Sides · American-Southern
Cornbread Dressing
Homemade cornbread, dried, then baked with herbs and broth until crisp on the edges.
- Hands-on
- 1 h
- Hands-off
- 2 h 30 min
- Oven preheat
- 15 min
- Total
- 3 h 30 min
- Makes
- 8 servings
- Serves
- 8
The recipe lists 1 hr active and 3 hr 30 min total, including baking, cooling and drying the cornbread. Making the cornbread a day ahead splits this over two days.
Oven 190 °C · 170 °C fan (375 °F)
Pan 23 x 33 cm baking dish (US: 9 x 13 in baking dish)
- medium
- thanksgiving
- holiday
- southern
- make-ahead
Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means
Scaling? The cornbread is baked in the same 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 in) size as the dressing. If you change the batch size, change the dish size too, and check the centre temperature at the end. Some items (like eggs) don’t halve neatly: beat them, then measure out half.
Ingredients
You need: 23 x 33 cm (9 x 13 in) baking dish (used twice; wash between) · 2 rimmed baking sheets · large mixing bowls · whisk · microwave-safe bowl · wire rack · small offset spatula or butter knife · large skillet · aluminium foil · toothpick · instant-read thermometer · oven mitts
Contains: egg · milk · wheat
Method
Heat the oven for the cornbread
Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, gas 5, 375°F) and coat the baking dish well with cooking spray.
Ready when: The oven has reached 190°C (375°F).
Mix the dry ingredients
Whisk the 276 g cornmeal, 240 g flour, 50 g sugar, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda and 3 tsp salt in a large bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients
Melt the 198 g (14 tbsp) butter in the microwave in 30-second bursts and let it cool slightly. Whisk in the 480 ml buttermilk, 120 ml milk and 4 beaten eggs.
Ready when: The butter is fully melted after about 1 minute in total, and warm rather than hot when the eggs go in.
Bake the cornbread
Stir the wet mix into the dry until just combined with no lumps, pour it into the dish and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Ready when: The top is golden and a toothpick pushed into the centre comes out clean.
Cool completely
Let the cornbread cool completely in the dish on a wire rack.
Cut into cubes
Turn the oven down to 160°C (140°C fan, gas 3, 325°F). Loosen the cornbread edges, turn it out onto a board and cut it into 2.5 cm (1 in) cubes.
Dry the cubes
Spread the cubes in one layer on two rimmed baking sheets and bake for about 40 minutes, swapping and turning the sheets halfway. Let them cool.
Ready when: The edges are crisp and the cubes are almost completely dried out.
Heat the oven for the dressing
Turn the oven back up to 190°C (170°C fan, gas 5, 375°F) and butter the clean baking dish generously.
Ready when: The oven has reached 190°C (375°F).
Soften the vegetables
Melt the 170 g (12 tbsp) butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and celery with ¾ tsp salt and some pepper for 6-8 minutes, stirring now and then.
Ready when: The onion and celery are tender.
Add the herbs
Add the garlic, ¼ cup sage, 2 tbsp thyme and 1 tsp poultry seasoning and cook for about 2 minutes, then tip everything into a large bowl.
Ready when: The garlic and herbs smell fragrant.
Combine gently
Add the cornbread cubes, 950 ml (4 cups) broth and 2 beaten eggs. Toss gently until the bread is very moist and the vegetables are spread through it.
Otto tried this firstOtto stirs it like cake batter and the cornbread dissolves into mush. A few gentle folds are enough.Bake covered
Spread the mixture in the buttered dish, cover tightly with foil and bake for about 30 minutes.
Ready when: It's hot all the way through and steaming when you lift a corner of the foil (lift it away from you).
Uncover and crisp
Remove the foil and bake for about 20 minutes more.
Ready when: The top is lightly browned, the edges are crisp, and a thermometer in the centre reads at least 74°C (165°F). If not, keep baking and check every 5 minutes.
Rest and serve
Let it rest for 10 minutes, then scatter chopped parsley over the top and serve.
Swaps
- Instead of stone-ground yellow cornmeal: fine or coarse cornmeal both work in a cornbread made for dressing
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Make ahead
- Bake the cornbread up to 1 day ahead: cool it, wrap the dish tightly and keep it at room temperature. The dried cubes keep in an airtight container or bag for up to 24 hours. Mix the dressing and bake it on the day.
- Storage
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours in a shallow container. Eat within 2 days or freeze.
- Reheat
- Reheat until steaming hot all the way through, 74°C (165°F).
If something goes wrong
- Mushy dressing
Dry the cubes until they're almost completely dry, and toss gently once the broth and eggs go in. Overmixing breaks the cornbread down. - No time to oven-dry the cubes
Alternative: leave the cut cubes out at room temperature overnight to go stale.
Safety
- Raw cornbread batter and the uncooked dressing both contain raw egg. Don't taste either before baking.
- The dressing is a baked egg-and-broth casserole, so the centre must reach 74°C (165°F). Bake it in a dish, not inside a bird.
- Lift foil away from your face because of the trapped steam, and use oven mitts for the hot dish. Kids can help with tossing the cubes, away from the oven.