Southern Cornbread Dressing
A pan of cornbread baked, crumbled while hot and mixed with sausage, onion, bell pepper and celery, poultry seasoning, broth, milk and eggs, then baked in ridges with butter brushed on top until crisp outside and almost creamy inside.
In most of the South it is called dressing, and it is usually baked in a pan, not in the bird. Surveys agree on the split: a Mrs. Cubbison's survey, reported in 2012, found Southerners say "dressing" while the East, Midwest and West say "stuffing", and that 70 percent of Southern respondents bake it in a casserole dish (Carolina Country:). Culinary historian Toni Tipton-Martin traces cornbread dressing to kusha, "a couscous-like dish of steamed or boiled grains of millet or sorghum" in West Africa, which became kush in America, made with corn mush or crumbled cornbread; historian Michael Twitty found kush recipes in the Federal Writers' Project slave narratives (The Takeout, November 22, 2019:). South Carolina's tourism office quotes Twitty calling kush the "grandmother" of Southern cornbread dressing, describes it as day-old cornbread fried with onions, herbs and spices, and notes oyster dressing in the Lowcountry and country sausage in the Pee Dee. Bread stuffings from England (our Sage and Onion Stuffing and New England Sage Bread Stuffing recipes) are the other branch of the family.
🇺🇸 This one is American
A pan of cornbread baked, crumbled while hot and mixed with sausage, onion, bell pepper and celery, poultry seasoning, broth, milk and eggs, then baked in ridges with butter brushed on top until crisp outside and almost creamy inside.
🇬🇧 The original
The English original is sage and onion bound with breadcrumbs and butter, cooked inside the bird or in a dish beside it. See the Sage and Onion Stuffing (Mrs Beeton, 1861) recipe.
🗳️ Bread stuffing or cornbread dressing? Vote: Bread stuffing vs Cornbread dressing →
📖 Myth check: Is It Safe to Cook Stuffing Inside the Turkey? → 📖 : Stuffing vs Dressing: What's the Difference? →
Why it works the kitchen science
Ridges on top
The raised lines brown and crisp in the hot oven, so every spoonful gets a crunchy edge over a moist, almost creamy middle (ATK).
Crumble it hot
Hot cornbread breaks apart easily into small pieces that soak up the broth, milk and eggs evenly.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle and grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in one bowl and the milk, eggs and melted butter in another. Stir together until just combined, pour into the dish and bake about 20 minutes, until golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- Step 2
While it bakes, melt 2 tbsp butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onions, bell peppers and celery and cook about 8 minutes, breaking up the sausage, until it is cooked through and the vegetables are soft. Stir in the poultry seasoning, garlic, salt and cayenne and cook 1 minute. Scrape into a large bowl.
- Step 3
Turn the hot cornbread out onto a rimmed baking sheet and break it into small pieces with two forks.
- Step 4
Add the cornbread to the sausage mixture, then stir in the broth, milk, eggs, parsley and pepper. It will look wet.
- Step 5
Spread it back in the baking dish without packing it down, then drag a spatula or wooden spoon across the top to make ridges about 1/2 inch apart. Brush with the 4 tbsp melted butter.
- Step 6
Bake at 425°F about 35 minutes, until the top is browned and crisp and the center reads 165°F.
- Step 7
Cool 10 minutes before serving.
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Serves 12 · one 13 by 9-inch dish · 1 hr 30 min total
Cornbread
- 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) yellow cornmeal
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups whole milk
- 3 large eggs
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Dressing
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus 4 tbsp melted for the top
- 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 green bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped
- 2 celery ribs, chopped
- 1 tbsp poultry seasoning
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle and grease a 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in one bowl and the milk, eggs and melted butter in another. Stir together until just combined, pour into the dish and bake about 20 minutes, until golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
- While it bakes, melt 2 tbsp butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onions, bell peppers and celery and cook about 8 minutes, breaking up the sausage, until it is cooked through and the vegetables are soft. Stir in the poultry seasoning, garlic, salt and cayenne and cook 1 minute. Scrape into a large bowl.
- Turn the hot cornbread out onto a rimmed baking sheet and break it into small pieces with two forks.
- Add the cornbread to the sausage mixture, then stir in the broth, milk, eggs, parsley and pepper. It will look wet.
- Spread it back in the baking dish without packing it down, then drag a spatula or wooden spoon across the top to make ridges about 1/2 inch apart. Brush with the 4 tbsp melted butter.
- Bake at 425°F about 35 minutes, until the top is browned and crisp and the center reads 165°F.
- Cool 10 minutes before serving.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen (Cook's Country), "Classic Sausage-Herb Cornbread Dressing" by Matthew Fairman (August 6, 2019), as written (ATK says 10 to 12; we call it 12). ATK's make-ahead note refrigerates the assembled dressing for up to 24 hours; we do not (FSIS). The 165°F check is ours. America's Test Kitchen. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- No sausage? Leave it out and add 2 tbsp more butter to cook the vegetables.
- Many Southern cooks use white cornmeal and day-old, unsweetened cornbread; see Rules.
- Giblets can go into the dressing or into the gravy on top (Discover South Carolina).
- Cornbread can be baked, crumbled and kept in a zipper-lock bag at room temperature for up to 24 hours (ATK).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Dressing means it was cooked outside the bird. Disputed: Louisiana's tourism office says stuffing is cooked inside the bird and dressing on the side; Wikipedia says a separately cooked dish may be called either, and surveys show the name follows region more than method.
- "Dressing" was a Victorian polite word for "stuffing". Disputed: news articles repeat that 1850s Victorians found "stuffing" vulgar (unsourced); Wikipedia dates "dressing" to 1850, but Amelia Simmons's 1796 book is already called "The Art of Dressing Viands", using dressing to mean preparing food. Do not use the Victorian story.
- Cornbread dressing comes from West Africa. Disputed as a single origin: Tipton-Martin and Twitty trace it through kusha and kush; English bread stuffings with sage (our Sage and Onion Stuffing and New England Sage Bread Stuffing recipes) are also in its family tree.
- No sugar in the cornbread. Disputed: ATK's cornbread uses sugar, flour and yellow cornmeal; Discover South Carolina says most Southern cooks prefer white cornmeal. Both are Southern.
- Make it a day ahead in the dish. Disputed: ATK allows refrigerating the assembled dressing for 24 hours; FSIS says never to refrigerate uncooked stuffing (freeze it instead). We follow FSIS.
Every other stuffing
Sage and Onion Stuffing (Mrs Beeton, 1861)
The Victorian English stuffing for goose, duck and pork: onions simmered until mild, chopped fine with fresh sage, worked together with bread crumbs, butter and an egg yolk, and baked in its own dish until crisp on top.
Chestnut and Pork Stuffing (Farce aux Marrons)
Whole chestnuts simmered in broth until just tender, folded into seasoned ground pork with shallots, thyme and a splash of Cognac, and baked in its own dish: the classic French stuffing for a Christmas turkey.
Artusi's Roast Chicken with Sausage and Chestnut Stuffing (1891)
Pellegrino Artusi's family stuffing of Italian sausage, chicken liver, roasted chestnuts, dried mushrooms and nutmeg, bound with egg and a little bread soaked in broth, packed into a whole chicken and roasted until the stuffing itself reads 165°F.
Lebanese Hashweh (Spiced Rice and Beef Stuffing)
Ground beef and onion browned in olive oil, seasoned with Lebanese seven-spice, cooked with basmati rice in chicken broth and finished with toasted pine nuts and parsley: served on its own or as a stuffing for turkey.
Italian-American Sausage and Fennel Stuffing
Oven-dried white bread cubes tossed with browned sweet Italian sausage, onion and fennel cooked in butter, fresh thyme, marjoram and sage, chicken broth and eggs, baked covered and then uncovered until golden.
Chinese-American Sticky Rice Stuffing
Soaked and steamed glutinous rice tossed with lap cheong (sweet Chinese sausage), onion and caramelized shiitake, seasoned with light and dark soy sauce and chicken stock, then roasted in a cast-iron skillet until the top and bottom turn crisp.
New England Sage Bread Stuffing
Dried French bread cubes tossed with onion and celery cooked in butter, sage, thyme, marjoram and parsley, chicken broth and eggs, baked covered until fragrant and then uncovered until a golden crust forms.
New Orleans Oyster Dressing (Leah Chase)
Leah Chase's holiday dressing: day-old bread soaked in oyster liquor, browned ground beef and the Creole trinity cooked in butter, chopped Gulf oysters, thyme and cayenne, bound with egg and baked under seasoned bread crumbs.
Wild Rice Dressing (Minnesota)
Nutty wild rice cooked in broth, mixed with toasted bread crumbs, onion, celery, garlic, sage and thyme and a light custard of cream, eggs and the rice's own cooking liquid, baked covered until set.
Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Filling
Half mashed potatoes, half stuffing: boiled potatoes beaten with milk, eggs and parsley, mixed with onion and celery cooked in butter and buttery toasted bread cubes, and baked until crusty on top.
Weeknight Crispy Skillet Stuffing
A half-size, one-skillet stuffing for any night: baguette cubes toasted in a hot oven, soaked in broth and egg with browned onion, celery, sage and thyme, crisped on the stove and finished in the oven with a golden crust on top and bottom.
Stovetop-Style Stuffing, Inspired by Stove Top
The boxed classic made from scratch: white and whole wheat bread cut into eraser-size crumbs and dried in the oven, then stirred into a simmering pot of broth, butter, dried onion, celery and poultry seasoning, covered and left to stand 5 minutes. Inspired by, not official.
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