Seasonings: This cornbread dressing is seasoned with dried sage, salt, and black pepper. Of course, you can adjust the seasonings to taste.
How to Make Cornbread Dressing
You'll find the full, step-by-step recipe below — but here's a brief overview of what you can expect when you make this top-rated cornbread dressing:
Sauté the vegetables in butter until soft.
Add the sautéed vegetables to the crumbled cornbread.
Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix until well-combined.
Transfer the dressing to a prepared baking dish and bake until golden brown.
Recipe Tip
Purchase pre-made cornbread at your grocery store or make your own from your favorite boxed mix. Just follow the instructions on the box.
Test Kitchen Tips
"No frills, just perfection," Nicole McLaughlin (a.k.a. NicoleMcMom) says of this crowd-pleasing cornbread dressing recipe. Here are a few of her takeaways:
Nicole likes to give the cornbread time to soak up all the flavor and richness from the spices, butter, and stock. She mixes everything up a day in advance, then bakes the dressing the day she plans to serve it.
Be careful not to bake the dressing too long, as this will dry it out. Bake it just until it's golden brown around the edges.
"Whenever I use dried herbs in a dish, I like to freshen it up with a sprinkle of parsley at the end," Nicole says. It adds a burst of color and fresh flavor.
How to Store Cornbread Dressing
Transfer the cornbread dressing to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for three to four days. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven, adding more broth for moisture as necessary.
Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise
"Always a hit," according to delafuenten01. "I always double the recipe but season to my taste, adjusting salt, pepper and sage. I also add poultry seasoning. Love it! This year I made it ahead the night before and warmed it up for about 10 minutes."
"Turned out PERFECTLY," raves Samantha Azar. "Exactly how I remember my Nanny's house smelling for every Thanksgiving and Christmas!"
"It was really good, we had never used sage in our dressing before," says JaLise Haney. "It is a favorite now! I also added red and green bell peppers and a little extra seasoning of my own from our family recipe!"
If your dressing doesn't turn out right, don't fret. You can usually fix it. If you find your stuffing is too dry, add additional warmed broth to it, stir well, and return to the oven, checking periodically. If the stuffing is overly wet and too gummy, cook it uncovered for a bit longer, checking periodically.
Cover the dish with foil and bake on the center rack of a preheated oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. Next, remove the foil and 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees until the top it a bit golden and crispy. Be sure not to over bake the cornbread dressing or it will dry out.
If the stuffing came out too wet and soggy (aka bread soup!) try not to over mix it, otherwise it'll turn into mush. Curtis Stone says to pour it on a large sheet tray and spread it out. Bake it on high heat to crisp it up, but make sure it doesn't burn.
Cook until the center of the dressing reaches 165 degrees. When checked with a food thermometer. Never place frozen dressing or other frozen food in a slow cooker, it will not reach proper safe temperature fast enough.
The stuffing should be moist but not wet. If there is a puddle of broth at the bottom of the bowl, you've added too much. Add more bread to soak up the excess moisture. If the mix is still dry and crumbly, add more liquid and toss gently until it starts to clump together.
Absolutely. Most Thanksgiving stuffing recipes can be made at least partially in advance since: A) They're easily assembled a day or two ahead of Thanksgiving Day; and B) They're often baked using a two-step process (once covered with foil to cook through, then uncovered to achieve a crispy top).
Do not refrigerate uncooked stuffing. If stuffing is prepared ahead of time, it must be either frozen or cooked immediately. To use cooked stuffing later, cool in shallow containers and refrigerate it within 2 hours. Use it within 3 to 4 days.
Fully cook raw meat, poultry, or seafood ingredients before adding to stuffing. Combine the ingredients and place them in your bird immediately before cooking. Don't stuff whole poultry with cooked stuffing. In addition to the turkey, the stuffing's center needs to reach 165 F.
Vegetable broth – To moisten the bread. Eggs – They add richness and moisture, helping to create the stuffing's irresistible gooey center. And sea salt and fresh black pepper – To make all the flavors pop!
Can cornbread be left out overnight? Yes, it is perfectly fine to crumble or dice cornbread and leave it out at room temperature overnight so that it goes stale for dressing. Stale cornbread soaks up more flavor.
Can you prepare stuffing ahead of time and reheat? YES! This stuffing is baked to golden perfection the day before the big meal. You store it in the fridge overnight and then simply warm it in the oven before dinner.
One potential reason for gummy cornbread dressing could be using cornbread that is too moist. It's best to use cornbread that has been left out overnight or is slightly stale to ensure a drier texture.
But a polyunsaturated oil, such as vegetable oil, remains liquid at fridge temperature. When combined with olive oil, it keeps the saturated fat molecules further apart so that they can't readily lock together, slowing crystallization if the mixture is chilled.
If your cornbread dressing is mushy, be sure you baked it in a wide enough pan. Plenty of surface area will help the top crisp and the bottom bake completely. Also, be sure you measured your ingredients properly and didn't add too much liquid.
Introduction: My name is Melvina Ondricka, I am a helpful, fancy, friendly, innocent, outstanding, courageous, thoughtful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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