Southern Cornbread Dressing

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.

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.

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!