Southern Cornbread Dressing

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword cornbread-dressing-recipes, southern-cornbread-dressing

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 15

Servings servings

Calories 585kcal

Make Ahead Prep: Bake, cool and crumble the cornbread and cube the Italian bread. Spread on a large sheet pan and leave it on the counter uncovered to dry out for a several hours or overnight. Dry bread makes the best and most moist dressing.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat melt butter, with diced onion and celery. Season lightly with salt and black pepper to your taste. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften and brown.
Meanwhile, place cubed cornbread and Italian bread cubes into a large bowl. To the bowl add sautéed onion and celery, cream of chicken soup, beaten eggs, sage, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.
Gradually add chicken broth stirring until all of the chicken stock is used and ingredients are fully moistened.
Pour cornbread mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden, slightly crisp and the dressing is baked all the way through.
Serve immediately drizzled with turkey gravy.

Protein - You can add chopped cooked chicken, turkey giblets or chicken livers to this dressing. All should be cooked prior to adding to the dressing mixture.

Soup Substitutions - You can use regular cream of chicken soup or cream of celery soup.

Alternate Herbs - I tend to go for the classic flavor of sage in this recipe, but you could use fresh parsley, rosemary or thyme.

Vegetarian Dressing Option - Use vegetable stock for moisture and cream of celery soup.

Dried Cornbread and Bread Make the Best Dressing - Allowing time for both breads to dry out will make the most flavorful and moist dressing.

Savory or Sweet Cornbread - For this Southern style dressing, I recommend using a savory cornbread.

Make Homemade Cornbread Recipe - To make your own cornbread for this recipe checkout my recipe for Skillet Honey Cornbread. For the purpose of using it in this dressing recipe, omit the honey and increase the amount of buttermilk called for to 1 1/3 cup.

Soup is the Secret to Moist Dressing - I know what you're thinking, cream of chicken soup? I know!! When my Mom told me that was her secret ingredient for her no-fail dressing I couldn't believe it. I love her dressing and had absolutely no idea that was why the texture was so creamy, soft and flavorful on the inside.

Make-Ahead Tip: This cornbread dressing can be assembled in advance, covered with plastic wrap and chilled overnight in the fridge. Remove the pan from the refrigerator and let stand on the counter for 15-20 minutes to bring it to room temperature before baking.