Corn Bread Dressing
Corn bread dressing with tender onions and celery is a cozy holiday side dish for serving with turkey. Filled with tons of fresh sage for fall flavor, drizzle it with your favorite gravy on top!

While I'll be busy making my mom's Italian sausage stuffing for Thanksgiving like I do almost every year, I know many of my friends here in the South prefer a classic cornbread dressing for their holiday feast.
While you could make this recipe with prepared cornbread croutons from the store, using my bread machine cornmeal stuffing bread means you'll be also adding actual corn to this dressing!
No matter which way you take it, this is an easy make ahead side dish for Thanksgiving or Christmas that will be amazing with your turkey and gravy.
Why This is the Best Recipe
As the author of The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook, I always have loaves of fresh bread on hand and I'm forever looking for ways to use them up in creative ways. I think this is the best cornbread dressing recipe because:
- Starts with Homemade Bread: Making my cornmeal stuffing bread takes 5 minutes of hands-on time and gives the dressing an amazing hearty, chewy texture.
- Tons of Fresh Sage: I love fresh sage and butter. It's one of my favorite flavor combos. Pair that with the sweet cornbread?? YUM.
- Easy to Make Ahead: You can prep the dressing the day before and bake it fresh just before the feast.
Ingredients
This classic holiday side dish only has a short list of ingredients needed to make it:
- Cornbread Croutons: I make homemade stuffing croutons out of my cornmeal stuffing bread but I have several substitutions for you listed below.
- Butter
- Fresh Celery
- Onion
- Fresh Sage: I know fresh herbs can be a little more expensive but with a list of ingredients this short it is worth the effort. Fresh sage smells and tastes amazing. But if you really prefer, you can use dried sage instead.
- Eggs
- Chicken Broth
- Black Pepper
Prep the Baking Dishes
This is a very large holiday-worthy recipe that will not fit in just one standard 9x13-inch pan. You can split up the dressing in a few ways. If you don't need it all at once, you could absolutely freeze half of it for later. See my freezing tips at the bottom.
Here are a few ways you could split up the batch of dressing:
- 1 9x13-inch plus 1 7x11-inch baking dish
- 3 8x8-inch baking dishes
- 1 deep-dish 9x13-inch (will have less crispy topping), like the disposable pans you can buy in bulk at Costco
Best Cornbread to Use
This recipe was developed and tested specifically to use up my entire 2-pound loaf of cornmeal stuffing bread. It is really the ideal choice but I know not everyone has a bread maker.
If you don't want to make that loaf, you could make buttermilk cornbread or buy a couple pans of it from the bakery. Carefully cube it and turn it into stuffing croutons in the oven. You'll need 12 cups of croutons. If your cornbread doesn't make that much, you can fill in the difference with panko breadcrumbs for added crunch.
You could also use 12 cups of prepared cornbread croutons from the grocery store.
Want to Save This for Later?
Prepare the Stuffing Croutons
You'll dry the bread out in the oven before using it in the dressing recipe. I decided to go for a very rustic looking stuffing so I hand ripped the bread into small pieces.
You can absolutely dice it into neat cubes if you prefer a dressing that looks like that.
For step-by-step instructions and photos, you can read my homemade stuffing croutons recipe here.
Soften the Vegetables
Once you've got your croutons ready to go, chop the celery and onion.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables and stir. Cook them for 5 - 6 minutes or until the onions soften.
Add the chopped fresh sage and cook for 1 minute more.
Mix the Dressing
Place the cornbread croutons in a very large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and gently stir them in to coat all the bread.
Scrape the softened veggies and sage and all the butter from the skillet into the mixing bowl and fold it in. The bread should all be moistened by the butter and eggs at this point.
Drizzle in the chicken stock, season the dressing with the pepper, and gently fold it all together.
Baking Instructions
Rub some softened butter around the inside of your baking dishes of choice and then spread the prepared dressing evenly into the baking pans.
Preheat the oven to 400ยฐF.
Bake the dressing for 40 - 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the dressing is cooked through.
NOTE: I used a 9x13 and a 7x11 inch baking dish. For smaller pans like an 8x8 you may need less time.
Make Ahead and Freezing Tips
You can get a jump start on your holiday cooking by making this recipe in advance.
I recommend prepping the dressing and spreading it into your buttered baking dishes. Cover it with foil and keep it in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Then just bake it fresh before serving.
If you prefer to freeze it or you want to bake half now and freeze half for later, I recommend baking the dressing as directed. Let it cool completely and then cover in foil and freeze for up to 6 months.
Let the dressing thaw in the fridge overnight and then warm it gently in the oven before serving.
Serving Suggestions
Cornbread dressing is an elegant southern side dish to serve for a festive holiday meal. It would be right at home on your Christmas or Thanksgiving table.
I recommend serving it with a roasted herb butter turkey and my homemade gravy but for an even easier approach you could make my slowcooker boneless turkey breast and use the cornbread dressing as the base for an open face turkey sandwich!
But stuffing isn't just for the holidays. Why not enjoy it earlier in the fall? You could serve this versatile side dish with my roasted pork loin or even a Crockpot spiral ham to mix things up.
More Stuffing Recipes
Looking for more delicious stuffing recipes for your holiday meal? Don't miss these easy favorites:
๐ Recipe
Corn Bread Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 2-pound cornmeal stuffing bread crumbled, should measure 12 cups once crumbled, see notes for substitutions
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter + more for greasing the baking dishes
- 6 stalks celery diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 1/2 (.5 oz) packages of fresh sage chopped, this is roughly 1/2 cup if using a fresh plant
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Stuffing Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 300ยฐF. Slice the loaf of cornmeal stuffing bread into 1/2-inch thick slices. Then roughly rip the bread into small 1/2-inch pieces and spread them out onto two large baking sheets so the bread has room to breathe without being tightly packed.
- Bake the sheet pans of bread for 10 minutes. Gently toss the bread with a spatula and bake for 10 minutes more. The bread will be very dry and crispy.
- Crumble the dried bread into even smaller pieces combined with bread crumbs. This is easiest to do with your hands.
- Prepared croutons can be done in advance. Store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or freeze for up to 6 months.
Assemble and Bake the Dressing
- Preheat the oven to 400ยฐF. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and a smaller 7 x 11-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon softened butter.
- Melt the stick of butter in a large saute pan. When it is hot and bubbly, add the chopped celery and onions. Stir and cook until the onions are softened, about 5 - 6 minutes.
- Add the chopped sage and cook for one more minute.
- Place the corn bread croutons in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the eggs until well combined. Then add the onion and celery mixture, making sure to scrape all the butter from the skillet. Add the pepper and stir until everything is well combined. Drizzle in the chicken stock and gently stir to moisten the dressing.
- Pour the prepared dressing into the buttered bakng dishes and spread into an even layer.
- Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until the top of the bread mixture is golden brown. Serve warm with your favorite gravy.
Recipe Notes
Cornmeal Stuffing Bread Substitution:
If you don't want to make the cornmeal stuffing bread from scratch, you can substitute 12 cups of cornbread croutons or turn your favorite cornbread into stuffing croutons.Make Ahead Tips:
If you want to get a jump start on your holiday meal prep, you could make the homemade cornbread croutons in advance and freeze them. There's no need to thaw them before assembling the rest of the recipe. You can also assemble the recipe as directed and keep it covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. Just let it come to room temperature for 20 minutes before putting it into the oven.Save This Recipe to Your Recipe Box
Find this delicious recipe next time you visit by saving it to your very own recipe box on my site. All your favorites stored in one easy place!
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