Perfect Cornbread Dressing

Bread stuffing for the holidays? Or cornbread dressing? What's the difference? Do you have a preference? I've found that's it's mostly a regional thing--if you live in the North, it's stuffing. If you live in the South, it's dressing. I don't know what they do out West; whatever they prefer, I guess. 😊

The majority of my childhood was spent up North in Indiana, but my roots are Southern, and, in our family, it's always been cornbread dressing. And the best recipe for dressing I know of is the one I got from Jimmy's grandmother and the one that I now cook every year for our family celebrations. 

Creamy, moist--but not too much--flavorful and savory, this cornbread dressing recipe is a meal in itself--in fact, I often make it throughout the rest of the year for supper with a vegetable or two on the side--but it goes perfectly with your turkey or ham for the holidays as well!

You start with crumbled cornbread, add in some sautéed onions and cooked, shredded chicken, some chicken broth and canned soup, and your seasonings--salt, pepper, and sage--and then bake it all in a casserole dish until it's golden brown and crispy on top.

The canned soup is really what makes this dressing so delicious. I've had cornbread dressings that were as dry as regular cornbread, crumbled and fell apart, sucked all the moisture out of your mouth, dressings that needed gravy just to make them palatable, but none of that applies to this dressing. The soup gives it just the right amount of liquid to make it creamy and moist without becoming too wet. In fact, it's really hard to mess this recipe up!

And did I mention that it can be made up to a day or two ahead of time before baking? Just store it covered in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook it, then pull it out and stick it in the oven to bake. Talk about reducing the big meal stress!

So, if you're looking for the perfect side to add to your Thanksgiving table this year, or you've never had dressing before but want to give it a try, you can't go wrong with this recipe--it's the perfect complement to your holiday preparations!