Southern Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing | Thanksgiving Recipe

There's nothing quite like that first bite of an Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing at your Thanksgiving feast. Savory, with a hint of sweetness, and completely full of flavor, it's a Southern recipe tradition, and one the whole table is hoping will turn out beautifully for the holiday feast.

If you're in charge of the coveted side dish this year, you can't go wrong with this perfectly moist dressing, made with sauteed onions and celery, amped up with fresh herbs like sage, thyme, and parsley. It's everything your guests will expect in a traditional cornbread dressing...and more. 

Today, along with this classic Thanksgiving dinner recipe, we'll also discover the difference between stuffing and dressing, a simple way to spruce up this old classic, make-ahead and reheating tips, and even how to freeze it up to two months in advance!

Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing (A Family Recipe)

This recipe was inspired by my Grandma Campbell's Thanksgiving dressing. It is a dish that feels like family and reminds me of home. What better purpose could food serve? I'm sure regardless of where you're from, you've likely heard that cornbread is somewhat of a staple in the South.

Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing at Thanksgiving is no exception, and this one is a long-established, fan-favorite tradition.

Why You'll Love This Recipe

The cornbread base, onion and celery sauteed in butter, and fresh herbs ensure this is is the old-fashioned cornbread dressing you're looking for. This recipe comes straight from my Grandma Campbell's Thanksgiving table, and I've served it to my own family for nearly 15 years.

As a hostess who plans the whole menu every year, I've fine-tuned the make-ahead workflow so it's easy on the cooking schedule. It's a dependable, moist-center, golden-top dressing you can count on when oven space and timing are tight.

• Old-Fashioned On Purpose | This a classic Southern pan-baked dressing. No bird stuffing around these parts. You’ll get that nostalgic flavor with a moist center and gorgeous edges.
• Moist Inside + Golden On Top | The eggs + broth ratio gives you that soft, spoonable center everyone wants, then, it’s baked covered to lock in moisture and later uncovered so the top turns perfectly golden with light crunch. Best of both worlds!
• Real Herb Flavor | Fresh sage, thyme, and parsley adds depth of flavor you might have never known you were missing. 
• Make-Ahead Friendly | Assemble a day ahead, bake day-of, and reheat without drying out—I’ve included exact times and temps so you can coast on Thanksgiving.

Pro Tip: If you don't have time for homemade cornbread on Thanksgiving day, sub in the store-bought/pre-packaged stuff. However, the fresh herbs? Keep those. They make all the difference in the world. If you've ever cooked with them before, you know first-hand the beauty they add to any given dish when used!

Ingredients & Keys to Moist Texture

• Bakery White Bread | Crusts removed, ¼-inch cubes for structure. You can buy this up 4 days in advance, but it needs to be at least 1-day old.
• Day-Old Cornbread | Use either a ½ batch of TAK’s Co. Cornbread or 1 ½ pound (about 2 Jiffy boxes).
• Unsalted Butter | Used for sauteing vegetables. If you only have salted butter, reduce salt quantity in recipe card by half.
• Veggies | You’ll need a classic mix of yellow onion and celery. 
• Unsalted Chicken Broth | This is the main moisture source. If you only have full-sodium broth, reduce salt quantity in recipe card by half.
• Eggs | You’ll need 3 eggs, beaten. This is the binder and key to that custardy center.
• Fresh Herbs | The classic poultry herb combo of parsley, sage, and thyme adds bright, clean flavor.

How to Make Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing

Southern, Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing is easy to make, and it begins with a batch of cornbread, which can be made up 2 days in advance. The cornbread adds just a hint of sweetness to the casserole and brings a lovely balance to the dish overall. Its subtle sweetness is also absolute perfection alongside all the other savory items found at a Thanksgiving feast.

After the cornbread is baked, the rest is really just a matter of softening up celery and onion on the stovetop, chopping herbs, and bringing it all together for a bake in the oven!

The first thing you'll do to make your Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing is remove the crust from a loaf of white bread. 

White bakery bread makes a huge difference in the quality of this dressing however, you do want to make sure that you purchase that bread at least 2 to 3 days in advance so that it has time to lose a bit of its moisture content. If you use soft, moist white bread your dressing could end up a little on the soggy side.

Once you have the crust removed from your bread, you will cut it into small half-inch cubes. Transfer those cubes to a large mixing bowl, and move on to the cornbread.

For this recipe, I like to make my company cornbread a day or two in advance. We will eat half of the cornbread at dinner time, and save the other half for our Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing on Thanksgiving!

If you do not want to make cornbread from scratch, you can simply use two boxes of prepared and baked jiffy (or box mix) cornbread.

Crumble the cornbread into the bowl along with the cubed white bread and set aside.

Now, you'll move on to the celery and onion. Finely chop up two yellow onions and four stalks of celery and add to a large sauté pan outfitted with 8 tablespoons of melted butter over medium heat.

Cook the vegetables, stirring often, for about 15 minutes or until they have completely softened. Then, set the veggies aside and allow them to cool slightly.

Once vegetables are cooled a bit, you can transfer them to the mixing bowl housing the white bread and cornbread. At this point, you will also add in the unsalted or low-sodium chicken broth, three beaten eggs, fresh minced parsley, fresh minced sage, fresh minced thyme, Kosher salt, and black pepper.

The easiest tool for this job is your hands. With clean hands, gently mix the ingredients until everything is evenly mixed.

Transfer the dressing to a 9 x 13" greased casserole dish and cover it with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes, then uncover and continue to bake for 25 minutes more. Your Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing has finished baking when it no longer jiggles in the center and the top is golden brown.

What to Serve With It

Position your Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing smack-dab in between a couple of slices of perfectly roasted turkey and the creamiest mashed potatoes, hit it with a teensy bit of gravy and cranberry sauce on the side.

It also looks particularly lovely right there next to a serving of homemade green bean casserole. Yes, please.

FAQs

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