Classic Southern Cornbread Dressing
This classic Southern cornbread dressing uses finely crumbled, fully dried cornbread, sautéed aromatics, eggs, broth, and cream of chicken soup to create a moist, cohesive texture that doesn’t crumble or dry out. Built without bread, sage, or poultry seasoning, it delivers traditional cornbread flavor that holds together on the plate and stands up to gravy.
Servings: 10
Ingredients
Cornbread:
- 4 cup cornbread , crumble
Sausage:
- 1 cup patty sausage , well done, chop
Sauté Aromatics:
- 2 Tbsp butter
- ½ cup onion , dice
- ½ cup celery , dice
- pinch sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ cup pickled jalapeño , chop
Whisk Liquids:
- 4 egg , slight beat
- 1 cup cream of chicken soup
- 4 cup chicken broth + as needed
Instructions
- Dry cornbread completely, crumble FINE (important), and set aside; preferably the day before.
- Fry sausage patties well done, chop coarse enough to retain texture, and set aside.
- Melt butter in large skillet to sauté onion, celery, sugar, salt, pepper, and seasoning until softened.
- Add chopped sausage to skillet and sauté briefly to combine.
- Stir in pickled jalapeño and remove from heat.
- In a large Pyrex bowl, whisk eggs, soup, and broth until smooth.
- Combine half the Cornbread and half the Liquids to a 13×9" casserole dish.
- Add sautéed Sausage and Aromatics, and thoroughly combine.
- Continue adding cornbread and liquid, mixing until mixture forms a pourable slurry about 2" thick.
- Adjust with additional broth or cornbread as needed. Mixture should be fairly loose before baking.
- Bake at 350°F for 45–90 minutes, until set, with a little goo from the center on a toothpick.
Notes
Low-carb or keto cornbread produces an inferior dressing that is overly crumbly and lacks structure.
Cornbread should be crumbled fine rather than left in large chunks.
Cream of chicken soup adds richness and depth and is strongly recommended.
Poultry seasoning overwhelms the dish and is intentionally excluded.
Sage is omitted entirely, as it easily dominates the flavor.
Bread of any kind other than cornbread should never be used.
Before adding liquid, make cornbread crumbs look almost too fine, then trust the slurry… if it doesn’t look wrong, it’s wrong.
Nutrition Summary (per serving)
Net Carbs 48g
Carbs 48g
Fiber 0.4g
Calories 330kcal
Fat 12g
Sugar 1g
Protein 7g