Where I am from, we grew up eating Stove Top Stuffing. I didn’t even know about cornbread dressing until we moved to the south. Now that I’ve had both, I definitely prefer a good southern cornbread dressing over the stove top stuffing.
What is the difference between stuffing and cornbread dressing?
There is much debate over the difference between stuffing and cornbread dressing. Some say there is only a difference in the name based on the region you live, but no difference in the dish. Others say if it’s stuffed in the turkey, it’s “stuffing”. In my experience, the stuffing I’ve tasted is mainly consisted of white bread cubes and cornbread dressing is more cornbread based. But, there are areas that may call a cornbread based dish “stuffing”, too. The debate will forever continue, I’m sure.
This Easy Cornbread Dressing recipe is so simple to make because we start with baking a box of Jiffy cornbread mix in an 8×8 pan. The box recipe calls for 1/3 cup of milk, but I use buttermilk to give it more of a rich creamy flavor. You can even make this a day ahead before crumbling into the rest of the recipe.
You can use this easy cornbread dressing recipe as a good base and add whatever mix-ins and seasonings you like. I always have to have sage seasoning, but thyme or summer savory are also great add-ins! Maybe you want to add crumbled bacon or sausage. I like this basic easy cornbread dressing as it is written, but everyone has their traditional cornbread dressing their used to.
Bake Jiffy cornbread according to package directions (using buttermilk instead of milk).
Mix together crumbled cornbread, diced white bread, eggs, onions, celery, butter, cream of chicken, chick broth and seasonings.
Pour into a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
Bake the Jiffy cornbread a day ahead so it’s ready to crumble into your recipe.
Combine all the ingredients up to two days ahead and keep in the fridge to bake the day of.
Freezer friendly – prepare all the steps without baking and freeze. Thaw in fridge two days in advance and bake day of Thanksgiving.
The day you serve it, bake the cornbread dressing early in the morning and refrigerate. After you remove the turkey from the oven, place your cornbread dressing in the oven to reheat. We reheated our dressing at 350°F for 15 minutes and it was perfect.
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease an 8x8-inch pan.
In a large bowl, combine the Jiffy dry mix, 1 egg, and buttermilk. Let rest for 3 minutes then spread into 8x8-inch pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch pan.
Wipe out the bowl. Crumble the cornbread into the bowl and mix in the rest of the ingredients -- do not forget the additional 2 eggs. Pour into the prepared 9x13-inch pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until the center is set.
Tip: Chop your onions and celery while the Jiffy cornbread is cooling.