Southern Cornbread Dressing

Southern Cornbread Dressing bakes up golden and chock full of buttery cornbread and fresh herbs. It’s the perfect holiday side to make ahead, with classic Southern comfort in every bite!

This recipe harkens back to the days when I voraciously read cooking magazines and cookbooks in search of the perfect stuffing recipe. I took my mission very seriously. I tested and tweaked and retested, and here we are. 

This moist, buttery, and herby southern cornbread dressing is perfection. The secret? Real southern cornbread baked from scratch, perfectly seasoned, with just the right balance of crisp top and tender center. 

Serve your dressing alongside my roasted herb turkey, cranberry chutney, and sweet potato casserole with pecans for the ideal, classic Thanksgiving feast. If you’re looking for more cozy holiday sides, try my rosemary sourdough rolls, sweet cornbread, or maple mashed sweet potatoes!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• Cornmeal: In the restaurants we used finely ground, mass-produced yellow cornmeal not self-rising cornmeal mix! That is what is most readily available and affordable, so that is what I used here. You can substitute artisanal, stone-ground cornmeal such as Bob’s Red Mill and omit the granulated sugar. It will be fabulous. Medium or finely ground will be best. White cornmeal will also be fine.
• Granulated Sugar: You can omit the sugar, if desired.
• Crème Fraîche or Sour Cream: Crème fraiche makes the best cornbread because it has a higher fat content and lower moisture than sour cream. It is also less tangy. That being said, sour cream or even full-fat Greek yogurt will also work well in this recipe. If that is what you have on hand, you can feel good about substituting them.
• Milk: I use whole milk for this recipe, but any cow’s milk or almond milk will work. The resulting cornbread will be less moist.
• Bread: I recommend using day-old bread for this stuffing. Leaving the bread out for a day dries it out a bit, allowing it to absorb more moisture. This is a phenomenal way to use leftover sourdough bread.
• Chicken Stock: You can use either chicken stock, chicken broth, or turkey stock for this recipe. Bonus points if you have homemade chicken stock available. If you are buying stock from the grocery store, opt for a low-sodium option.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on this Cornbread Dressing Recipe

• Make it crispy Southern cornbread. Preheat a cast iron skillet, melt a tablespoon (or 2!) butter or bacon grease in the bottom, add the batter to the hot skillet. This will improve rise and make those nice buttery crispy edges.
• What type of cornbread works best for dressing? You could use store-bought cornbread for this or my mushroom cornbread stuffing. This will save some prep time, but just make sure it isn’t too sweet. I prefer my moist Southern cornbread recipe in all stuffing recipes including this flavorful mushroom cornbread stuffing recipe. For the best dressing, let your crumbled cornbread dry out before baking! Stale cornbread soaks up the broth perfectly.
• Use coarse cornmeal. If you want to use coarse cornmeal in this recipe, add about 2 tablespoons extra cornmeal. The consistency should be like a thick pancake batter. Every single brand of cornmeal is different, so don’t stress.

Professional Tips

• Layer in your broth. Instead of dumping all the broth in at once, ladle it in gradually with a toss between additions. This makes sure there are no unintentionally soggy patches!
• Use stale or day-old bread for best results. Drier bread will absorb more of the egg mixture, giving the casserole a delicious, custard-like texture. If you only have fresh bread on hand, dry out the bread cubes in a 400°F oven until they’re lightly golden.
• Watch carefully to avoid overbaking. The bake-time for the cornbread will vary widely depending on the dish you choose. Yes, we’re making stuffing, but it still matters. Baking it in a sheet pan or a cast iron skillet will bake faster than a glass dish, for example.

How to Make Southern Cornbread Dressing

Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Prepare the Cornbread:

Step 1: Preheat and prep the skillet. The day before making the stuffing, bake the cornbread: Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter an 8-inch baking dish or cast iron skillet. If you are making crispy cornbread, pop that pan in the oven.

Step 2: Melt and mix the batter base. In a small saucepan or in the microwave, melt the milk with cubed butter. I find this easiest to do on the stovetop. Be sure it is just melted and not too hot, or you’ll need to let it cool before combining with the eggs (photo 1).

Let it cool until warm to the touch; if the mixture is too hot, it can scramble the eggs.

Step 3: In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder and salt). Set aside (photo 2).

Step 4: In a large bowl, whisk the eggs (photo 3) until no streaks remain, then whisk in the crème fraiche or sour cream.

Step 5: Slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg mixture (photo 4). Do this slowly while whisking constantly, because it’s a little warm and you don’t want to cook your eggs.

Step 6: Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Adding it slowly in the beginning will keep the dry ingredients from clumping. Try not to over mix by adding the next addition when the last one is almost incorporated (photo 5).

Step 7: Pour the batter into the buttered pan and spread it out so it bakes evenly (photo 6).

Step 8: Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes until the top provides a little resistance when pressed lightly or until a cake tester comes out clean. Baking in a preheated skillet will decrease the bake time, so check it after 10 minutes just to see where it is and how long you think it has left. Even though we are making stuffing, that is no excuse to overbake!

The top should be a light golden brown with a few moist crumbs attached, not completely dry.

Step 9: Cool and cube. Let cool in the skillet and then cut into 1 inch cubes or smaller to taste (photo 7).

Step 10: Dry. Spread cornbread and French bread cubes onto two baking sheets and dry overnight (~24 hours) at room temperature until they are crisp (photo 8).

Step 11: Mix. Dump into a large bowl and toss to mix.

Prepare the Stuffing:

Step 12: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Melt the butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat.

Step 13: Sauté the vegetables and herbs. Add celery, carrots, onion, and spices. Cook until the onion is almost translucent. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Taste and add a little salt as desired (photos 9 & 10).

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 minutes to let the flavors meld.

Step 14: Moisten the bread. Gradually ladle the hot broth mixture into the bowl with the bread, tossing gently. If the mixture is not moist enough, add more broth. Stir in parsley.

Step 15: Bake. Transfer mixture to a 9×13 inch baking dish or a cast iron skillet. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes (photo 11). Let rest 10 minutes prior to serving (photo 12).

For a crisper top, uncover during the last 5 minutes of baking.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this professional chef-tested recipe. Check out our other delicious, chef-developed Thanksgiving recipes, like my apple sausage stuffing!