There are so many things to love about this holiday classic, Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing! In addition to the taste, which is divine, you can make this old-fashioned, southern-style recipe ahead, and it freezes beautifully.
9inchesround of cornbread,purchased or homemade, about four cups
1cupunsalted butter,melted
1sweet onion,medium, chopped
1green bell pepper,medium, seeded and chopped
3stalkscelerychopped
4hard-boiled eggs,peeled and chopped
1teaspoonpoultry seasoning
3cupschicken brothdivided
2raw eggsbeaten
1teaspoonKosher salt
½ teaspoonground black pepper
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
Add butter to a large skillet over low heat. When it is melted, stir in onions, celery, and green bell pepper; saute vegetables for ten minutes or until softened.
While the vegetables are cooking, crumble cornbread in a large bowl. Add hard-boiled eggs, two cups of chicken broth, and poultry seasoning.
Add the cooked vegetables and butter, to the crumbled cornbread and gently combine the ingredients. You can use a spoon, but your hands work best. Taste and add kosher salt and ground black pepper.
Add beaten eggs and mix well. Don't be alarmed if the mixture is soupy. If it's not, add up to one more cup of chicken broth, a little at a time, until it is soupy. It should be about the consistency of thick cornbread batter.
Pour the mixture into a well-greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish or large baking dish.
Bake uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes or until the dressing is set and golden brown on top.
Video
Notes
If you get in a bind and run out of time to make cornbread for the dressing, around the holidays, most grocery stores and bakeries sell pre-made cornbread or corn muffins, which you can use instead of making your own. Just try to avoid cornbread with sugar added.
If making ahead, cover and refrigerate the unbaked cornbread dressing for up to three days or freeze for up to two months. Let it thaw overnight before baking.
It's best to make or purchase the cornbread two days or so before making the dressing to allow it to dry.
Be sure to taste the dressing before adding the raw eggs to see if you need to add more poultry seasoning, salt, or pepper.
Check your dressing about halfway through the cooking time. If it starts looking dry, sprinkle a few more tablespoons of chicken stock evenly over the top.
If you have trouble peeling hard-boiled eggs, check out my post, Perfect Easy to Peel Hard Boiled Eggs. Or, it's perfectly fine to purchase your eggs already cooked and peeled.