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Southern Cornbread Dressing with celery, onions and just the right amount of seasoning is a tradition during the holidays. Served alongside turkey and drizzled with gravy, this classic dish will be gobbled up by everyone around the table!
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Cornbread dressing brings back special memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with all the classic southern recipes. My Mama Swain always made the turkey, ham, gravy and the dressing. Big pans of this Southern Cornbread Dressing would come out of the oven, cool for a bit then she’d cut it into squares. If there were any extras left in the pans, they never lasted long.
With just 9 simple ingredients, you can serve this wholesome tasty dish in under an hour. The base of this dressing is of course a southern corn bread recipe. My two favorite cornbread recipes to use for this dish are Sour Cream Cornbread and Southern Cast Iron Cornbread. I usually use the sour cream cornbread recipe for this dressing because the flavor compliments the other ingredients so well, but cornbread made in a cast iron is a great classic option!
Whether you’re from the South or not, this southern dressing recipe is a must-make dish for the Holidays. Cornbread, sauteed vegetables, and a few other simple ingredients are mixed together and baked to create a dish that folks rave about year after year. as soon as you take one bite, this deliciously comforting recipe is sure to become a traditional holiday side dish!
Ingredients Needed To Make Southern Cornbread Dressing
- Butter
- Celery
- Onion
- Cornbread
- Biscuits
- Stuffing Mix
- Eggs
- Chicken Stock
- Salt and Pepper – to taste
How To Make This Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe
Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 10×15″ baking pan with cooking spray and set it aside for later. Place a medium sized skillet over a medium-low heat and melt the butter. Add your celery and onions to the skillet and sauté until the onions translucent and tender.
Crumble the cornbread, biscuits, and stuffing mix into a large mixing bowl, stir together. Add in your sauteed vegetables, eggs and stock, mixing well until it’s fully combined. Sprinkle salt, pepper and celery salt into mixture and stir again. Dressing mixture should be loose but not soupy. If too thick, add more stock.
Pour the dressing mixture into prepared pan and bake for 30 – 45 minutes until top is golden around edges. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve the best cornbread dressing recipe ever!
People Often Ask…
This is a very commonly asked question, so I am very happy to answer it! Here in the South, a lot of people use the words interchangeably because there isn’t a big difference between ingredients in the two dishes. The main difference between stuffing and dressing is how it’s cooked, stuffing generally goes into a Turkey whereas dressing is baked in a casserole or baking dish.
Yes you do! As a matter of fact, you use four eggs in this cornbread dressing recipe, it helps to bind all the other ingredients together.
There are a couple of different things that make southern cornbread different from northern cornbread. One big difference is that you can use either white or yellow cornmeal to make southern cornbread, it doesn’t matter either way. Southern Cornbread is also usually a bit more cakey in texture because of the additional eggs in the recipe, making it ideal for Cornbread Dressing.
What To Serve With Cornbread Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 5 ribs celery – strings removed and chopped
- 1 medium onion – chopped
- 1 pan cornbread
- 2 cups stale bread or biscuits
- 4 cups Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix
- 4 large eggs – beaten
- 4-5 cups chicken stock
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt (optional)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 10×15 (large 4.8 quart) baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add butter to a pan and saute celery and onions until tender.
- Crumble cornbread and biscuits or bread into a large bowl. Add stuffing mix. Add cooked vegetables. Add in eggs and 4 cups of stock. Mix well. Add in salt, pepper and celery salt. Mix again. Dressing mixture should be loose but not soupy. If too thick, add more stock. Pour dressing into prepared pan and bake for 30 – 45 minutes until top is golden around edges.
- Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.
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MARY MARGARET SWAIN SMITH
I had a grandmother and we called her Mama Swain. She was a wonderful cook, just good old southern cooking. This is the exact recipe of how I make my dressing. Thank you for sharing.
We might be cousin’s who knows???
WOW! That is so wonderful to hear. We might just be cousins, who knows is right. Thank you so much for reaching out. I love this comment for so many reasons. Have a great Thanksgiving and Christmas!
XO,
~Donya
Paula Laskelle
I want to try this because I’ve been searching for a great cornbread dressing for years, but I just want clarification on one thing. It says 1 pan of cornbread – is that an 8 x 8 or what size? I don’t want to mess it up!!
Donya
Hey there Paula!
Thank you so much for your interest in this recipe, that’s a really good question! Normally what I’ll do is make an 8×8 pan of cornbread and use that in my dressing. I hope this helps, let me know how it turns out. I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, and if you have any other questions about a recipe don’t hesitate to ask!
~Donya
Robin
Yum! My southern Grandma used both biscuits and cornbread. This is the first recipe I’ve found after years of looking that uses biscuits! I’ve never been able to get the seasoning just right as she just dumped everything in, so I’m going to give your recipe a try this year. She did add evaporated milk too, but I don’t know the amount. Thank you so very much!
Mechelle
Is this really moist? It looks like it. My mother’s was so good and I don’t think I have her recipe. I remember small pieces of chicken being in hers. I believe she cooked the chicken for the broth and used some of the meat in the dressing. Yours looks really tasty.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Carol
My mother’s did as well. But she cooked the chicken neck and the celrly and anion in chicken broth until the vegetables were tender and the meat fell off the neck, Then she added it all to the cornbread and biscuit mixture.
Donya
Hey there Carol!
Let me just say… that sounds absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for sharing this with me, Ill have to try it. I love trying different twists on classics. I hope you have a great day!
~Donya