Our cornbread dressing is made the classic old fashioned Southern way and will be the hit of your Thanksgiving dinner table! (Video tips included)
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.
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This is southern style cornbread dressing made the way my mother-in-law makes it, and I learned just by watching her. When I decided I wanted to share it with y'all I had to make it and measure each ingredient to have an actual recipe.
I admit that this recipe includes a couple of prepared grocery items - 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 southern style dressing just the way it is, so we don't mess with that.
Dressing or stuffing?
Here in the south, we don't refer to our dressing as stuffing. That's because we don't typically "stuff" the turkey with our dressing. We bake it in a dish separately.
Gravy is made of the pan drippings from the turkey and most folks like to have gravy over their dressing, though not everyone eats it that way. For the basics on "How to Make Gravy from Scratch" you'll want to read this.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Prepared Cornbread. Below you'll find our recipe, but feel free to use your own cornbread recipe, as long as it's not the sweet type.
- Butter - salted or unsalted is fine. You just may want to adjust the added salt according to taste.
- Onion - we prefer and recommend sweet onions
- Celery
- Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing (use another flavor if you like, but this is the one we have always used)
- Salt and Pepper
- Sage (you can replace this with poultry seasoning if you like)
- Cream of Chicken Soup
- Chicken Stock or Broth (stock has the richest flavor)
Recipe for Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing
- Make your cornbread and allow it get stale. More on this below.
- Crumble the cornbread with your hands in a large bowl.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a large skillet.
- Add the celery and onions and cook until partly transluscent.
- Add the vegetable mixture and all other ingredients to the cornbread and stir until mixed. Be very careful to not overstir.
- Bake at in a 9 by 13 inch pan at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.
Expert Tips
- Allowing the cornbread to get stale prevents it from over-absorbing the liquid and being mushy. You can do this by letting it sit out for a few hours if you've just made it, or by making it up to several weeks ahead and freezing it. Then let it thaw uncovered. You can also make it just a few days ahead and refrigerate covered until time to make the dressing. Whether freezing or refrigerating I cut it into pieces and store in a zip lock bag. More below on advanced prep.
- Do not use a sweet cornbread mix for this recipe. This is a savory dressing recipe and the sweetess would not fit the flavor profile.
- If your 9 by 13 inch pan is fairly shallow you may have a little more dressing than will fit. In this case you can just put the excess in a loaf or similar sized pan.
- VERY IMPORTANT TIP: Do NOT overstir when you mix all the dressing ingredients together. Stir only enough to get it all mixed up. Overstirring will remove air and the cornbread dressing will end up being too heavy and dense. Be gentle with your dressing!
Advance Prep
- To cut down on the last minute prep needed I usually make cornbread a week or two ahead and cut it into pieces and freeze it. Just empty it into a bowl early in the morning to thaw and don't worry about covering it. Remember, stale is good!
- Another trick for saving time the day you're making dressing is to chop the celery and onions the day before. They'll keep just fine in plastic bags in the fridge.
- I have always preferred to assemble and bake cornbread dressing on the day I'm serving it. But you can assemble and then freeze tightly covered up to a month in advance. Allow to thaw at room temperature and then bake as directed. If it seems dry you may not to drizzle with a little bit more stock or broth before baking.
Watch the video for tips on making the best southern style cornbread dressing:
Need more ideas for Thanksgiving menu? You'll want to include Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese, Sweet Potato Biscuits, and you can't forget the Fried Turkey Breast. Y'all, these are so good!
If you need some old fashioned summer dish ideas, check out this Summer Slaw recipe.
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 FAQ's
This version uses eggs only in making the cornbread, but not when assembling the dressing.
Yes! Dressing doesn't take long to bake, and if the vegetables aren't sauteed in butter first they would be crunchy in the dressing.
Gravy is usually offered separately and each person will decide whether to top their dressing with gravy.
More Easy Thanksgiving Recipes
- Smoked Turkey Tenderloin
- Easy Deep Fried Turkey Breast
- Turkey Breast Slow Cooker Recipe
- How to Make Gravy from Scratch
- 3 Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits
- Gullah Recipe for Sweet Potatoes
- Old Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese
- Classic Pecan Pie
- Sweet Potato Praline Pie
📖 Recipe
Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large recipe cornbread (1.5 times a typical pan of cornbread)
- ¾ cup butter salted or unsalted
- 2 cups onion diced
- 2 cups celery diced
- 2 cups Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Classic Stuffing
- 1½ teaspoons salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 2 Tablespoons rubbed sage
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock
Instructions
- Crumble cornbread with your hands. No need to completely pulverize it, but don't leave any large pieces (see video).
- Melt butter in skillet.
- Saute' onions and celery in butter over medium heat until tender and partly translucent.
- Stir all ingredients together, being careful not to overstir.
- Bake in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan at 400 for about 30 minutes
Video
Notes
- Use your favorite cornbread recipe as long as it's not sweet. For a simple recipe refer to the post.
- Cornbread may be made in advance, cut up and frozen up to a month ahead of time. Thaw uncovered before crumbling. If cornbread is made right before dressing allow it to sit out and become stale.
- Crumble the cornbread - not enough to pulverize, but don't leave any large pieces either.
- Stock has the richest flavor.
- Adjust salt according to taste and whether salted or unsalted butter is used.
- VERY IMPORTANT: Do not overstir when mixing dressing ingredients.
- If your 9 x 13 inch pan is fairly shallow you may have a bit more dressing than will fit. In this case bake the excess in a loaf pan or similar sized baking pan.
Nutrition
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.
If you're reading this post chances are you love southern food and know others that do too. We've put together this awesome guide, Great Gifts for the Southern Foodie. It has several cast iron cookware choices, books of southern recipes and food history and small items that would make a great gift basket.
We did the homework for you, and have only included items with Amazon 4 stars and above.
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Shirley @Housepitality Designs says
There is nothing more southern than cornbread dressing and I am loving this recipe!!!
Pam says
Awww, Thanks Shirley!
Margaret says
Looks great I'm going to give it a try. Everything looks and sounds yummy !
Pam says
Thanks, Margaret. If you like old fashioned dressing, it can't be beat.
LeGina March says
Is your cornbread recipe enough for this dressing recipe or should we double it?
Pam says
Hi LeGina! My cornbread recipe is enough to make the dressing. That's exactly what I made that you see in the pictures, and my dish is a 9x13. Of course, it will depend on the size of servings, but I would make a pan this size if I'm feeding 10-12 people.
sharie says
Mama's cornbread dressing was similar to this. Omit the stuffing and sage. Use Cajun spices and add browned ground beef and cut up boiled or baked chicken. I omit the celery and chicken soup. Add cream of celery soup. I use jiffy cornbread mix. makes it easier and gives it a sweet taste.
Pam says
Wow! I've never heard of ground beef in dressing. An interesting addition, for sure.
Peggy says
Never heard of hamburger either. We brown a lb of sage sausage along with the onions and celery.
Julia says
Always a favorite side at the holiday table! Thank you so much for sharing.
Pam says
Thanks you, Julia!
Brenda Barrs says
Sounds like the cornbread dressing I make and my grandmother always made. I live in South Carolina and grew up eating great southern food and so much enjoy seeing some recipes I have not tried. Great website 👍🏻✅
Pam says
Thank you for all of your kind words, Brenda. Comments like yours make our work on this blog worthwhile.
JT says
I agree and being from SC this is close as I can find to my mothers recipe. Jiffy mix is not southern dressing.
Lynn says
Recipe indicates 3 cups of self rising cornmeal mix. What is a cornmeal mix? Would this be something like Jiffy cornbread mix in a box? Or, is this just plain self-rising cornmeal?
Pam says
Lynn, I'm so sorry for the delay in responding. I thought your question had already been answered. I don't know where you are, but in our area cornmeal mix is available in the area of flour and cornmeal. It is basically a combination of the two in the correct proportions for making cornbread and then it has the leavening agents added to make it rise. It is nothing like Jiffy corn muffin mix which is sweet, so please don't use that. If you are anywhere in the south I think you will find it easily in your grocery store. If you still need help come back and let us know.
Shanell says
Hi! This sounds amazing! Mine and my hubby's family are both from the south and are moms always make dressing for the holidays. I want to surprise everyone this year and show them this city girl can cook too! Of course it'll never be as good, but I'm going to try!
Do you add the Pepperidge farm stuffing to the cornbread mixture once the cornbread is done baking?
Pam says
You can do it, Shanell! We'll be your biggest cheerleaders!!!
Yes, the stuffing mix is just another ingredient that gets added to the crumbled cornbread, along with the cooked vegetables, etc. I'm about to make my cornbread today to go in the freezer for the Thanksgiving dressing. It really is best if you can make it ahead of time. Fresh cornbread tends to make the dressing a bit mushy!
Good luck, and come back and let us know how it turns out!
Glenna Williamson says
I love this recipe! I made it last year and it was a huge hit! I made it ahead of time and froze it but now can't remember if I froze before baking it or after. Any thoughts?
Pam says
Hi Glenna! Thank you for writing. We're so happy you and yours enjoyed the Cornbread Dressing. I have never frozen it unbaked, but my cousin makes a very similar recipe and she does. She lets it thaw completely before baking. I have frozen mine after baking (I like to under-bake it just slightly). I also thaw it completely and then spoon a little chicken broth or stock over before warming it up. However you do it, we'd love for you to come back and let us know about it.
annee says
My Mom used to make her own cornbread dressing and I have tried to duplicate her "recipe" for the "muffin bread" she would make a few days before making dressing but try as I do I cannot get it just right. I know she used corn meal, flour, buttermilk and a bit of Crisco shortening (the hard white stuff). baking powder - or maybe it was baking soda - and I think eggs. Her final bread was lighter than cornbread and and got oh so crispy around the edges of the cast iron skillet. I seem to remember it was just a tad sweet - not so much it stood out but just a bit different than her regular cornbread...If you or if you know someone who can recall a recipe such as this I would dearly love it. I have searched and tried many different recipes from the 'net but nothing compares to what my Mom used to make.
Pam says
Annee, did your mom make the dressing from the "muffin" bread crumbled up? It does sound so good. I can only tell you that I'm sure she heated the skillet first before pouring in the batter, and that's what made the edges so crispy. Maybe more readers here will have additional ideas.
Lizet says
This has been my family's favorite dressing for the last couple of years. I always bring the recipe, as everybody wants it. Delicious!
Pam says
Awww... thankks for letting us know.
Toni says
This is such an amazing cornbread recipe! Everyone at my house loved it!
Ashley says
Cornbread dressing is such a family favorite, and your recipe is a HIT!
Pam says
So happy to hear it!
Pam Greer says
What a great tip to make and freeze the cornbread ahead of time!! That makes this dressing even easier!! I love it!
Pam says
Glad to help out. Thanks, Pam!
Angela says
A great stuffing recipe! I love all of the make ahead steps. Quick and easy the day of.
Pam says
Us too! Thanks, Angela.