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Southern Cornbread Dressing

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Cornbread Dressing
Prep Time:2 hours
Cook Time:1 hour

Ingredients

For cornbread: 

  • Buttermilk cornmeal (self-rising)
  • 4 eggs
  • Buttermilk

For dressing: 

  • 2-3 eggs (large)
  • 1 celery stalk
  • green pepper (chopped)
  • 1 yellow onion (large)
  • Hen (large) or whole chicken
  • 1-2 boullion cubes or 3-4 cups of chicken broth   
  • 1 stick of butter 
  • 1 short loaf of sourdough bread 
  • 1 can cream of celery (small) or cream of chicken
  • Sage (to taste-- be careful it's powerful)
  • Poultry Seasoning (optional)
  • 2-3 sticks of butter

Instructions

To Make Cornbread:

  • Make according to recipe on the bag but add 4 eggs instead of two as the recipe on the bag indicates.
  • Make the cornbread according to instructions. Set aside. 
  • Allow to cool completely.

To make broth:

  • Get a large pot (large enough to boil the entire chicken in)
  • Season the hen with salt and pepper to taste more salt than pepper. 
  • Fill the pot with water enough to cover the hen and place the hen along with a few stalks of celery and an entire yellow onion in the water and a stick of butter.
  • Boil.
  • Continue to boil until the meat is falling off of the bones. It should take 2-3 hours.
    Please note: You are making chicken broth.

Sauté vegetables: 

  • Chop a stalk or two of celery (celery is powerful), a green pepper and on onion. I do use prechopped vegetables.
  • Take a tablespoon of olive oil or less for vegetable oil and add to a skillet. 
  • Saute your vegetables in the oil until they are soft — not crispy. 
  • Take off of the heat of the skillet and set aside.

To make dressing:

  • After your hen is completely boiled down and the meat is falling off of the bones Take the hen out and set it to the side for it to cool. 
  • Pull apart the pieces of chicken meat. Put the meat to the side.
  • Take your cooled cornbread and crumble it up into a large bowl. The cooler the cornbread the easier it is to crumble.
  • Add the chopped meat. 
  • Add the seasonings, sautéed vegetables and cream of celery.
  • Add broth 2 cups at a time.  
  • At this point the dressing should be wet but not too soupy
  • Add the pieces of sourdough bread. Should be in a small pieces and should soak up the broth. 
  • Add the broth from the hen slowly.  (Should be approximately 4-5 cups) 
  • Taste the dressing. Add seasonings as necessary (poultry/sage/pepper) and to taste.
  • Once you are satisfied with the taste, add the 2 eggs.  
  • At this point do NOT sample anymore dressing. Stir until the batter is completely added together. 
  • Pour the contents of the batter evenly into a well-greased/oiled pan and put in the oven for approximately 25-30 min (or longer depending on depth of the pan).
  • Bake the mix until the dressing is completely cooked throughout and no longer soupy but not too dry. The top of the dressing should be firm to the touch.

Notes

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: holiday food, soul food, thanksgiving
Servings: 6