Grandma's Cornbread Dressing

4.7
(747)

My grandmother always made this cornbread dressing for holiday dinners and for family gatherings at other times of the year. Use your favorite cornbread mix to make a batch of cornbread, and then crumble it for use in this family-favorite recipe. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

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Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
35 mins
Total Time:
50 mins
Servings:
8

Ready to make the best cornbread dressing of your life? You're in luck! This old-fashioned dressing recipe will quickly become a family favorite.

Cornbread Dressing Ingredients

This dressing recipe comes together quickly with simple ingredients. Here's what you'll need:

  • Cornbread: This recipe starts with crumbled cornbread. You can buy pre-made cornbread, make it from a mix, or make a from-scratch cornbread recipe.
  • Vegetables: You'll need diced onions and celery.
  • Butter: Butter is used to saute the fresh vegetables.
  • Eggs: Two eggs add moisture and richness. They also act as a binding agent, which means they help hold the dressing together.
  • Stock: Use store-bought or homemade chicken stock for more flavor and moisture.
  • Seasonings: This cornbread dressing is seasoned with dried sage, salt, and black pepper. Of course, you can adjust the seasonings to taste.
a close up view looking over the corner of a casserole dish of Grandma's cornbread dressing.
Meredith Food Studio

How to Make Cornbread Dressing

You'll find the full, step-by-step recipe below — but here's a brief overview of what you can expect when you make this top-rated cornbread dressing:

  1. Sauté the vegetables in butter until soft.
  2. Add the sautéed vegetables to the crumbled cornbread.
  3. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined.
  4. Transfer the dressing to a prepared baking dish and bake until golden brown.

Recipe Tip

Purchase pre-made cornbread at your grocery store or make your own from your favorite boxed mix. Just follow the instructions on the box.

Test Kitchen Tips

"No frills, just perfection," Nicole McLaughlin (a.k.a. NicoleMcMom) says of this crowd-pleasing cornbread dressing recipe. Here are a few of her takeaways:

  • Nicole likes to give the cornbread time to soak up all the flavor and richness from the spices, butter, and stock. She mixes everything up a day in advance, then bakes the dressing the day she plans to serve it.
  • Be careful not to bake the dressing too long, as this will dry it out. Bake it just until it's golden brown around the edges.
  • "Whenever I use dried herbs in a dish, I like to freshen it up with a sprinkle of parsley at the end," Nicole says. It adds a burst of color and fresh flavor.

How to Store Cornbread Dressing

Transfer the cornbread dressing to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for three to four days. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven, adding more broth for moisture as necessary.

Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise

"Always a hit," according to delafuenten01. "I always double the recipe but season to my taste, adjusting salt, pepper and sage. I also add poultry seasoning. Love it! This year I made it ahead the night before and warmed it up for about 10 minutes."

"Turned out PERFECTLY," raves Samantha Azar. "Exactly how I remember my Nanny's house smelling for every Thanksgiving and Christmas!"

"It was really good, we had never used sage in our dressing before," says JaLise Haney. "It is a favorite now! I also added red and green bell peppers and a little extra seasoning of my own from our family recipe!"

Editorial contributions by Corey Williams

Ingredients

  • 3 cups crumbled cornbread

  • 2 tablespoons butter

  • 1 small onion, diced

  • ½ cup chopped celery

  • 2 large eggs, beaten

  • 2 cups chicken stock

  • 1 tablespoon dried sage, or more to taste

  • salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Gather all ingredients.

    ingredients gathered in various sized bowls

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 7x11-inch baking dish. Place crumbled cornbread in a large bowl.

    crumbled cornbread placed in a large bowl

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  3. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and celery and sauté until soft, 5 to 7 minutes.

    onions and celery sautéing in a skillet

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  4. Add sautéed onion and celery to the crumbled cornbread. Stir in chicken stock, eggs, sage, salt, and pepper until well combined. Pour dressing into the prepared baking dish.

    all ingredients combined and poured into dish

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  5. Bake in the preheated oven until dressing just starts to turn golden brown around the edges, about 30 minutes.

    dressing baked until golden-brown

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  6. Serve and enjoy!

    close up view of a spoon removing a scoop of grandma's cornbread dressing from the corner of a white casserole dish.
    My Hot Southern Mess

Editor's Note:

The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of sage and a 9x11-inch baking dish. Some reviewers commented that it was too much sage and the baking dish was too large, so we have modified the amount of sage and the baking dish size in the recipe above.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

250 Calories
9g Fat
38g Carbs
5g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 8
Calories 250
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 9g 11%
Saturated Fat 3g 15%
Cholesterol 11mg 4%
Sodium 1220mg 53%
Total Carbohydrate 38g 14%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Protein 5g 10%
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 142mg 11%
Iron 2mg 9%
Potassium 26mg 1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.

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