Classic Southern Cornbread Dressing made with homemade cornbread, ground sausage, onions, celery, dried cranberries, and plenty of fresh herbs. This tasty side dish goes great with baked chicken, grilled pork tenderloin, and roasted turkey.
Learn how to make this delicious side dish from scratch with this easy-to-follow recipe. Perfect for holiday gatherings or any time of year! I like to serve it on the big day with green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and sweet potato casserole.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
- Bread: cornbread and French bread, several days old and dried. For best results, make homemade cornbread up to 3 days in advance. The recipe is attached, or use your favorite recipe.
- Sausage: pork or turkey, preferably sage-flavored
- Butter: salted or unsalted. If using salted butter, cut down on any added salt.
- Dried fruit: I like dried cranberries, but you can also use apricots or figs. You can also omit dried fruit if you prefer.
- Herbs: for the best flavor, use fresh herbs like sage, thyme, parsley, and rosemary.
How to make Cornbread dressing
This is the summary version; see the recipe card below for the complete list of ingredients and the instructions.
First, mix the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the milk, egg, and vegetable oil and stir well to combine with a spoon. Pour into a greased 8×8-inch baking pan or a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cornbread cool for 30 minutes before slicing it into 1-inch pieces.
Place the cornbread crumbles and French bread chunks on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake in a 275-degree oven for 30-45 minutes, tossing every 10 minutes, until the bread is dry and stale.
Meanwhile, brown the pork sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. When it is about halfway through the browning process, melt butter in the skillet and add the onions and celery. Continue cooking until the onions and celery are soft. Remove from the heat and let it cool a bit.
Add the dried bread cubes to a large bowl. Top the cubed bread with the sausage mixture, dried cranberries, fresh herbs, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper. Add about 1/2 cup of chicken broth at a time and the beaten eggs alternating between them and tossing to coat.
The key to good stuffing is to moisten it lightly. You do not want it soggy or dry. Spoon the stuffing into a greased 9×13-inch casserole. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Preparation Tips
- If possible, make the cornbread several days in advance to get that step out of the way and let the cornbread start to dry naturally.
- Saute the onions and celery until they are soft.
- If you plan to use prepackaged seasoned bread cubes, omit the salt. They usually have a high sodium content, and salt can quickly dominate the dish.
- Add the right amount of broth. Because of its salt content, use low-sodium chicken broth. The key here is to moisten the bread lightly. It should not be soggy or dry. Add about 1/2 cup at a time until lightly moistened. You can always add more, but you can not take it back.
- Other add-ins for this stuffing include pinenuts, mushrooms, bacon, carrots, or parsnips.
- Reserve a couple of pinches of each herb and sprinkle over the top of the dressing after baking. It adds so much flavor.
How to Prepare it in Advance
The Day Before – cook and mix all the ingredients in a big bowl except for the eggs, chicken broth, and fresh herbs. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator. Before baking, add the beaten eggs, chicken broth, and fresh herbs and stir to combine. Spoon the mixture into a greased casserole dish and bake as directed. Before serving, sprinkle with a few more fresh herbs.
A Week or more before – prepare the recipe up to and including the step spooning it into the casserole dish. Stop short of baking. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and foil. Place the casserole dish in the freezer for a week.
Remove the casserole from the freezer and remove any plastic wrap. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and place it in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 60-75 minutes or until warm. Then remove the foil, raise the oven temperature to 375, and bake until the top is browned or about 15-20 minutes.
Store and Freeze
Leftover cornbread dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. It can also be frozen in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
More Holiday Recipes
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Ingredients
Cornbread Dressing
- 8×8 cornbread cut into 1-inch cubes and dried see recipe below
- 3-4 cups crusty French bread cut into 1-inch cubes and dried
- 8 ounces pork or turkey sausage preferably sage flavored
- ¾ cup unsalted butter 12 tablespoons
- 1 medium yellow onion finely chopped
- 4 ribs celery chopped
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2-3 cups low sodium chicken broth or chicken stock see notes
- 2 large eggs beaten
Cornbread Recipe
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup milk
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet or an 8×8-inch baking dish.
- Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the milk, egg, and vegetable oil and stir well to combine with a spoon. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 20-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cornbread cool for 30 minutes before slicing it into 1-inch pieces.
- Place the cornbread chunks and French bread chunks on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Place in a 275 degrees oven for about 30-45 minutes tossing every 10 minutes until the bread is dry and stale.
- Meanwhile, brown the pork sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. When is about halfway through the browning process add the butter, onions, and celery. Continue cooking until the onions and celery are soft. Remove from the heat and let it cool a bit.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Add the dried cubed bread to a large bowl. Top the cubed bread with the sausage mixture, dried cranberries, fresh herbs, kosher salt, and fresh ground black pepper.
- Add about 1/2 cup of chicken broth at a time and the beaten eggs alternating between the two and tossing to coat. The key to good stuffing is to lightly moisten it. You do not want it soggy or dry.
- Spoon the stuffing into a greased 9×13-inch casserole. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Notes
- If possible, make the cornbread several days in advance to get that step out of the way and let the cornbread start to dry naturally.
- Saute the onions and celery until they are soft.
- If you plan to use prepackaged seasoned bread cubes, omit the salt. They usually have a high sodium content, and salt can quickly dominate the dish.
- Add the right amount of broth. Because of its salt content, use low-sodium chicken broth. The key here is to lightly moisten the bread. It should not be soggy or dry. Add about 1/2 cup at a time until lightly moistened. You can always add more, but you can not take it back.
- Other add-ins for this stuffing include pinenuts, mushrooms, bacon, carrots, or parsnips.
- Reserve a couple of pinches of each herb and sprinkle over the top of the dressing after baking. It adds so much flavor.
Nutrition
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https://www.smalltownwoman.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Beth-1.pdf
Dana Sandonato
There’s just something about cornbread that adds a little something *extra* to dressing. Despite being back up North now, I think I need to introduce this Southern beauty this holiday season!
Beth Pierce
Sounds like a plan! Enjoy, Dana!
Kate
This cornbread dressing has the perfect balance of flavors and textures!
Michelle
This dressing is such a great addition to our holiday table. Everyone loves it so much, that it has become a family favorite now, thank you for sharing the recipe.
Beth Pierce
The pleasure is all mine, Michelle!
Suja md
Truly amazing in taste and flavors in this recipe. Will definitely make again, very good recipe!
Kathleen
We loved this combination of flavors, cornbread, sausage and cranberry. It’s an amazing dressing and I can’t wait to make it again for the holidays! Perfecto!
Lynae Tyson
This recipe definitely sounds more like stuffing , even though the title says dressing especially with the added sweet ingredients, like cranberries. Traditional cornbread dressing as my southern grandmother and family makes around the holiday, is savory and not sweet. There is usually the cranberry sauce , and candied yams as side dishes too. This recipe kinda bring all of those favors together. I will probably try out this recipe , for myself. But not around the Holidays , lol. . As I wait all year long to eat my Grandmothers dressing recipe and traditional sides . As she or my Mother are no longer around , it not just the food but part of the wonderful memories I shared with them both.
Happy Holidays
LBM
Beth Pierce
Happy holidays to you as well!
Sharon
This cornbread stuffing is going to easily become a holiday side dish staple. I love the sweetness from the cornbread mixed with the other savory ingredients together.
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Sharon! So glad that you liked the cornbread stuffing!
Debbie
The original recipe calls for 3/4 c which is 12 tbls. When the recipe was doubled and tripled, the amount of tablespoons in parentheses were not also double or tripled, erroneously.
Beth Pierce
Thanks for the heads up.
Toni
This deserves a spot on my Thanksgiving menu this year! AHH-mazing!
Dana
Cornbread makes for such a delicious stuffing. Love the warm flavors in this recipe!
Tara
Such a wonderful option for the upcoming holidays! This cornbread dressing was so good, especially with all of those fresh herbs.
Dannii
The flavors in this dressing are amazing. Anything with lots of herbs is good for me.
Erin | Dinners, Dishes and Dessert
Such an amazing side dish! I served it with some roasted chicken and it was delicious.
Juidy
There are 20 tablespoons in 2-1/4 cups of butter. Why do you have 12 tablespoons. I don’t know about you but in my neck of the woods each stick of butter is 8 tablespoons or a half of cup. So your recipe calls for 4-1/2 sticks which is 2-1/4 cups. If you do the math it comes to 20 tablespoons. So I’m confused
Beth Pierce
You are confusing me. There is 3/4 cup of butter in the recipe which is a total of 12 tablespoons or 1 1/2 sticks.
Catalina
All the delicious flavors that I like in on dish! It looks amazingly delicious!
Beth Pierce
Thanks, Catalina!
Sandra
This is just the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving! So good!
Dorothy Reinhold
Dressing the BEST part of the meal. I love that you added cranberries. Can’t wait to try this recipe!