Cornbread Dressing
About the Recipe
I think cornbread dressing is more popular than French bread dressing, thanks in part to Stove Top Stuffing mix, but what do I know? Whether your favorite is cornbread or French bread, they are both easy to make.
This recipe is a little more involved than the boxed version you buy at the store. But do you really have any bragging rights when your dressing comes from a box?
Variations
Several options you can try with this recipe include adding country sausage, apples, and/or cranberries.
You could simply add any or all of these ingredients when preparing the mixture before you add it to the cornbread crumbles.
Equipment Needed
You will need a couple of things to make this recipe.
- Mixing bowl
- Sheet pan
- Baking Dish or 10" Cast iron pan
- 2 qt pot if not using the cast iron pan
- 1 ea Southern Cornbread Recipe (Cooked and cooled, see recipe below)
- .25 cup Butter (Grass fed, salted)
- 1 cup Onions (Yellow small dice)
- 1 cup Celery (Small dice)
- 2 tsp Poultry Seasoning
- 1 qt Chicken Stock
- .5 tsp Black Pepper (Ground)
- .5 tsp Salt (Morton Coarse Kosher Salt)
- 2 ea Eggs (Large)
- 3 cup Self Rising Cornmeal
- .75 cup Butter (Melted, or Avocado Oil)
- 2.5 cup Buttermilk
- 2 ea Eggs (Large)
- 1 Bag Mirepoix (Frozen, chopped instead of onions and celery)
- Southern Cornbread
Preheat Oven to 425
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk eggs, then stir in the remaining ingredients. Do not over-stir. The mixture may be lumpy.
Place an 8" cast iron pan in the oven for 5 minutes when the oven is ready.
Take the pan out of the oven, add the beef or pork fat, and carefully swirl the melted fat around the pan. Do not let it spill or splatter or it will burn you.
Pour the batter into the pan, and gently shake the pan to make sure the batter spreads to the wall of the pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from pan and serve with butter.
- Cornbread Dressing
Preheat oven to 350 degrees if making immediately.
Crumble 1 recipe of Southern Cornbread into small crumbles, spread on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and bake for 20 minutes until dried out.
In a 10-inch cast iron skillet, add the butter and saute the onions and celery on medium-low until they start to caramelize.
While the onions and celery are sauteeing, mix the chicken stock, poultry seasoning, sage, pepper, and eggs in a large mixing bowl.
When the onions and celery are finished, add them to the chicken stock mixture.
Add the dried cornbread to the mixture and mix well. Transfer to your buttered serving dish, or back into the cast iron pan and place them in a preheated oven at 350 degrees.
Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Remove from oven and serve in pan on a trivet.
You can also use the dressing in the pan as a bed for the carved turkey on the table.
If you prepare this ahead of time, prepare the day before, and let the pan cool before placing ingredients inside. Cover and place in the fridge until baking time. Do not store uncooked for more than a day. Place the pan directly in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
Alternate Serving method. You can butter a Corningware French White casserole dish and pour all the ingredients in it, cover it with a lid, and store it in the fridge for max one day. When ready to bake, let the dish sit at room temperature for 2 hours, remove the lid, and place the casserole dish in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.
