Southern Cornbread Dressing

A classic Southern cornbread dressing is the perfect addition to every holiday table!

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword cornbread dressing, cornbread dressing recipe, cornbread dressing southern, southern cornbread dressing

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 5

Servings people

Calories 320kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

1 lb. ground pork sausage
¼ cup butter
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced sweet onion
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (or ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary)
1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage (or ¼ teaspoon dried sage)
1 (8 inch) cast iron skillet or baking dish of day-old cornbread, cubed (about 8 cups total) (I use this cornbread recipe, but any will work)
2 cups day-old cubed biscuits or crusty bread (we like these 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits)
3 cups chicken broth, plus more if needed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat until no longer pink, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat; drain off fat. Add butter, celery, and onion to the skillet with the sausage; cook until tender. Stir in the thyme, rosemary, and sage; cook for 1 more minute.
In a large bowl, stir together the sausage mixture, cornbread, cubed bread or biscuits, broth, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper. You can add a little bit of extra broth, if necessary, so that the mixture is very moist. Remember, the cornbread and biscuits will absorb the liquid and it will continue to dry out in the oven as well. Transfer the stuffing mixture to the prepared baking dish.
Bake until lightly browned and set, about 30-40 minutes. If the stuffing starts to look too dry or too dark on top, tent loosely with foil and continue baking until done.

Adding cubed day-old biscuits or crusty bread to the dressing gives the dish more flavor and yields a better texture. I like to use these 3-ingredient buttermilk biscuits or these cheddar biscuits with chives and bacon; however, you can also use canned or store-bought biscuits, or just cube some leftover stale bread. Approximately 2 biscuits equals 2 cups cubed.

You'll need a total of about 10 cups of dried, cubed bread (about 8 cups of cornbread and about 2 cups of biscuits or bread). If you have less than 8 cups of cornbread, no problem -- just use a little bit more than 2 cups of bread or biscuits to make up the difference. Dressing is meant to be a humble, rustic way to take advantage of the leftovers that you have on hand!

If you prefer a softer, more moist dressing, cover the dish with foil for most of the baking time. Remove the cover during the final 10 minutes to allow it to toast and brown on top.

If the dressing looks too dry at any point, just drizzle with a little bit of extra broth.