Southern Homemade Cornbread Dressing begins with a good cornbread recipe. Adding fresh seasonings and vegetables makes a big pan of dressing into a meal in itself.

The turkey is not the star of the show on southern tables at Thanksgiving. That honor belongs to the Cornbread Dressing.

Here in the deep south, we just call it Dressing, it is understood to be made with cornbread.

Thanksgiving dinner should include family recipes, especially a good old-fashioned recipe like this one. This one is my Mom’s recipe. It isn’t easy to be the one to carry on the family tradition. My girls have informed me that it took me a couple of years to get the dressing just right but now it is like their Grannies.

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Here in the south we do not call it stuffing, mostly because we don’t stuff the Thanksgiving turkey with it. Cornbread dressing is the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving Day and  is a holiday classic among side dishes.

At my house, all the guests are encouraged to bring their own to-go plates on Thanksgiving so they can take dressing and other scrumptious Thanksgiving food home with them. We plan for leftovers on Thanksgiving, do you?

Ingredients of Southern Cornbread Dressing

This homemade recipe is made using simple ingredients. Most of the ingredients are common pantry staples.

• 6 Cups Crumbled Cornbread, (my cornbread recipe)
• 1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 Can Cream of Celery Soup
• 1 large onion, minced
• 1 Cup Chopped celery
• 3 Boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup shredded chicken (can use a Rotisserie Chicken)
• 2 Tbsp. Sage or Poultry seasoning
• 1 Stick butter
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Pepper
• 3-5 Cups Chicken broth

How To Make Cornbread Dressing

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375°. Prepare a large rectangle baking pan or casserole dish with non-stick spray.

I like to use disposable aluminum pans, like these, for baking the dressing on Thanksgiving because it means easier clean up.

Grab my homemade cornbread recipe, made in a cast iron skillet.

Step 2

Crumble all of your baked cornbread into a very large bowl or roasting pan.

I use my large turkey roasting pan to mix up the cornbread dressing.

You can crumb the cornbread by hand or use a food processor like this one (affiliate) which makes the job so much easier and quicker.

Step 3

In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium-high heat. Cook the chopped celery and minced onion in the butter until tender.

Step 4

Add the cooked vegetables to the cornbread. Now add all of the remaining ingredients, except the chicken broth. Stir to blend well.

A long handle wooden spoon works well for stirring or gloved hands.

Step 5

Add the chicken stock 1 cup at a time stirring after each addition, until you get your desired consistency. The mixture should be slightly soupy. Those little bits of chicken pieces should be all throughout the dressing mixture.

Go here for my Homemade Chicken Broth recipe. where I also share how to freeze or can chicken broth in a boiling water bath.

KITCHEN HINT

When making homemade chicken broth for dressing, use part of the boiled chicken to go in the dressing and use the rest to make some homemade chicken salad.

Step 6

Pour the cornbread mixture into a prepared baking pan.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown. Outer edges should be firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry. The exact cooking time will vary depending on how large or how deep your baking dish is and of course oven temperatures vary.

Serve and enjoy!

Read some of the comments on this Facebook video. I threw up the camera at a last-minute whim while mixing the dressing on Thanksgiving morning a few years ago.

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My dressing goes in the oven soupy but it’s tender and moist when done. Personally, I do not like dressing which is the consistency of gingerbread, or that you can slice like bread. 

My southern cornbread dressing recipe has stood the test of time and lots of professional opinions (wink) offered for free.

Do you serve Giblet gravy with your cornbread dressing or cranberry sauce? I serve both so that each person at the dinner table can get whichever one they want.

Is this southern recipe truly southern? I should say so. I was born in Atlanta and have lived in the great state of Georgia almost my entire life with the exception of a couple years in Charlotte N.C., which is of course still very southern. I do not have a fake southern accent. I can assure you, it is quite real.

Printable recipe below.

More Old Fashioned Recipes

• Deviled Eggs made from scratch
• Southern Carrot Souffle
• Homemade Mashed Potatoes
• Simple Roasted Butternut Squash
• Best Ever Southern Candied Yams

Updated 3/9/22