This Southern cornbread dressing recipe is buttery, moist, and full of flavor. It is the perfect dressing for Thanksgiving dinner, or a tasty side dish for turkey or chicken all year.

Southern cornbread dressing in a baking dish with a wooden spoon on the side.

"Today will be my second time making this delicious recipe. We love it. It's fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing a piece of your Granny Moore!"

★★★★★-Rebecca

Every Thanksgiving, we prepare Granny Moore's Southern cornbread dressing at our family gathering.

It is a timeless, Southern recipe that has been handed down through the generations of the Moore Clan. The dressing is buttery, moist, and delicious.

It has the "soul food" kind of flavor that made you feel all good inside.This Southern cornbread dressing is personally one of my most favorite dishes I look forward to having at Thanksgiving day.

My Crockpot Chicken and Gravy is also amazing over this cornbread dressing for a warm, delicious winter comfort meal! I hope you enjoy! Xoxo ~Katie.

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Ingredient notes and substitutions
Steps to make
Watch how to make
Cooking tips
In the press
About the recipe
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

ingredients for Southern cornbread dressing

Ingredient notes and substitutions

For this cornbread dressing recipe, you will need the following simple ingredients:

prepared cornbread-You can make homemade or purchase premade. We prefer Martha White or Jiffy brand.
onion- Dice finely. If you do not like the texture of onion, you can substitute with onion powder. I don't think Granny liked celery, hence it was not added. If you like celery, you can add diced celery with the onion.
evaporated milk-Do not use regular milk.
saltine crackers
Pepperidge Farms Stuffing Mix- This stuffing mix is well seasoned. For this reason, there is no additional poultry seasoning added.
turkey stock or chicken stock
butter-I use salted butter, but if you are watching your sodium, substitute with unsalted butter.

*The full recipe with ingredient measurements is located at the bottom of the post in the recipe card.

step by step how to make Southern Cornbread Dressing

Steps to make

Prepare and cook cornbread mix according to directions.
After cornbread is cooked, crumble cornbread into a large mixing bowl.
Finely chop an onion and crush one sleeve of saltine crackers.
Add in the onion, evaporated milk, crushed crackers, Pepperidge Farms Mix, and broth to the crumbled cornbread. Mix well. It should be soupy.
Place cornbread mixture in a large greased 13x9 inch baking dish. Slice butter into several small pieces and evenly arrange slices of butter on top of dressing. (This keeps the top from drying out and creates a nice buttery taste.)
Bake uncovered at 350 for about 35 minutes. You do not want it to dry out.
Allow it to set for 10 minutes before serving.

Watch how to make

Cooking tips

Here are the tips and tricks from Granny on how to make Southern Cornbread Dressing:

You can make the cornbread the night before.
Granny liked Ballard Cornbread Mix , however it is no longer available. Martha White claims to use the Ballard Recipe, but some family members just use Jiffy. Either cornbread mix will work.
For sure, she ALWAYS used Herbed Seasoned Pepperidge Farm Stuffing Mix. (If you want to make yours from scratch, try this recipe.) You can use cubed or classic.
The dressing will appear and feel soupy when you mix it, and that is how it is supposed to be!
Granny sliced butter for it to melt evenly on the dish when baking (pats of butter). This gives it an amazing buttery topping.
Be careful not to bake the dressing too long, or it will dry out. All ovens are different. Bake it long enough for the edges to be golden brown. The butter and liquids will absorb into the stuffing as the casserole rests.

city view magazine article of Southern Dressing Recipe

In the press

I was recently asked by City View Magazine, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to write their holiday food feature on dressing recipes. There was no way I could not include my grandmother-in-law's recipe in the article.

Do you stuff or dress your turkey? I prefer to dress. What better way to dress your turkey than using a southern cornbread dressing recipe! You can read about it in the full article, "To Stuff or to Dress."

About the recipe

Granny Moore is no longer here with us, but her traditions of family gathering and preparation of her southern cornbread dressing recipe still carry on.

Family was the MOST important to Granny. She always had time, love, hugs, and kisses for all her family members. We spent many, many Sunday afternoons visiting with her.

My kids had countless days of endless playtime in her living room. They were spoiled rotten by her. And she always ended our visits with hugs, kisses, and "I love you" in her southern drawl.

We miss her dearly. Creating this family recipe every year reminds us of the happy memories and special times we shared with her. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Granny Moore's Dressing, Southern Cornbread Dressing

If you are cooking your turkey for the first time, check out: How to Cook the Perfect Turkey- 5 Tips for a Juicy Turkey!

Try these other recipes for your Thanksgiving meal!

Please leave me a comment below if you make this Southern cornbread dressing and tell me what you thought about it. I would love to hear back, and so would my readers.

Also post your picture of your dressing on Instagram or Facebook, and tag @aforkstale with #aforkstale hashtags! I will share with my followers! xoxo!

📖 Recipe