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Spoon scooping cornbread dressing from a casserole dish
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Grandma's Cornbread Dressing

Southern cornbread dressing using simple no fuss ingredients. An old fashioned recipe just like Grandma made.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword holiday
Prep Time 1 day 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 15
Author Tara Buss

Equipment

  • 10x15 casserole dish
  • extra large mixing bowl
  • chef knife

Ingredients

  • 1 batch prepared cornbread homemade recipe in notes; or use Martha White hot rise recipe
  • 10 slices bread sandwich style white, wheat, or sourdough all work
  • 1½ cup onion finely chopped
  • 1½ cup celery finely chopped
  • 4 tsp dried sage
  • 2 tsp salt If your broth is salted start with less
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 6 eggs lightly whisked
  • 5-6 cups chicken broth for homemade instructions see notes

Instructions

  • Prepare cornbread (either homemade or Martha White hot rise mix) and let dry out a day or two. 
  • Cut or tear bread into ½ inch cubes and dry out bread overnight on a baking sheet. Toast on a large baking sheet if you are in a time crunch.
  • The next day, heat oven to 400 degrees f.
  • Crumble cornbread into little bits.
  • Combine cornbread, bread cubes, salt, pepper, sage, finely diced onions and celery in an extra large bowl and mix together.
  • Add five cups of the broth and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed before adding the eggs.
  • Whisk eggs and stir them into the cornbread mixture.The cornbread mixture should be very wet in consistency. Add the additional cup of broth if needed.
  • Pour into a well greased, 10 x 15 inch casserole dish and spread out in pan.
  • Bake covered, at 400 degrees for 1 hour.
  • After the elapsed time, uncover and shake the dish. If it jiggles, it is not done. If it is firm, it is done. If it doesn't look set, uncover, and bake for additional time until it is firm but still moist on the inside. This could take 5-20 minutes more depending on how deep your casserole dish is or how dry your bread was in the beginning.

Notes

Homemade cornbread recipe:
  • 1 cup cornmeal, medium grind
  • 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
  • 1 ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 ½ cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tbsp melted butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil (for greasing dish)
Whisk together dry ingredients. Add milk, egg, and butter and whisk to combine. Pour in greased 8x8 baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
Homemade broth:
To boil the chicken, place it in a stockpot and cover with water and add 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam that rises to the top. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook for about an hour. After chicken is cooked through, remove chicken and strain broth through a fine mesh sieve.