Cornbread dressing can also be called stuffing, the name mainly depends on how you cook it (see more about this below!), and it’s long been a favorite part of our Thanksgiving dinner.
This Southern Dressing Recipe will become a staple for your family!
Every family member has their ‘thing’ they love and look forward to in the holiday season, especially when it comes to the food on Thanksgiving Day. For me and my husband, it’s the turkey dressing. My husband and I both grew up with Stovetop Stuffing (a kind of boxed cornbread mix) as one of our traditional Thanksgiving side dishes. For many years, my mom would even stuff some of it into our turkey and bake the rest in a pan. While I’m all for nostalgia and enjoying things from childhood, I really enjoy experimenting to make my own mark on our favorite holiday classics. So over the years, whenever I wanted to experiment with another dressing recipe, Paul would plead for me to still buy the box of Stovetop Stuffing mix for him just in case he didn’t like my version. That is until I made THIS southern cornbread dressing and his world changed forever. This recipe is based on a traditional stuffing recipe, but with my own tweaks to make it just the way we like it. It is light and fluffy and moist, with the perfect balance of sweet and savory from the cornbread, chicken broth, and herbs. It’s so delicious, with the flavor and texture of the cornbread coming through. The whole family LOVED this cornbread dressing, and I already know it’s the only recipe I’ll make from now on! Is it really even Thanksgiving dinner without dressing right alongside the turkey, green bean casserole, and cranberry sauce? For more holiday inspiration, check out our other delicious and popular Thanksgiving recipes here!
Why we love this Cornbread Dressing Recipe
This is an easy cornbread dressing using simple ingredients. You can customize this recipe with your favorite herbs and vegetables, or use the ones that go best with the rest of your Thanksgiving table. A great make-ahead recipe: You can make this Thanksgiving side dish up to a day in advance, and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it. The leftovers are good for up to 4 days so you can enjoy leftover cornbread dressing with your turkey leftovers the next day. You can even freeze this southern dressing, unbaked, for up to a month, so this really is the perfect recipe to make ahead and save time on the big day!
Corn Bread Dressing Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
White Bread – It’s best to use crusty French bread that’s cut into small pieces and dried. Cornbread – You need dry cornbread, not freshly baked. I make my own cornbread in advance and leave it out at room temperature to dry, but you can buy it ready-made from a bakery and bake it at home to dry out. Butter – You will need a little bit of butter for sautéing the vegetables and some melted butter for helping to bind the dressing mixture. Onion and Celery – To be sautéed. You can add extra vegetables if you like for a more filling cornbread dressing dish. Garlic Cloves – It’s best to use fresh garlic cloves, but you can use garlic powder or paste in a pinch but the quantities will vary. Chicken Broth – You can use store-bought or homemade broth. Dried Herbs: Basil, Thyme, Sage – These classic savory flavors are earthy and warming, so perfect for the holidays! Fresh Herbs: Rosemary & Parsley – This combination of fresh herbs adds a fresh and piney flavor to the dressing. Use dried herb versions if you don’t have fresh ones to hand. Eggs – Acts as a binding agent. Salt & Black Pepper – Additional seasoning to enhance existing flavors.
How to Make Cornbread Dressing
Prepare the bread. Cut the cornbread and crusty French bread into small, bite-size cubes 1-2 days in advance and letting them dry out. Alternatively, dry both types of bread on the same day by baking them slowly in the oven. See instructions for this below. White bread is best for dressing (and stuffing) but make sure it isn’t too soft. Ideally, the bread will have small holes and be a bit denser than the fluffy soft bread you’d use for sandwiches, in order to soak up the butter and broth well. Crusty French bread is perfect, so I tend to just use it. Prepare and sauté the vegetables. Dice the onions and chop the celery into small pieces. Melt half of the butter in a pan on the stove and sauté the onion and celery for about 4-5 minutes just until they begin to soften. Add the chicken broth, herbs, and salt and let it simmer for a few minutes. Make dressing mixture. Combine the cubes of cornbread and French bread in a large bowl, and drizzle with melted butter and beaten eggs. Then begin to ladle the seasoned broth mixture over the cubed bread, tossing gently so that it can all get evenly coated. Add broth. Keep adding broth until your dressing is evenly moistened. You may not need all of it, depending on how moist you like your stuffing. But if the dressing is starting to get mushy, or looks too dense, I would stop adding the broth. Bake. Transfer the dressing to a 9×13-inch baking dish and bake for 25-30 minutes at 350° F until golden brown on top.
How do you dry cornbread for dressing?
It’s important to use dry cornbread for dressing so that it can absorb the broth, eggs, and butter that are going to be added. I always make a big batch of cornbread earlier in the week to have with soup and just save half of it to dry out and get stale, but you could even pick up cornbread from your local bakery. To dry cornbread for dressing, slice it into bite-size cubes and spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Then you can either let them dry out for 1-2 days (if you were thinking ahead) or pop them in the oven at 250° F for 30-45 minutes. Be sure to toss them every 10 minutes or so until the cornbread has fully dried out. You can take the same approach with the French bread that is needed in the recipe, since both need to be dry and stale for this recipe.
How to store Corn Bread Dressing
Leftover dressing will stay good if covered tightly and kept in the fridge for up to 4 days. Just reheat in the oven or microwave before serving.
More Thanksgiving Recipes You’ll Want For Your Feast
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This post was originally published in November, 2019. The photos and content were updated in October, 2022.
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