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    Home » Recipes » Side Dishes

    November 23, 2019 · Updated September 8, 2021

    Cornbread Dressing Recipe

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    4 Comments

    · by Amanda Gajdosik

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    A pin to share a cornbread dressing recipe

    A cornbread dressing recipe is a fun twist on the classic Thanksgiving side dish! Sweet cornbread is combined with onions, celery, poultry seasoning, and a delicious turkey stock. Buttery and tender with a perfectly crispy top – it’s sure to be your new favorite!

    Cornbread Stuffing Recipe

    Cornbread dressing is a classic in the South and I just had to make a Midwestern version that kept all the traditional aspects of the dish and simplified a bit of the process without sacrificing on flavor!

    Ingredients for this recipe

    • Cornbread (either from a box or homemade, no judgement here!)
    • Onion
    • Celery
    • Garlic
    • Butter
    • Poultry Seasoning
    • Turkey Stock
    • Stuffing Bread
    • Kosher Salt & Black Pepper

    How to make homemade cornbread dressing

    1. Prep the cornbread. Cut or tear it into large pieces and leave it out to air dry for a few hours.
    2. Sauté the veggies. In a little olive oil. Add the spices and seasoning, too!
    3. Add the butter. And let it melt.
    4. Stir in the stock. And heat everything until steaming.
    5. Pour the stock mixture. Over the cornbread and stuffing bread pieces, stirring gently to combine.
    6. Gently fill a baking dish. Spoon and spread the dressing mixture gently into a prepared pan before baking as directed.
    • A dutch oven filled with sauteed vegetables for cornbread dressing.
      Sauté the vegetables and add the seasonings.
    • A white dutch oven with vegetables and melted butter for cornbread dressing.
      Add the butter and let it melt.
    • Turkey stock is poured into a Dutch oven for a cornbread dressing recipe.
      Add the turkey stock.
    • Turkey stock is spooned over cornbread pieces.
      Spoon the stock mixture over the dried cornbread and stuffing bread.
    • The mixture for cornbread dressing is stirred together in a large glass bowl.
      Gently mix everything to combine.
    • A baking dish filled with cornbread dressing mixture before baking.
      Spoon into a prepared baking dish.

    Do I need to dry the cornbread out first?

    Just for a little while. The cornbread being dry means it can absorb more stock. More stock means more flavor! Letting it sit out for an hour or two is usually good enough.

    On Thanksgiving Day you can tear or cut the cornbread apart first thing and let it sit out while you prepare other dishes and components of recipes. Alternatively, cut and stored loosely covered (so not totally uncovered but not a super tight seal, either) overnight will also work!

    Cornbread Stuffing Recipe

    What is stuffing bread?

    Typically found in your grocery store’s bakery department, stuffing bread is small pieces and odds and ends of a variety of bread that is gathered together, bagged up, and sold by weight.

    If you cannot find stuffing bread in your grocery store, 8 ounces of stale bread cut into small pieces and left out overnight would work beautifully! Feel free to use white bread, sourdough, wheat bread, Italian bread or something similar.

    Cornbread Stuffing Recipe

    Using homemade cornbread

    I love that this recipe uses boxed cornbread mix to make the whole process even easier, but if you’re wanting to use a homemade cornbread, go right ahead! Simply prepare two batches of your favorite recipe (might I suggest my own recipe?)

    What’s the difference between dressing and stuffing?

    Dressing is a bread, veggie, and stock mixture that is prepared and baked in a dish outside of the turkey. Stuffing is the same mixture that is stuffed into the cavity of the turkey and baked at the same time.

    Generally, I prefer dressing to stuffing because it allows full control of cooking times and temperature for both the dressing and the turkey. To me, this yields better results all around!

    Cornbread Stuffing Recipe

    Why is my dressing soggy or gummy?

    Simple answer: too much liquid, not enough cooking. Cook, uncovered, for 10 – 15 minutes longer.

    Too much mixing and too small pieces of bread can also result in gummy dressing. Be sure that you’re starting with pieces of cornbread that are quite large – think a bit larger than a golf ball.

    When adding the stock to the bread mixture, it’s important to mix gently, incorporating until just combined. Too much mixing can lead to a bunch of crumbs and not big, beautiful pieces of cornbread that we want to take bites of!

    Cornbread Stuffing Recipe
    Cornbread Stuffing Recipe
    Print Recipe
    No ratings yet

    Cornbread Dressing

    A cornbread dressing recipe is a fun twist on the classic Thanksgiving side dish! Sweet cornbread is combined with a onions, celery, poultry seasoning, and a delicious turkey stock. Buttery and tender with a perfectly crispy top – it’s sure to be your new favorite!
    Prep Time15 minutes mins
    Cook Time45 minutes mins
    Total Time1 hour hr
    Course: Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: cornbread dressing, cornbread stuffing, southern cornbread dressing
    Servings: 16 servings
    Calories: 90kcal
    Author: Amanda Gajdosik
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    • Large Pot or Dutch oven
    • 9x13 Baking Dish
    • Aluminum Foil

    Ingredients

    • 2 boxes cornbread mix prepared according to package instructions
    • 2 tablespoon olive oil
    • ½ medium onion diced
    • 3 stalks celery diced
    • 2 tsp. minced garlic
    • 2 tsp. poultry seasoning
    • 6 tablespoon butter
    • 6 cups turkey stock
    • 8 oz. stuffing bread
    • Kosher salt to taste
    • Black pepper to taste

    Instructions

    • A few hours in advance, cut or tear the cornbread into pieces and leave out (we want it a little bit stale). Alternatively, leave a bowl of the cornbread out overnight, lightly covered.
    • When ready to prepare dressing, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking pan, or large casserole, with baking spray and set aside.
    • Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion and celery, stirring to coat. Cook until vegetables start to soften, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, before adding garlic and cooking until fragrant, about 1 more minute. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and add the poultry seasoning, stirring to coat.
    • Add butter and stir until melted before adding stock. Cook until stock is heated through.
    • Meanwhile, combine dried cornbread and stuffing bread in a large bowl. Carefully pour the warm stock mixture over the bread pieces, reserving about 1 ½ cups. Gently toss to combine (being delicate will keep together big pieces of cornbread-y goodness!). Spoon dressing into prepared baking pan and pour some of the remaining stock over any areas that appear dry (if you don’t use it all, that’s ok!).
    • Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 – 25 minutes, or until top of stuffing is golden brown and crisp. Serve warm alongside your favorite Thanksgiving meal!

    Notes

    • Chicken or vegetable stock can be used in place of turkey stock if desired.
    • Refer to post for notes and answers to common dressing questions!

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1scoop | Calories: 90kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 166mg | Potassium: 108mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 154IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg

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    Comments

      Leave a rating and review! Cancel reply

      Did you love the recipe? Let me know! And let others know too by leaving a comment and star rating. Reviews are so useful in helping other people find my site and make my recipes. Your support means the world to me!

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    1. tom says

      November 26, 2024 at 12:56 am

      Any idea how many ounces 2 boxes cornbread mix makes? I'm making from scratch. Also what is stuffing bread? Just dried bread?

      Reply
      • Amanda Gajdosik says

        November 26, 2024 at 3:48 pm

        Hi Tom,

        You'll want to check the nutrition label on the box, it will often give you serving sizes and amounts of servings per batch, etc., you can do the math from there to figure out ounces per batch (so many packages yield different amounts). And yes, stuffing bread is just dry bread. A lot of grocery stores will sell bags labelled as "stuffing bread" in the bakery section for cheap during the holidays!

        Hope this helps!
        Amanda

        Reply
    2. Tess says

      December 10, 2020 at 1:14 am

      I made this stuffing this Thanksgiving and it was delicious!!

      (This comment was left by a friend of the writer of midwestniceblog.com)

      Reply
      • Amanda says

        December 10, 2020 at 4:30 pm

        I'm so happy to hear that Tess! It's the perfect thanksgiving stuffing recipe!

        Reply

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