This one's for Abby. She's been reading Sweet Tea + Thyme for over eight years, and after her grandmother passed this year, she asked me for an old fashioned cornbread dressing like the one she grew up on. If there's anything I understand, it's missing that familiar taste of grandma's cooking, so I'm sharing the one I make every single Thanksgiving: my Grandma Reid's dressing.
Loaded with tons of fresh sage, crisped up chicken sausage, and homemade turkey stock, it bakes up in about 40 minutes and honey, it never gets a chance to be leftovers. I’m lucky if it makes it to the table before it’s picked and nibbled away to nothing!
Jump to:
- Where Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Really Comes From
- Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Ingredients
- Making Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing with Crispy Sausage
- Making Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Ahead
- Equipment I Used
- More Southern Side Dishes for Thanksgiving
- Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sage and Sausage Recipe
Where Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Really Comes From
Food historians trace old fashioned cornbread dressing back to West Africa, to kusha, a couscous-like dish of steamed millet or sorghum. Africans trafficked to the American South made do with the rations they were given and turned it into kush: crumbled cornbread or cornmeal, scraps of pork and fat, wild onions, and herbs and peppers from their communal gardens, all sizzled up in a cast iron skillet. Culinary historian Michael Twitty describes kush spreading from the quarters out to the Big House and the kitchens of whites high- and low-bred, and he calls it the grandmother of Southern cornbread dressing.
And if you ask anybody in the South, this is dressin', not stuffing. It bakes in its own dish and never goes inside a turkey, ever.
Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Ingredients
Full ingredients, measurements, and printable instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Stale savory cornbread - It has to be dried out so it can soak up all that broth and egg. Sweet cornbread like Jiffy makes the whole pan taste like you added sugar to the dressing. That's not what we want. My savory cornbread recipe is in the recipe card notes.
- Saltines - Many recipes call for white bread, but to me, the best dressing is made with saltines, like my Grandma Reid makes it. White bread turns gummy and mushy and can even change the taste of the whole dish. No saltines? Three slices of stale toast will do.
- Sage sausage - The protein in cornbread dressing is very regional. My mama made her Low Country oyster dressing every year, some folks use fatback or bacon like the ancestors did, the Gullah Geechee add boiled eggs too, and plenty of elders will tell you to use sage sausage. Chicken apple sage sausage is my own swap. It brings those Thanksgiving flavors, plus a subtle sweetness from the apples ground right into it, but any pork or chicken sage sausage works.
- Butter - A whole stick goes in the pan. It’s the holidays, honey! The sausage crisps up in it, and every drop goes into the dressing.
- Smoked paprika - This is my addition to Grandma Reid's recipe. That smoky element is what elevates a rich, sorta boring ole dressing, and I love it against a sausage that's a bit sweet.
- Turkey broth - This is the ahem moist maker. Dressing is really a savory bread pudding, so the broth and eggs make a custard that brings both moisture and flavor.
Making Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing with Crispy Sausage
Step 1
Crisp the sausage chunks in butter
Melt a stick of butter in a large, wide skillet and crisp up the sausage in it. As the sausage browns, it renders its own fat into the butter, and all that savory flavor melts right in with it, so every drop of butter you scrape into the dressing is super flavorful.
Step 2
Sizzle those aromatics.
Add the celery and onions and sauté until the onions start to turn golden brown. Then add the garlic, sage, black pepper, and smoked paprika and let it sizzle until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
Step 3
Prepare the cornbread + crackers
Crumble the cornbread and crackers into a big mixing bowl. Keep the pieces good-sized so the dressing doesn't turn to mush.
Step 4
Stir in the browned sausage + veggies.
Add the sausage mixture and make sure to scrape in alllllll of the butter from the pan.
Step 5
Add the wet ingredients.
Mix in the beaten eggs, then add the turkey broth a little splash at a time. Don't dump it all in at once: the bread can't absorb it that fast, so you end up with dry spots and a mixture that won't come together. How wet you want it is up to you. I like mine squishy like a soggy shoe after you stepped in a puddle, but some people like it basically soup. Either way, it bakes up into a bread pudding-ish consistency.
Step 6
Butter the dish + pour in the dressing.
Obscenely butter up your casserole dish and pile the dressing in. Don't smooth the top. Those rough bits are what turn crisp, crunchy, and beautifully browned.
Step 7
Bake until golden brown + delicious.
Bake until the top is golden brown and crispy. I like to finish it with a few fried sage leaves for a little bit of fancy.
Making Old Fashioned Cornbread Dressing Ahead
Make the cornbread a day or two ahead and keep it in the fridge in a zip-top bag. Cook the sausage and aromatics the day before, then put the dressing together and bake it the day of. It's in and out of the oven in about 40 minutes, so it can go in once the spatchcock turkey comes out.
Equipment I Used
You'll need a 9x13 inch baking dish and a skillet to bake the cornbread and cook up the sausage.
More Southern Side Dishes for Thanksgiving
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Southern Cornbread Dressing with Sage and Sausage Recipe
Equipment
- 10 Inch Cast Iron Skillet for the cornbread, then for the sausage
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoon salted butter
- 16 ounces sage sausage, removed from casing and crumbled into small pieces, I used chicken apple sage sausage
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- 3 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped finely
- ½ teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 5 heaping cups stale savory cornbread, recipe in notes
- 1⅓ cup saltine crackers, or 3 slices of stale toast
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 3 cups turkey broth
- 1 tablespoon salted butter, for buttering the pan
- 5 fried sage leaves, optional
Instructions
- In a large pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until crispy and browned, about 5 minutes, allowing the butter to absorb all the flavor.8 tablespoon salted butter, 16 ounces sage sausage
- Add diced onion and celery to the sausage in the pan, sautéing until the onion is golden brown, around 4-5 minutes. Add garlic, sage, black pepper, and smoked paprika. Cook for 2 more minutes until fragrant.¼ teaspoon smoked paprika, 1 yellow onion, 2 celery ribs, 3 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, 1 tablespoon garlic, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- In a large mixing bowl, crumble the cornbread and crackers (keep them sizable to avoid mushy dressing).5 heaping cups stale savory cornbread, 1⅓ cup saltine crackers
- Gently fold in the sausage mixture, making sure to scrape all the flavorful butter from the pan.
- Mix in the beaten eggs then add the broth a little at a time to reach your preferred consistency, I like around 3 cups of broth. (For a wetter, more custard-y dressing, use more broth)2 large eggs, 3 cups turkey broth
- Butter a 9x13 inch casserole dish generously and transfer the dressing mixture into it. Don’t smooth the top, leave it rough for extra crispy bits.1 tablespoon salted butter
- Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 35-40 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crispy. Garnish with fried sage leaves for an extra touch of fancy (optional). Enjoy!5 fried sage leaves
Recipe Notes
- Make ahead: Make the cornbread 1 to 2 days ahead and store it in a zip-top bag in the fridge so it stales faster. Cook the sausage and aromatics the day before, then assemble and bake the dressing the day of.
- Freezing: Cool the baked dressing completely, wrap tightly, and freeze in an airtight container. Thaw overnight in the fridge and bake at 350°F until heated through and crispy. You can also freeze it unbaked and bake from frozen, adding extra time.
- Cornbread swap: Use stale savory cornbread only, not sweet. In a pinch, a savory boxed mix works, or dry your fresh cornbread on a baking sheet in a low oven.
Savory Cornbread Recipe
- 2 cups fine ground cornmeal
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil, + 2 tablespoon oil for the pan
- Preheat your oven to 450 °F/230ºC. Pour two tablespoons of oil into a 10-inch cast-iron skillet and place it in the oven for ten minutes.
- While the skillet heats up, combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl, whisking them together. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, and vegetable oil.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Do not overmix.
- Carefully take the hot skillet out of the oven with oven mitts. Tilt the pan slightly and swirl the vegetable oil around to coat the bottom and up the sides. Then, pour the batter into the skillet.
- Bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until the top of the cornbread turns golden brown and begins to pull away from the edges of the pan. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
- Let cool (and for this recipe, let it stale in the fridge in a zip top bag).
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