Southern Cornbread Dressing
Updated Dec. 16, 2024
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus 8 hours for drying out cornbread
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4tablespoons/56 grams butter
- 2cups/340 grams yellow cornmeal, fine grind (use the freshest, best quality you can find)
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- 2eggs
- 2cups/473 milliliters buttermilk, preferably full fat
- 3cups soft white bread, crust removed and torn or cut into 1-inch pieces (do not pack)
- ½cup butter (1 stick), plus more for the pan
- 2cups chopped sweet onions
- 1½cups chopped celery (4 or 5 stalks)
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt
- 2eggs
- 1¼tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
- 1teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- ¾teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 to 5cups rich chicken or turkey stock, preferably homemade
For the Cornbread
For the Dressing
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
380 calories; 18 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 43 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 672 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the cornbread: Heat oven to 450 degrees. Put butter in an 11-inch skillet. Cast-iron is best here, but any ovenproof skillet will do. Heat butter in oven for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until butter has melted and is just starting to brown.
- Step 2
While butter melts, whisk together cornmeal, salt and baking powder. In another small bowl, lightly beat eggs, then add buttermilk and stir until mixture is combined. Pour egg mixture into dry ingredients and stir well.
- Step 3
Remove hot pan from oven, pour butter into batter and stir until batter looks uniform. Pour batter back into the pan and bake for 20 minutes or until the top has begun to just brown.
- Step 4
Remove cornbread and let it cool on a rack. Tear or cut it into large pieces and place in a large bowl. Let it sit out overnight to dry out slightly.
- Step 5
Prepare the dressing: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cornbread and white bread in a large bowl, tossing to mix, and breaking cornbread into smaller pieces.
- Step 6
Melt butter in a large skillet, and add onions, celery and ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté until vegetables have softened, about 6 minutes.
- Step 7
Add vegetables to bread mixture and combine. Lightly beat eggs and add to bowl. Sprinkle in herbs, remaining 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper and toss together.
- Step 8
Add 4 cups broth and stir well. Using your hands, work the mixture to get a very lumpy, thick, batterlike consistency. Add another cup of stock if needed. The mixture should be very wet and pourable but without standing liquid.
- Step 9
Butter an 8-by-11-inch baking dish. (Any other ovenproof dish that can hold about 2 quarts will work. A deeper vessel could take longer to bake; a more shallow dish less time.) Pour the mixture into the baking dish and bake until dressing puffs slightly and has browned well around the edges, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you have drippings from a roasted turkey, spoon some over the top about 30 minutes into the baking time.
- To add sausage, brown ¾ pound pork sausage in a pan, crumbling it into small pieces as it cooks. Add to the bread mixture along with the vegetables. Spicy Italian sausage, fresh andouille or spicy Southern-style pork sausage are nice.
- You can substitute bacon drippings for butter in the cornbread recipe.
- To include nuts, add 2½ cups of toasted pecans, chopped, to the vegetable and bread mixture.
- On Thanksgiving, you can add chopped giblets and turkey neck meat to the vegetable and bread mixture, or add shredded leftover turkey for a casserole the next day.
Private Notes
Comments
Great idea to include measurements in grams for the butter and cornmeal; how about doing the same for the other ingredients as well? You say the white bread should measure 3 cups but not to pack - if you specified the weight, we would be sure to get it right. Same thing for the onions and celery. I understand this is not the custom in the US, but once a cook starts weighing ingredients, we see how useful it is, and can never go back.
I strongly recommend reading the article by Kim Severson from which this recipe is drawn. She writes of "schisms," "politics," and indeed the "cultural divide" that is cornbread—and she does so thoughtfully, with refreshing wit, and no manifesto. It takes the recipe far beyond ingredients and teaspoons: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/dining/cornbread-dressing-thanksgiving...
1. A sweet cornbread person should not give in to the temptation to add sugar--remember that for dressing it will taste wrong.
2. For more consistent hardening, instead of leaving it out overnight to go stale after the cube/tear/crumble step, put the pieces on baking sheets in a warm oven until they are crispy/dry. The pieces will hold up better when they get mixed, instead of turning to mush.
Absolutely dreadful. Using fine grain cornmeal prevented the mixture from absorbing the liquid. As a result, it was dry as powder. A ratio of more wheat bread to cornbread may have helped. The 8x11 pan was too small, as well.
Perfect expression of traditional Southern cornbread dressing. After years of guessing what my mama and grandma did, this recipe delivered their best. NOTE: add 1-2 cans of green chili. Adds moisture and wonderful flavor.
If you grew up in the South, both Thanksgiving and Christmas included cornbread dressing. My wife has her mother's recipe, which was also her grandmother's, written in cursive on an index card that is itself is a family heirloom. The aroma of her cooking up the celery and onions means the holiday has arrived. We always make enough for leftovers that can be a meal unto itself.
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