Old fashioned Southern cornbread dressing uses either homemade buttermilk skillet cornbread or Jiffy corn muffin mix! This dish is loaded with beef, pork, poultry seasoning, and sage for a sausage-like flavour. Easy to make and freeze in advance, it's a must-have vacation side for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter!

Overhead view of Southern cornbread dressing in a white casserole dish with a single serving on a small white plate

Dressing or stuffing is one of those side dishes virtually people agree is a succulent necessity at the holidays. But what exactly that looks like may be different on each family unit'south table!

I grew upwardly eating and adoring boxed Stovetop stuffing, sometimes with a few extras thrown in like pecans or cranberries.

Then I was introduced to my sister'due south in-laws' unique sourdough sun-dried tomato artichoke stuffing and I was hooked! I made information technology for years.

But about recently, when I had my first Thanksgiving dinner years agone with my own future in-laws, I tasted their traditional Southern cornbread dressing and just couldn't get enough.

Actually, I've almost never met a dressing or stuffing I didn't similar. But this one is my favorite du jour (my husband's favorite as well!) and boy is it skilful!

So is information technology dressing or stuffing?

Okay, I wondered nearly this for a long fourth dimension likewise. I always called it stuffing and thought it was weird when people called their stuffing "dressing". What did they recall it was, a vinaigrette or something?

Since so, I've learned at that place technically is a divergence, albeit a small one.

The simply real deviation betwixt dressing and stuffing isn't what it is, but where.

Side view of a serving of Southern cornbread dressing on a small white plate

If it's stuffed within the bird to cook, it's stuffing. If it's broiled separately in a casserole dish or baking pan, it's a dressing. So really this one could be either a cornbread stuffing or a cornbread dressing, depending on where you lot cook it.

I, and my in-laws, make this in a goulash dish, so I'g calling it a cornbread dressing.

That'due south also what I recommend doing, and I'll tell you why.

In order to be properly cooked, the center of your stuffing, if blimp inside a raw bird, must reach a prophylactic temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the same temperature as your fully-cooked turkey. In doing so, your turkey may end upwardly having to be overcooked, and nobody wants a dry turkey. You may get some additional turkey flavor in the stuffing, but at what cost? Non worth it.

You tin can get that actress turkey-flavored goodness in your (separately-cooked) dressing by topping it with some succulent gravy made from your turkey drippings. Win-win!

About Southern Cornbread Dressing

I'll admit, when I showtime saw a pan of my in-laws' Southern cornbread dressing, it didn't await that appealing to me. It was basically a solid brownish mass yous cut into pieces similar a cake. But the flavor blew me away! (side notation: yes, it's very difficult to photograph brown foods so they look appetizing! Hopefully I did a decent job!)

Overhead view of Southern cornbread dressing in a white casserole dish with a single serving on a small white plate

So what is cornbread dressing anyway? Think of information technology a bit similar refried beans, except it's rebaked cornbread instead.

You lot broil the cornbread; crumble it up and add all kinds of meat, veggies, and herbs; mix in some broth to go along the mixture moist, and rebake it. Information technology becomes an entirely dissimilar, delicious dish with little in common from the original cornbread it came from!

What'southward in this cornbread dressing?

I'll first with an overview of what makes up this cornbread dressing before going into a bit more than detail about each component. This recipe includes:

  • Cooked, crumbled cornbread, forth with a couple other bread-similar ingredients (saltines and breadcrumbs)
  • Diced, soft-cooked vegetables: onions, bell peppers, and celery
  • Ground meat: here I've used a combination of beef and pork
  • Plenty of herbs and seasonings (poultry seasoning, plus a bit of sage to make the meat gustation more sausagey!)
  • Craven goop, to keep everything moist and demark information technology together for baking

When all those ingredients come together, it'southward a truly delicious harmony of flavors in a tender, sliceable format (yep, a bit like cake).

And when y'all add some turkey gravy on meridian? Fuggedaboutit! So good.

Overhead view of a hand holding a bite of Southern cornbread dressing on a fork above a serving on a small white plate

The cornbread base of operations

This dressing starts, of course, with cornbread. The more than flavorful the cornbread is, the meliorate your dressing will exist.

I recommend starting with a full recipe'southward worth of this skillet buttermilk cornbread — some of the most buttery, flavorful cornbread I've ever had!

Buttermilk cornbread in a cast iron skillet with two pats of butter and parsley on top

If y'all'd like a flake of a shortcut, though, two boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix, baked according to their directions, will exercise the play a trick on.

More bread?

This cornbread dressing contains three — yes, three — bread-like ingredients. Of course, there'southward the cornbread, only it also contains crushed saltines and breadcrumbs.

Saltines or breadcrumbs, crushed and mixed with a liquid, are frequently used as a bounden ingredient in meatloaf. I imagine they role similarly hither, to help continue the dressing together instead of crumbling apart.

Rather than mixing the saltines and breadcrumbs with the liquid separately earlier calculation information technology to the cornbread crumbles, yous tin can just mix all the breads together at in one case with the veggies then moisten with broth at the end.

The holy trinity

Added to the cornbread mixture is a mirepoix of onions, bell pepper, and celery. A mirepoix is a mix of diced veggies cooked in butter or oil for a long time, without browning, until soft. It's used as a base to infuse season into your recipe.

While a traditional French mirepoix uses finely diced onions, carrots, and celery, the Creole version is chosen "the holy trinity" of ingredients and swaps the carrots for bell pepper (usually green, but you can use whatever color you like in this recipe).

Wooden cutting board with diced onions, yellow bell pepper, and celery

Yous want to melt the vegetables until very soft. They're there for flavor, not texture, so "tender-crisp" is not the goal hither. I'd hate to run into a crunchy fleck of celery in the middle of my cornbread dressing.

The ground meat

While some people go crazy with a turducken for the holidays, I prefer to keep my turkey traditional and add in any "bonus meats" elsewhere in the repast. My in-laws use ground beef in their dressing, simply I decided to mix it upwardly with a combination of ground beef and pork.

The pork adds season and has a higher fat content than nigh ground beef, so your meat will stay tender and moist as a part of your cornbread dressing. Information technology will not, every bit my female parent once infamously said of footing beef, turn into "dry petty balls of meat rolling around in your mouth." Ew.

I like to combine the meats together in a bowl before cooking, rather than throwing each meat together in a pan and then browning. This makes it truly a beef-pork blend, rather than simply alternating pieces of either beef or pork.

Three quarter view of Southern cornbread dressing in a white casserole dish with glass lid propped on the side

The herbs and seasonings

This recipe contains what seems like a ludicrous amount of poultry seasoning (two 1/2 tablespoons). I just kept adding more until it tasted right, and that'southward what I landed on.

Only when yous think about it, it'due south non that obscene. Poultry seasoning is a blend of other herbs, so if you interruption information technology down you lot're probably only adding ane-2 tsp of each of a bunch of unlike herbs. Pre-made poultry seasoning is only a convenient shortcut to go you lot there more than rapidly.

There'due south as well table salt, pepper, and a good helping of sage, which, when combined with the pork, gives it a wonderful sausagey undertone.

The broth

You can technically just use h2o here for moisture but I like to infuse flavor wherever possible. And so I swapped the water in my in-laws' recipe for chicken goop. Turkey broth would be even better if you have some!

You want your dressing mixture to be dainty and moist before you shine it into your goulash dish or blistering pan.

Southern cornbread dressing mixture in a white bowl with a wooden spoon

Can I brand cornbread dressing in accelerate?

Absolutely, and I highly recommend information technology! Nobody likes making an entire holiday feast on the bodily holiday itself: yous deserve to relax and spend time with your family!

Y'all can prepare the whole cornbread dressing recipe in advance, stopping brusque of the final step of baking in the oven. If information technology's merely a couple days in advance, you can stick it in the fridge until you're ready to broil, or wrap it tightly in foil and freeze it for up to a couple weeks.

If frozen, thaw information technology overnight in the fridge before blistering. From the refrigerator, you may need to add together an extra five minutes or so to the baking time to heat it throughout.

Other holiday side dishes

Consummate your vacation meal with some of these other side dishes! (Cornbread dressing with a side of cornbread? Uh, YES PLEASE)

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Old fashioned Southern cornbread dressing uses either homemade buttermilk skillet cornbread or Jiffy corn muffin mix! This dish is loaded with beefiness, pork, poultry seasoning, and sage for a sausage-like flavor. Easy to make and freeze in advance, it's a must-accept holiday side for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter!

Print Recipe

Course: vacation, Side Dish

Cuisine: American, Southern

Servings: eight servings

Calories: 519 kcal

Prep Fourth dimension: 15 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Total Time: i 60 minutes xv mins

  • 1 recipe cornbread or 2 boxes jiffy cornbread mix, baked
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1 large bell pepper diced
  • 4 stalks celery diced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ane/ii lb basis beef
  • 1/2 lb ground pork
  • i tbsp sage
  • 2 1/2 tbsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 ane/two tsp black pepper
  • 1/two sleeve of saltine crackers about 17 crackers, crushed
  • 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1 fourteen.5-oz can chicken broth

  • Bake cornbread according to recipe or, if using Jiffy corn muffin mix, according to directions on box.

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  • Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat. Add onion, bong pepper, and celery and sauté until all vegetables are well-cooked and soft, most 10-xv minutes.

  • In a medium bowl, mix together footing beef, ground pork, and sage. Add meat mixture to pan with veggies and cook until browned, breaking apart into small pieces. Add together poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper.

  • Crumble cornbread, saltines, and breadcrumbs in a large bowl and add meat and vegetable mixture. Mix well. Add chicken goop so mixture is moist. Add additional salt and pepper to taste, and boosted water if mixture looks dry.

  • Mix well and transfer to ii viii x 8 baking pans, one 9×13 pan, or a iii qt casserole dish. Broil for 30 minutes or until top is browned and dressing is warm throughout.

To make in advance, complete all steps and stop merely short of blistering the dressing. Refrigerate for a couple days or wrap tightly in foil and freeze for up to a couple weeks.

If frozen, thaw overnight in the refrigerator earlier baking. Add some other 5 minutes or and so to the baking fourth dimension if baking straight from the refrigerator.

Sodium: 1057 mg | Calcium: 170 mg | Vitamin C: 13 mg | Vitamin A: 357 IU | Saccharide: 12 g | Fiber: 3 1000 | Potassium: 387 mg | Cholesterol: 83 mg | Calories: 519 kcal | Trans Fat: 1 g | Saturated Fat: xi g | Fat: 27 g | Protein: 17 g | Carbohydrates: 52 chiliad | Atomic number 26: 4 mg