Southern Cornbread Dressing
I’ve been making my Grandma’s Southern Cornbread dressing recipe 20 for years-it’s made with all-natural ingredients, contains no condensed soups and is a family favorite every Thanksgiving! Ready in about 40-minutes and easy to make in advance.
We serve this with the usual suspects: turkey, turkey gravy, spiced cranberry sauce, collard greens, green bean casserole, candied sweet potatoes, roasted butternut squash, maple pecan carrot casserole and pecan pie!
What’s the difference between Southern cornbread dressing and cornbread stuffing?
- These terms are not used interchangeably in the South.
- Southern cornbread “dressing” is made with day-old cornbread and is cooked in a big pan in the oven– some people refer to this as “pan dressing.”
- Stuffing, on the other hand, is generally a combination of seasoned day-old or stale bread (white bread or wheat bread), with seasonings and perhaps celery and apples. It is cooked in the turkey cavity.
Ingredients
For detailed ingredients and instructions, go to the recipe card below.
You’ll need a total of 8 cups of day-old cornbread. One package of Jiffy™ cornbread = 4 cups of crumbled cornbread, so you’ll need two packages of cornbread mix or make two large cornbread loaves from scratch.
A Note about using Jiffy Cornbread Mix: it contains a little sugar, which I don’t care for. To minimize sweetness, substitute the milk for buttermilk in the Jiffy™ cornbread recipe. Use 1/3 cup PLUS 2-3 tablespoons of buttermilk instead of milk per package. This will get rid of any sweetness.
This family recipe calls for pork sausage with Sage, however, you can omit it if you’re not a fan of sausage. (It does give it a great flavor!)
The other ingredients are: Herb Seasoned Pepperidge Farms Classic Stuffing Mix, pork sausage with sage, celery, onions, a stick of butter, eggs, chicken broth or chicken stock, poultry seasoning, salt, ground black pepper and ground sage (see recipe notes below in the recipe card).
Prefer to watch a video?
You can jump to the short video in the recipe card below or watch me make it step-by-step on YouTube.
How to make Southern cornbread dressing
This is an overview; see the recipe card below for exact ingredient measurements and instructions.
- Bake the cornbread, crumble it and let it sit out (covered) for 1-2 days.
- Brown the sausage in a large skillet. In a separate saucepan, saute onion and celery in butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix all the ingredients and transfer into a prepared baking dish (most Southern cooks use big aluminum baking pans)
- Bake, uncovered, on the middle rack until the cornbread dressing is slightly firm and golden brown, it’s done.
The image below shows you what the dressing will look like before it’s baked. The texture should be relatively moist. At this point, take a tiny bite and taste for salt; add a smidgen if it needs it, then bake.
Recipe tips
- Use cornbread that is two days old; crumble it and let it sit out for two days before you make the dressing
- Add 3 cups of broth, combine, then check the texture. You want it relatively moist. If your cornbread isn’t dry enough you may only need 3 cups of broth; If your cornbread is super crunchy and dried, add more broth until the texture is semi-soft.
- Make sure your poultry seasoning is fresh. Poultry seasoning contains sage; if you’re using sage-seasoned sausage, go easy on adding the ground sage
- Do not overwork or overmix the cornbread mixture or it will be gummy.
- Cooked sausage doesn’t yield much fat so it may not necessary to drain it unless you want to; if you don’t care for sausage, omit it.
Yield and Servings
People always double-up on turkey, homemade cornbread dressing and gravy, so be sure to make plenty! This recipe makes about 12 cups of dressing, which yields about 16 3/4cup servings.
Cornbread dressing for large groups
If you’re making cornbread dressing for a big group of 20 or more, make two batches and cook them in two 9 x 13 aluminum or Pyrex baking pans. By using two pans, the cooking time won’t take quite as long as if you were making two batches in one big pan.
Freezing and reheating instructions
- You can refrigerate cooked or uncooked cornbread for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months. Make sure it’s packaged and sealed well in an airtight container to minimize freezer burn.
- When you’re ready to cook or reheat the dressing, bring it to room temperature first, then bake or reheat the cornbread dressing at 350°F until the center is slightly firm and its golden brown.
- If you’re heating cooked dressing, cover the baking dish with foil.
- If you’re baking uncooked dressing, do not cover it with foil.
Once you make this easy and delicious Southern cornbread dressisng, I promise you’ll be making it all the time! It pairs beautifully with roasted or baked chicken, pan fried pork chops, and more!
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Equipment
- Big mixing bowl
- 9 x 13 or larger baking dish; (a big aluminum pan if you double the recipe)
Ingredients
- 8 cups cornbread , crumbled and dried-out; can be homemade or packaged;
- 2 cups Herb Seasoned Pepperidge Farm Classic Stuffing Mix
- 1 lb. Pork sausage (with sage, if you can find it) ,cooked and crumbled into small pieces
- 1½ cups chopped celery
- 1½ cups chopped yellow or white onions
- 1 stick salted butter , (3/4 stick for onion/celery; remainder for buttering baking dish)
- 2 large eggs , lightly beaten
- 3-6 cups chicken broth (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning make sure it's fresh
- ½ teaspoon salt (see notes about salt)
- ½ tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground sage (see notes if not using sausage with sage)
Instructions
Make the Cornbread
- Use 2 packages of cornbread mix and follow package instructions or, make a double batch of my homemade cornbread; whichever you use, you'll need 8 cups of crumbled cornbread. Once cornbread is cool, crumble into a large bowl, cover and allow to sit at room temperature for a day or two8 cups cornbread
Cook the Sausage, Celery and Onions
- Place the sage seasoned sausage in a skillet and cook it until it is browned; use a wooden spoon to break the sausage up into tiny pieces; when sausage is thoroughly browned; set aside; drain it if it's super oily;1 lb. Pork sausage (with sage, if you can find it)
- In a big saucepan on medium heat, melt ¾ stick of salted butter; add chopped celery and onions; cook 10 minutes, or until onions are transluscent; turn off heat and set aside1½ cups chopped celery, 1½ cups chopped yellow or white onions, 1 stick salted butter
Cornbread Dressing Assembly
- Preheat oven to 350ºF
- Butter the inside of a 9 x 13 baking dish; go all the way up on the sides of the dish because the dressing completely fill this size of pan
- Beat two eggs in a bowl; set aside2 large eggs
- In a large mixing bowl or baking pan, combine the following : Note: start by adding only 3 cups of broth; combine well and check the texture. You want it to be relatively moist. If your cornbread is super dry, you can add up to six cups of broth.8 cups cornbread, 2 cups Herb Seasoned Pepperidge Farm Classic Stuffing Mix, 1 lb. Pork sausage (with sage, if you can find it), 1½ cups chopped celery, 1½ cups chopped yellow or white onions, 3-6 cups chicken broth, 2 large eggs
- Add 1/2 of the poultry seasoning and 1/2 of the pepper to the mixture; combine well, then add the remaining halves of poultry seasoning and pepper; add salt and combine again NOTE: if you're not using sausage with sage, add the sage now in 1/2 tablespoon increments)NOTE: taste now for salt1 tablespoon Poultry Seasoning, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ tablespoon ground black pepper, 1 tablespoon ground sage
- Place mixture in buttered baking dish; bake on the middle rack, uncovered for 25 minutes then check the center of the dish with a fork to see if it's almost done; if the center is still a bit jiggly. If the top is getting too brown, place a piece of foil over the top and cook the dressing another 10 minutes or so. Recheck center for doneness
- Dressing is done when the center is no longer jiggly and the top is brown
Notes
- A Note about using Jiffy Cornbread Mix: it contains a little sugar, which I don’t care for. You can substitute the milk for buttermilk in the cornbread recipe. Use 1/3 cup PLUS 3 tablespoons of buttermilk instead of milk per package of cornbread. This will get rid of any sweetness.
- If you are not using sausage with sage, add 1 tablespoon of ground sage to this recipe. The poultry seasoning, black pepper and sage (optional) are added in increments because the mixture is so big. Add 1/2 the amount of sage, combine, then add the other 1/2. This ensures the seasonings are mixed well throughout .
- Poultry seasoning already contains sage, so it’s not necessary to add more sage unless you love it! Be aware that too much ground sage turns the dressing a little bit green…
- Chicken broth – start by adding 3 cups of broth; combine and check the texture. I usually use 6 cups of broth because I like a moist dressing and I use really dried out cornbread crumbs. If your cornbread isn’t super dry and crumbly, you may not need 6 cups of broth. See the post where I show you what the dressing should look like uncooked.
- This recipe uses salted butter, normal (not low-sodium) chicken broth and sausage-all of which are pretty salty. If you use unsalted butter or low-sodium broth, you may want to add a little more salt.
- Two cups of herb seasoned Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix means; pour the stuffing mix into a two-cup measuring cup, then add it to the cornbread
- Make this traditional side dish from scratch a day or two before Thanksgiving or Christmas! Simply assemble all the ingredients, cover and refrigerate the uncooked (or cooked) for up to two days.
- When ready to serve, remove the dressing from the fridge, uncover and allow to come to room temperature prior to baking (it takes about 30 minutes for it to get to room temperature.)
- Preheat oven to 375ºF. Cover cooked dressing with foil and reheat; bake uncooked dressing with no cover.
- You can freeze cooked and uncooked dressing for up to 3 months. Make sure it’s packaged and sealed well to minimize freezer burn.
- When you’re ready to cook or reheat, allow it to get to room temperature first, then bake or reheat.
- Cover cooked dressing with foil and reheat; bake uncooked dressing with no cover.
Nutrition Estimate
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If you make this recipe, scroll down and leave a comment and rating! I love to hear from you! Thank you!
I made this recipe last Thanksgiving and loved the flavor but 6 cups of chicken broth seemed like way too much. I corrected it for this year to 3 cups. Is 6 cups the correct amount?
6 cups of broth is correct; however, your cornbread must be super dried out. If it’s not dried out enough, start with 3 cups of broth and gradually add more until the mixture is relatively moist.
Love this dressing because it’s made with all-natural ingredients. Have made it for the holidays and it never disappoints!
The best I have ever made!
Thank you for this delicious cornbread dressing recipe! Tastes just like my Mamaw’s! Will definitely make again!
Question
What does 2 cups of stuffing mean? 2 cups measured out or a whole 16 oz bag?
Two cups of stuffing means “two cups of Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing Mix! – thank you for asking! I will change the recipe to make this clearer!
Two cups of stuffing means to pour the Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Stuffing into a two-cup measuring cup.
Can this dressing be used to stuff and cook inside a Turkey ?
Hi Carol,
No. This Southern Cornbread dressing is a side dish and is not to be stuffed in a turkey.
This was Amazing!!!!!!!! your such a smarty pant. 🙂 teehee ❤️
Thank you for your sweet comment!
This is Susan, testing the comments section
It worked:) thank you!!
really good!