Southern Cornbread Dressing

Cornbread dressing fresh from the oven with homemade cranberry sauce

A classic Southern holiday dish made from cubed bread and cornbread, butter, sausage, eggs, and a handful of easy-to-find ingredients. Moist, well-seasoned, and truly comforting side dish!

Course Sides

Cuisine Southern

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 964kcal

Author Imma

Ingredients

3 tablespoons (42g) butter, divided
1 pound (453g) breakfast sausage
2 medium onion (about 2 cups)
2 stalks celery (about 2 cups)
2 teaspoons (10g) garlic, minced
1 teaspoon (2g) Italian seasonings
3 tablespoons (8g) fresh sage, chopped
1-2 teaspoons (1-2g) fresh thyme, minced
6 cups cornbread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 1 pound) see notes
2 cups bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ cup (120ml) half-and-half (or heavy cream)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup (240ml) chicken broth
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

Spray or generously butter a 9×13 baking or oven-proof dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Heat a large skillet over medium, and let it heat up. Then add breakfast sausage, and break it into chunks with a wooden spoon. Let it cook while stirring for 3 -5 minutes.
Add about a tablespoon of butter to the pan with the sausage, followed by onions, celery, garlic, Italian herbs, sage, and thyme. Then cook until onions are soft or wilted, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, combine day-old cornbread and bread cubes.
In a medium bowl, mix together half-and-half and eggs. Pour the egg mixture evenly over the cornbread mixture.
Carefully add the sausage and veggie mix with all its juice to the dairy and bread mixture. Gently fold it into the cornbread mixture, so it's well combined without mashing the cornbread.
Add chicken stock and continue folding until your dressing is moistened. Taste test and season with salt if needed.
Transfer your casserole mixture to the greased baking dish. Cut butter into tiny slivers and scatter on top of the dressing.
Put your casserole in a 350℉/177℃ oven until it is hot all the way through and crusty on top, 35-40 minutes. Start checking for doneness at around 30 minutes.

Notes

Use a day-old cornbread and bread. Day-old makes the best dressing because it soaks up the liquids better.
Advance preparation. You can assemble and refrigerate the casserole ahead, then bake it when you want. Do this weeks in advance, wrap it tightly, and freeze it. When ready to bake, just thaw it in the fridge overnight and bake.
Use rendered bacon fat for more flavor. If you want an extra savory flavor, replace some of the butter with bacon fat when sauteing the mixture.
Dry the bread. Baking the bread at a very low temperature for 20-30 minutes will dry the excess moisture if all you have is fresh bread.
The mix should have a moist sponge-like texture. Not too dry and not too wet is a perfect consistency.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.

Nutrition