Old Fashioned Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe

This old fashioned Southern cornbread dressing recipe is made the classic way and it will be the hit of your Thanksgiving table. It's simple, buttery, and comes together with ingredients you probably already have on hand.

Looking for more classic Thanksgiving side dishes? Try our Gullah Recipe for Sweet Potatoes, Old Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese, and Easy Corn Souffle Casserole Recipe.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This Southern Style Cornbread Dressing
• Dressing or Stuffing?
• Ingredients in Southern Style Cornbread Dressing
• How to Make Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing
• Pam's Expert Tips
• Variations and Substitutions
• Advance Prep
• Storage Information
• Basic Cornbread Recipe
• Recipe FAQs
• What to Serve with Southern Style Cornbread Dressing
• 📖 Recipe
• Hot Side Dishes

This is the cornbread dressing my mother-in-law makes, and I learned it just by standing beside her in the kitchen. When I decided I wanted to share it with y'all, I had to actually measure everything for once so I could write it down as a real recipe.

I'll admit that this recipe for southern style cornbread dressing includes a couple of prepared grocery items like Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix and a canned cream soup. We typically try to stay away from prepared foods in our recipes, but this is one of those "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situations. Everyone loves this dressing just the way it is, so we don't mess with it.

Why You'll Love This Southern Style Cornbread Dressing

• It's the real deal. This recipe has been in my family for years, made the same old fashioned way my mom taught me.
• No hunting for ingredients. Everything comes from the grocery store you already shop at, nothing fancy or hard to find.
• It feeds a crowd. One 9x13 pan serves about 10 people, so it's plenty for a full Thanksgiving table.
• You can get ahead of it. The cornbread, the veggies, even the whole assembled dish can be made in advance so your Thanksgiving morning is a little less hectic.

Dressing or Stuffing?

Here in the South, we don’t call our dressing “stuffing.” That’s because we don’t stuff the turkey with it. We bake it in a dish separately. The ingredients are very similar, so the real difference is where it cooks.

Baking it separately has a couple of perks. You aren’t waiting on the middle of a stuffed bird to cook through, and the turkey doesn’t have to stay in the oven any longer than it needs to.

Gravy is made from the pan drippings from the turkey, and most folks like to spoon it over their dressing, though not everyone eats it that way. For the basics, check out my recipe for How to Make Gravy from Scratch.

Ingredients in Southern Style Cornbread Dressing

• Cornbread - I’ll show you my simple recipe below, but you can use your own as long as it’s not the sweet kind. A sweet mix like Jiffy will make the dressing taste more like dessert than a savory side.
• Butter - Salted or unsalted both work. Just adjust the added salt to taste if you use salted.
• Onion - I like sweet onions here.
• Celery - Dice it about the same size as the onion so everything cooks evenly.
• Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing - This is the one we've always used, but feel free to swap in another flavor.
• Salt and Pepper
• Sage - You can swap this for poultry seasoning if that's what you have.
• Cream of Chicken Soup
• Chicken Stock or Broth - Stock has the richest flavor, so I use it when I have it.

How to Make Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing

1. Make the cornbread and let it get stale. More on why below, but stale cornbread is what keeps this dressing from turning to mush.
2. Crumble the cornbread. Break it up with your hands in a large bowl. You don't need to pulverize it, just don't leave big chunks either.
3. Cook the vegetables. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the celery and onions until they're partly translucent.
4. Combine everything. Add the vegetable mixture, stuffing mix, salt, pepper, sage, cream of chicken soup, and chicken broth to the cornbread. Stir until just mixed. Be very careful not to overstir.
5. Bake. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until golden and set.

Pam's Expert Tips

• Allowing the cornbread to get stale keeps it from soaking up too much liquid and turning mushy. Let it sit out for a few hours if you just made it, or make it weeks ahead and freeze it, then let it thaw uncovered.
• Do not use a sweet cornbread mix for this recipe. This is a savory dressing and the sweetness doesn't fit the flavor profile.
• If your 9x13 pan is fairly shallow, you may end up with more dressing than will fit. Just bake the extra in a loaf pan.
• Do not overstir when you mix the ingredients together. Stir only enough to combine everything. Overstirring knocks the air out and the dressing ends up heavy and dense. Be gentle with it.
• If the dressing looks dry before it goes in the oven, drizzle a little extra broth over the top.

Variations and Substitutions

This recipe is a great base, and once you've made it the classic way, feel free to make it your own.

• Add sausage. Brown a pound of breakfast or country sausage and stir it in with the vegetables for a heartier dressing.
• Add hard-boiled eggs. Plenty of Southern families chop a few hard-boiled eggs into their dressing. If yours does, stir them in with the cornbread.
• Add green bell pepper. Sauté a chopped bell pepper with the celery and onion.
• Add pecans. A cup of toasted pecans adds crunch and a little Southern flair.
• Add fruit. Chopped apples or dried cranberries stirred in add a touch of sweetness that plays well against the sage.
• Try oysters. Oyster dressing is a Southern coastal tradition. Fold in a pint of fresh shucked oysters.
• Add turkey drippings. If you’re making dressing on the day of your turkey, add a little of the drippings to your broth.
• Use biscuits. Some Southern cooks crumble leftover biscuits in with the cornbread. Our 3 Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits would work well.
• Make it vegetarian. Swap the chicken broth and cream of chicken soup for vegetable-based versions.

Advance Prep

To cut down on last minute prep, I usually make the cornbread a week or two ahead, cut it into pieces, and freeze it. Just dump it into a bowl in the morning to thaw and don't bother covering it. Remember, stale is good.

Another time saver is chopping the celery and onion the day before. They'll keep just fine in plastic bags in the fridge.

I've always preferred to assemble and bake dressing the day I'm serving it, but you can assemble it and freeze it tightly covered up to a month ahead. Thaw at room temperature and bake as directed. If it looks dry, drizzle it with a little extra broth before baking.

Storage Information

Store leftover cornbread dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat it covered in a 350 degree oven until warmed through, adding a splash of broth if it has dried out.

To freeze baked dressing, let it cool completely, then transfer it to a freezer safe container or bag and freeze for up to a month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.

Basic Cornbread Recipe

• 3 cups of self-rising cornmeal mix
• 2 eggs
• 1-¾ cup milk (buttermilk is best)

Stir it together and bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes in a 9 by 13 inch baking pan, or until brown.

Self-rising cornmeal mix is found in the baking products aisle at your grocery and already has the proper proportions of cornmeal, flour and leavening agents combined. We use it in our Cajun Hush Puppies, Toasted Cornbread, cornbread croutons and Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins.

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If you love our old fashioned enamel baking pan you can get your own right here.

Recipe FAQs

What to Serve with Southern Style Cornbread Dressing

Dressing is the star of the side dishes, but it needs good company. For the main dish, try our Smoked Turkey Tenderloin, Easy Deep Fried Turkey Breast, or Turkey Breast Slow Cooker Recipe, and don’t forget the Homemade Gravy!

For the rest of the table, our Old Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Gullah Recipe for Sweet Potatoes, and 3 Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits all go right alongside it. Save room for Classic Pecan Pie or Sweet Potato Praline Pie!

📖 Recipe

Southern Food Then and Now is all about traditions, regions and the origins of our favorite cuisine! In fact, many people consider this type of cornbread dressing to be soul food, and this article explores the difference between southern food and soul food.

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