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My grandpa’s southern turkey cornbread dressing recipe is ALWAYS our favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. This old-fashioned holiday recipe is made with crumbled cornbread, white bread, tender green bell peppers and onions, juicy turkey meat, and of course, plenty of ground black pepper! Serve this classic southern side dish alongside your other holiday favorites.
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One of the best parts about waking up on Thanksgiving day is the smell of this turkey cornbread dressing. Turkey broth boiling on the stove in a large silver stock pot will always make your heart sing!
Whether it’s the holidays or not this Southern staple is so delicious! Once you have all the ingredients ready this is such an easy recipe to put together. We like to prep the cornbread, bread, and vegetables the day before so on Thanksgiving day, all we have to do is boil the turkey broth and mix everything together.
This family favorite dressing recipe is so good served with mashed potatoes, candied yams, homemade cranberry sauce, and mac and cheese.
Jump to:
- What is the Difference Between Stuffing and Dressing?
- Recipe Ingredients
- How to Make Turkey Dressing with Cornbread
- Recommended Tools
- Pro Tips
- How To Store/ Make Ahead
- Frequently Asked Questions —
- Looking For More Recipes?
- 📖 Recipe
- 💬 Comments
What is the Difference Between Stuffing and Dressing?
To stuff or not
Stuffing is made with cubes of bread, cornbread, chopped vegetables like celery and onions, poultry seasoning, and broth. It can be made with or without meat and some versions have ground sausage, dried cranberries, or chopped nuts mixed in.
Usually, stuffing is made to be “stuffed” inside of a turkey or a chicken. Other versions are where all the ingredients are mixed together with a bit more broth and then baked in a casserole dish. It’s a bit drier than dressing and this is the ideal side dish in the North.
What about dressing?
Dressing, on the other hand, is a classic comforting Southern and African American favorite with its roots in the deep South and even going all the way back to slavery times and West Africa.Dressing, in true Southerner fashion, is better than stuffing. Lol.
I find dressing to be a simpler version of stuffing. It’s made with much more liquid so it’s not as crumbly as stuffing. Its broth is made from boiling turkey wings, legs, breast, rib bones, or chicken with water, salt, and plenty of ground black pepper. Before baking, dressing is soupy in consistency, after baking it’s fluffy and filled with crumbled cornbread, torn white bread, tender bell peppers, onions, celery, and chunks of juicy turkey meat.
Our family’s version doesn’t contain any eggs (raw or hard-boiled) condensed cream of soup, or any extra seasonings, so the flavors of the cornbread, bread, vegetables, and turkey truly shine.
This cornbread dressing recipe is very simple and it's a flavorful and filling dish that stands on its own. Of course, it's amazing served as part of your holiday meal alongside your main meat(roast turkey, chicken, cornish hens, etc) or with your other holiday favorite side dishes.
Recipe Ingredients
Turkey - I had 3 ¼ pounds of turkey breast with the rib bone. I didn’t use all the turkey for this recipe. You can use 2.5 - 3 lb. Grandpa always used turkey wings and I grew up using turkey legs. Turkey wings, legs, or breasts all work just fine, use whatever you can find or prefer the flavor of the best!
Water - 12 cups of water is used to make the turkey broth. After boiling the turkey I usually end up with 9 - 10 cups of broth left. This is what we will use to get the dressing to the right consistency.
Ground black pepper - I wouldn’t be Grandpa’s famous cornbread dressing without tons and tons and tons of ground black pepper! I use between 2 - 2 ½ TABLESPOONS of black pepper. It’s used in the turkey broth as well as mixed in with the other ingredients. Feel free to use a bit less pepper if you don’t want it as spicy.
Salt - Added to the broth.
Vegetables - Green bell pepper, onion, and celery. I like to cook some of the vegetables in the broth and add some to the dressing mixture.
Cornbread - the main ingredient in this dressing. I always use a whole pan of my polenta cornbread. It is roughly 6 - 7 cups, use all of it for this cornbread dressing recipe.
White bread - Used to thicken the dressing. I grew up using store-bought white bread on the shelf. Now I always use my homemade white bread or Challah bread. Either way, you will need most of a whole loaf of bread or 6 cups roughly torn.(Don't use hard, rustic, or sourdough bread you really want soft sandwich bread for this recipe)
How to Make Turkey Dressing with Cornbread
All ingredients, measurements, and instructions are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step one. Rinse and place the turkey into a large 8-qt stock pot. Add water, salt, ground black pepper, chopped celery, and half of the chopped onions and green bell peppers. Bring the water to a boil then reduce the heat down to medium-low heat. Boil the turkey covered until it is tender and falling off the bone.
Step two. Remove the turkey from the pot using a pair of tongs to a separate plate or large bowl then separate the meat from the bones. Pour the turkey broth into the separate container as well, you should have 9 - 10 cups.
Step three. In the large pot that you boiled the turkey in, add the crumbled cornbread, torn bread, and the rest of the black pepper and vegetables. Add in most of the turkey broth. Mix with a large spoon until everything is combined and well incorporated. Add more broth until you have a liquidity consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning if desired.
Step four. Line a 10 x 15 baking dish (4.5 quarts) with parchment paper and then preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step five. Transfer the dressing into the prepared pan then spread it out evenly. Cover the top with a layer of parchment paper and aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour covered then remove both the parchment paper and aluminum foil then bake for another 30 - 40 minutes or until the top and the bottom are very nicely golden brown and it top is crisp.
Step six. Allow the dressing to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Large cooking pot 8 quart - more boiling the turkey broth and mixing the dressing
10 x 15-inch Baking dish (4.5 quarts) - no smaller unless you have two other pans that can at least hold 2 quarts each.
Tongs - for removing the meat from the pot
Pro Tips
The dressing should be liquidity BEFORE cooking. Dressing will bake for a long time so it’s important to add enough of the turkey broth and/or water so that you don’t end up with dry dressing for Thanksgiving.
Cornbread dressing should have the same amount or more cornbread as bread. Be careful not to add too much bread otherwise, you’ll end up with a bland-tasting dressing with a gummy texture.
Make the bread(if using homemade) and cornbread the day before Thanksgiving or whenever you serve it. We also like to chop the veggies beforehand as well, that way all you have to do is boil the turkey and put everything together the day of.
How To Store/ Make Ahead
Homemade cornbread dressing will spoil very fast in the refrigerator. It’s best to slice and portion out any leftovers the same day you make it or the next day at the latest.
Wrap your dressing sections tightly with plastic wrap then place it in a freezer-safe bag to store in the freezer for several weeks.
Reheat frozen dressing covered in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until heated through.
Frequently Asked Questions —
What is cornbread dressing made of?
Cornbread dressing is made with cornbread bread, white bread, chopped celery, green pepper, onions, turkey, and turkey broth.
Why is my cornbread dressing watery?
Dressing will have a water consistency before baking, but if your dressing is still watery even after baking, you probably need to cook it for longer uncovered.
Do I need to dry out bread for dressing?
No. We never dried the bread out first, just tear it up straight into the pot from the bag or as soon as it’s finished cooling if using homemade.
How moist should dressing be before baking?
The dressing should be almost watery before baking, this way it won’t be dry after baking.
What is the difference between cornbread stuffing and dressing?
Both are made with cornbread, vegetables, meat, and broth. The main difference between stuffing and dressing is the amount of liquid used. Stuffing is pretty dry before baking and after baking and dressing is very liquidty before baking and it has a casserole-type texture afterwards.
How do you know when cornbread dressing is done?
It will have a very golden brown top and a very crusty dark brown bottom once it’s done.
Looking For More Recipes?
Oven Roasted Whole Duck
Polenta Cornbread Recipe
Cranberry Orange Sauce (Fresh or Frozen Cranberries)
Yogurt Baked Mac and cheese
Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
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📖 Recipe
Grandpa's Southern Turkey Cornbread Dressing Recipe
My grandpa’s southern turkey cornbread dressing recipe is ALWAYS our favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. This old-fashioned holiday recipe is made with crumbled cornbread, white bread, tender green bell peppers and onions, juicy turkey meat, and of course, plenty of ground black pepper! Serve this classic southern side dish alongside your other holiday favorites.
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Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Southern
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 4 hours hours
Servings: 16 slices
Author: Tonya | The Midwest Kitchen Blog
Ingredients
- 2 ½ lb turkey wings, legs, or breast
- 12 cups water
- 3 tablespoons ground black pepper divided
- 2 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 large green bell pepper roughly chopped
- 1 large yellow onion roughly chopped
- 1 stalk celery thinly sliced
- 6 - 7 cups crumbled cornbread 1 pan
- 6 cups torn white bread most of one loaf (homemade or store-bought)
Instructions
Start by rinsing the turkey then add it to a large pot with the water, salt, 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper, celery, and half of the chopped onions and green bell pepper.
Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer then cover. Boil the turkey until the meat is very tender and falls off the bone, around 2.5 - 3 hours.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 10 x 15 baking dish (4.5 qt) with parchment paper then set aside.
Once the meat is tender, take the turkey out of the pot and set it on a plate. Separate the meat from the bones.
Pour turkey broth into a separate container. You should have 9 - 10 cups.
In the same pot that you boiled the turkey in, add the crumbled cornbread, torn white bread, the turkey meat, the rest of the ground black pepper, and the rest of the onions and green bell pepper.
Finally, pour in enough broth so that your dressing mixture is loose and a little liquidity but still has some resistance when you stir it. I like to add most of the broth and then slowly add in more until it reaches the right consistency.
Taste the dressing mixture for seasoning. Adjust as desired. It should taste more like cornbread instead of bread.
Pour dressing into the prepared baking dish, spreading it out evenly. Cover the top with a layer of parchment paper, gently pressing down the aluminum foil.
Bake your cornbread dressing for 1 hour covered, then remove the parchment paper and aluminum then bake for another 30 - 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom is crusty.
Allow the dressing to cool for 20 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Dressing should have a liquidy almost soupy consistency before being baked. If you ran out of turkey broth add a little bit of water until it reaches the right consistency.
Taste the dressing mixture before baking to add more salt or ground black pepper as desired.
Homemade cornbread dressing will spoil very fast in the refrigerator. It’s best to slice and portion out any leftovers the same day you make it or the next day at the latest.
Wrap your dressing sections tightly with plastic wrap then place it in a freezer-safe bag to store in the freezer for several weeks.
Reheat frozen dressing covered in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until heated through.
All nutrition information is automatically generated and should be only used as a rough estimate. This recipe card may contain affiliate links.
