanksgiving dinner. I will make this southern cornbread dressing anyway because I think it is delicious!
Southern style cornbread dressing is amazing! I just had it for the first time last year, and it was fantastic! The woman who made it put an ENTIRE chicken in it. SO good!
I LOVE cornbread dressing. I live in Georgia, and it’s a staple for Thanksgiving, Christmas, AND Easter. Om nom nom.
This cornbread dressing recipe looks so good. I am in charge of side dishes this year and I am going to make this recipe.
Around here we call that stuffing 🙂 I have never had cornbread stuffing before, though – it sounds really good.