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I grew up on this cornbread dressing. There was never a Thanksgiving without it, and leftovers were fought over as if it were pie. It’s the real, old-fashioned dressing. Dressing that knows it’s dressing. Nothing fancy, but delicious in a simplicity that trusts the basic flavor combination that is so home.
Dressing is largely bread, so it makes sense to use the best bread at your disposal. (Which is never sandwich bread from the store.) Please, please, think about your bread before you make your dressing! The bread can be a little stale, which is handy when you’re preparing for a big meal. Make the bread a few days before to take the load off your holiday prep schedule. You can also do all your vegetable chopping in advance and throw the dressing together in a few minutes when it’s time. If possible, put the dressing together the day before you intend to bake it in order to allow time for the flavors to meld. You always knew it was the day before Thanksgiving in my house when I was growing up because there was a big pan of dressing in the fridge. My mother always had the bread made a day or two ahead of that.
Of course, my mother always made it with this cornbread and, depending on what was on hand, either Grandmother Bread or these biscuits. The white bread is the smaller portion of the bread and it works just fine whether you use cubed loaf bread (Grandmother Bread!) or crumbled biscuits. My mother used whichever she happened to have, and so do I. (It doesn’t take much to come up to three cups.) One pan of cornbread will give you enough for the seven cups of that.
My mother sometimes would replace one cup of the cornbread and one cup of the white bread with two cups of Pepperidge Farms herbed cubes (cornbread/white mixed) because she liked the herb flavoring in it and because she grew up on a farm in the dust bowl of Oklahoma during the Depression. She didn’t have anything to prove to anybody about doing everything the hard way. When she got to civilization, she said, “Dude, show me the convenience products!” (Okay, my mother has never said the word “dude” in her whole life, but the rest is true.) If you go that route using part Pepperidge Farm herbed cubes, adjust the seasonings in this recipe by taste-testing as you add them.
I never use the Pepperidge Farms herbed cubes. I grew up in the suburbs and came to the boonies of West Virginia and said, “Dude, show me the hardships!” (It’s really not that hard–you’re already gonna make a pan of cornbread and you already gotta have some white bread onhand. I prefer the all homemade, throwback, real old-fashioned recipe my mother started with before Pepperidge Farms put stars in her eyes, and I promise you will, too!
This recipe makes enough for 10-12 people and fits a regular 9 x 13 casserole pan. If you have a huge crowd, double the recipe and go for two pans.
Sometimes when I post links within paragraphs, people miss them, so to make it easy:
For the cornbread–my recipe is here.
For the white bread–you can use Grandmother Bread or these biscuits.
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How to make Old-Fashioned Cornbread Dressing:
7 cups cornbread, crumbled
3 cups white bread, crumbled or cubed
2 cups celery, chopped
3 cups onions, chopped
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted
3-4 cups chicken or turkey broth
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Place the crumbled cornbread and white bread in a large mixing bowl. Add chopped celery and onions. Mix.
Pour the melted butter over all the ingredients along with 3 cups of the broth. (ONLY add 3 cups just yet! Wait on the last cup. More info on that below.) Add the seasonings gradually. Test to your taste.
You may like more or less of any of the seasonings. Poultry seasoning usually includes thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, and black pepper. If you have a particular dislike for any of those, you can add the seasoning separately for each herb you choose. I also add the extra teaspoon of sage, which is enough for me. You may like it more sagey. (Or less.) Use more, or less, of the salt.
The dryness or moistness of dressing is also taste-specific. You may prefer yours more crumbly. If you only use three cups of the broth, you’ll get a more “Stouffer’s”-like consistency, if that’s what you’re used to and prefer. I use four cups of turkey broth in mine. I like it moist. I roast turkeys throughout the year. I save the broth over from one to the next for various uses. (I freeze it in quart jars, leaving enough head space. You can also use home-canned broth, or just buy chicken broth from the store.)
Do all your taste-testing before adding the eggs. Add the fourth cup of broth if you like. When you’re sure you’re satisfied with how you’ve seasoned it, add the eggs. Mix well and spoon into a greased 9 x 13 casserole pan. You can refrigerate it overnight (or even a couple of days). It’s truly best when it’s made ahead of time and left to sit, though you can bake it right away if you need to. It can also be frozen ahead of time. Let it defrost in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it.
Bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes, covered. Take the cover off and bake an additional 30 minutes.
Cornbread dressing isn’t just for Thanksgiving, by the way! And it’s not even just for turkey. It’s great with chicken or pork, too. (I bake the meat and dressing separately then add the meat on top of the dressing when it’s time to serve.)
One more thing–my mother liked to also stir in a can of sliced water chestnuts. This is not quite traditional to the recipe, just something she liked. I was never a huge fan of the water chestnuts, so I don’t. Just tossing that out there in case it’s something that appeals to you.
If you’re new to hosting Thanksgiving dinner and have never made dressing before, or if you’ve lost the family recipe for cornbread dressing, I hope this is one that will bring back the memories you’re looking for this year. Or if you have a favorite family Thanksgiving dressing recipe already, I’d love to hear about it and even have you post it in the comments. Your recipe might just be the one someone is looking for that matches their memories.
Tell us about your dressing!
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(this is for a turkey roasting pan)
two boxes of stovetop chicken stuffing (mostly because all of the seasonings already in it)
two bags of pepperidge farms unseasoned bread cubes
1lb of hamburger (cooked and drained, set aside)
1lb of pork sausage (cooked and drained, set aside)
1 red delicious apple (washed,corded and chopped)
1lb of fresh mushrooms (optional)(cooked partially in either butter or sausage grease
1 cup of chopped celery (cooked in a little sausage grease or butter)
1 large can of chicken broth
Mix stovetop (cubes and seasons) and Pepperidge Farm breadcubes together, add enough broth for the breading to start to hold together and holding to the spoon. Mix in the remaining ingredients, bake at 350 covered until the temp gauge reaches 155 degrees, uncover and bake for another 10 minutes to slightly dry out the top.
One year I ran out of room in the oven and accidently baked it on top of the stove above the oven vent on the back burner. I was waiting for the pies to be done before sliding in the dressing and I happened to catch the sight of steam coming out from under the lid. When I checked on it, it was baking.
P.S I would use spell check but it keeps telling me that all photos are copy righted.
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I think your dressing is what we call stuffing in the uk, usually stuffed and cooked inside the bird, hence the name. We often have a different stuffing for each end! have you tried it cooked inside the turkey?
I always make a stuffing which my mother made (cooked rice, chopped dried apricots, raisins, honey, rosemary, diced onion, a little orange juice or stock,) and then try a new one for the other end.
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Some thought it should include white bread. Others swore allegience to strictly cornbread. My mother was on the cornbread side of the issue. Eventually, she started adding water chestnuts.
Those were a big hit with everyone. But, when one of my
sisters-in-law joined the family and brought her dressing with Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup added, another issue was on the table, and it started all over again. Everytime I make my dressing,
I smile and add a little of everything in honor of those ladies, and it’s the best cornbread dressing ever.
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The dressing looks good. I love cornbread!
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Re: the Lego ad, I haven’t had that problem (although I did click on it and yes, ordered Legos for my nephew. I am, as my husband reminds me, easily distracted by bright, shiny things
So maybe I’m not the best judge of what annoys others).
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You are so right–it would not be Thanksgiving with out this stuffing. I make a lot so my Son can take plenty home with him–I also bake some in a cast iron skillet and cut it just like a pie, even cold it is yummy.
Try doing a leftover turkey sandwich with turkey, canberry sauce and a bit of dressing, it is so good.
Thanksgiving is my favorite of all holidays.
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There is another topic, Gravies, talk about a heated debate! Oi!
We also make a pan of oyster dressing too.
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I use a modified version of Mom’s stuffing (not dressing) recipe. I save (freeze) the ends of the loaves of home-made (white) bread I make (I save them all the time – bread pudding anyone?), and tear them into pieces when it’s time to make stuffing.
Sautee a chopped onion and some celery in a bunch’o'butter, add it to the bread, add salt, pepper, parsley, several eggs, stock (made the night before from turkey neck and giblets), meat pulled off the turkey neck and about a quarter pound of prosciutto, chopped.
Fill the turkey cavities, truss and roast away.
But we no longer make a whole turkey, since it’s usually just the two of us, so now I get a turkey breast, remove the skin, cut it in half at the breast bone, butterfly it, lay the stuffing on it, roll it up and truss it, put the skin back on, etc. Yum!
TMI?
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Now my daughter-in-law makes the dressing every year and she always adds pieces of cooked chicken breast torn into bite size pieces. Yum! This year will be the first time my husband and I have not had family with us for Thanksgiving, so I’m not sure what we will do!
Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving day.
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Sausage stuffing
10 cups bread torn up
1/2 C chopped onion
1 cup hot chicken broth
2 lg apples diced
1 1/2 lbs sausage meat
1/2 c butter
1 tsp poultry seasoning
salt pepper to taste if any
Brown sausage in lg pot. Add butter and let melt. Stir in bread onions, broth and seasonings. Mix and stuff bird.
This makes your gravy taste SOOOO good and you can just imagine how your house smells!
Anyway…hope someone tries it and likes it. In the meantime I’m going to make some cornbread and try yours before Thanksgiving Suzanne…my mouth is watering already!
(pitchfork!)
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My husband and I tried a cornbread stuffing from a box once and neither of us really cared for it – and to be honest we’d never heard of cornbread stuffing!! He’s from Wisconsin and I’m a born and raised Washingtonian, so I’m not sure where cornbread stuffing fell from tradition.
Anyhow, we’re both huge stuffing lovers, so we were surprised to not like the cornbread stuffing. BUT what I’m thinking is that it needs to be homemade!
We’ll be trying this at home, for sure. Maybe I’ll volunteer to bring the stuffing on Thanksgiving!
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There’s nothing better than good dressing, but there’s also nothing worse than bad.
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Now that you’ve given us a recipe that sounds pretty close, I may try making it myself.
Thanks, Suzzanne, for making me want to cook! LOL
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Yummmm, that picture of the dressing and chicken makes my mouth water.
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Courtney
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Yummy!!!
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Anyway, I’m going to try your cornbread stuffing very soon. Here’s one I grew up with:
3/4 cup minced onion
3 cups diced celery
1 cup fat (butter or margarine)
1 pint oysters
3 quarts bread cubes (around 12 cups, I think), firmly packed
1.5 teaspon poultry seasoning
1.5 to 2 cups stock from oysters or milk
Cook onion and celery in butter until golden; stirring occasionally. Cook oysters in own juices until edges begin to curl. Drain off stock to be used as part of liquid in recipe.
Toss seasoning with bread cubes. Add onion, celery, butter, and oysters. Mix lightly. Add stock slowly, stirring lightly.
Stuffs a 16 pound turkey.
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