Cornbread Dressing

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Simple, filling, and super tasty, this easy cornbread dressing recipe is a must for big family meals. Great when served alongside a big roast dinner, this simple carby side dish might just steal the show from the main meal.

Want the taste of homemade cornbread but don’t have the time to make it from scratch? Then make sure to check out The Ultimate Jiffy Cornbread Recipe for a cheeky shortcut. And also, don’t forget to make your very own Poultry Seasoning for this recipe.

Cornbread Dressing

Cornbread dressing is one of those classic side dishes to come from the American South that still has a wonderful place at the dinner table.

Made of nothing more than some leftover cornbread, veggies, seasoning, and stock, this moist and filling side dish is the perfect way to round out a big meal, like for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

Make sure that you are getting the good quality cornbread for this recipe – it is really designed to use up dried, leftover cornbread, but it also works really well with some homemade cornbread as well.            

Cornbread Dressing Ingredients

Make sure you look at the recipe card at the very bottom for the exact amounts so that you know exactly what to buy for this recipe.

• Cornbread

• Butter

• Onion

• Celery

• Eggs

• Poultry Seasoning

• Chicken stock

• Ground sage

• Salt & pepper

How To Make Cornbread Dressing

• Grease a small 11 X 7 baking dish

• In a large bowl, add your cornbread, all crumbled into pieces

• In a medium skillet, melt the butter and sauté the celery and the onions for about 5 -7 minutes until they are soft but not brown

• Add the vegetables to the cornbread

• In a medium bowl, add the eggs and beat them until totally mixed together with no white streaks remaining

• Add to the egg mixture the poultry seasoning, chicken stock, ground sage, and salt and pepper, whisking everything well to combine

• Pour the egg mixture over the cornbread in the bowl, and fluff and stir gently to combine

• Pour the stuffing into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly in the pan

• Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit, or until the edges start to turn golden brown

• Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving

Is It Worth Making Your Own Chicken Stock?

Almost every savory recipe out there requires you to use some form of chicken stock.

While there are other kinds of stock out there, only chicken stock has that savory, pleasant, and familiar uniformity of flavor that contributes so much to basically any savory dish.

However, if you have been cooking for a while, you will probably be familiar with the litany of recipes that plead with you to make your own chicken stock, as it would improve the recipe so much more than using boxed or carton stock.

So, is it worth it to make your own?

Well, the answer really depends on what you happen to have on a weekly basis. Homemade chicken stock is rich, decadent, and super delicious, but it requires you to have a huge amount of bones on hand to make it, as well as a lot of vegetable scraps or dedicated veggies to provide the balance of flavor.

While you could certainly go out and buy a rotisserie chicken just for the purpose of making some chicken stock at home, the truth is that it will seldom be worth it compared to using the pre-made stuff.

Save Your Chicken Bones

Of course, if you have recently eaten a chicken or a big plate of chicken wings, save those bones and make some delicious stock! It will certainly improve whatever you are making, including this cornbread dressing.

However, if you don’t have the ingredients, there is nothing wrong with using the pre-made stuff, even the ready made little cubes of instant chicken stock.

As long as your other ingredients are high quality and you season everything properly, you probably won’t be able to tell too much of a difference.

What Makes This A Dressing, Rather Than A Stuffing?

There is an age-old debate regarding the name of dressing versus stuffing. Some people use the terms interchangeably, whereas others get surprisingly vitriolic regarding which term is the right one.

The truth is that it should really only be called stuffing if it is actually stuffed into an animal or roast while baking. If it is a side dish eaten on its own and cooked on its own, like this recipe is, then it is a dressing.

The actual origins of the two terms are a bit murky and made even more confusing because of the fact that in the UK and Western Europe, stuffing isn’t made of bread at all but is instead a sausage mixture.

However, when it comes to dishes from the American South, dressings are designed to both use up odds and ends as well as fill you up to make up for lack of meat.

These days, however, we make dressings simply because they are super delicious!

Looking for more delicious dressing and stuffing Side Dish recipes? Try these out:

• Sausage Stuffing

• Oyster Dressing

• Oven Baked Turkey Stuffing

Happy Cooking

Love,

Karlynn

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