Well, no need to worry about the turkey this year. Not with an oven that will do anything your father tells it to do. ~Carousel of Progress, WDW
One of the decadent delights of life I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving is good ol’ southern cornbread dressing. If I had my druthers, that stovetop mess people cram in the turkey would never cross my path again. And this version is not only fairly easy (even if you’re glamping), but it the best grandma version ever. Every time I take a bite, with a little cranberry sauce wedged on the fork, it takes me back to being eight years old.
It’s absolutely perfect.
so here’s what matters
It all comes down to the cornbread you use because that’s the main source of flavor and texture. Don’t buy premade cornbread! Use our quick and favorite one below adapted from the Lily White flour box.
On the other hand, don’t fret a Macon minute about using canned soup and canned broth. It’s not where the difference is made. And . . . in this recipe, there’s no need to cook the onions and celery first. The dressing is made thick enough that cooking time takes real nice care of this.
Let’s say you do a John on “Carousel of Progress” and somehow burn the turkey. If only for a day, maybe everything is actually little better in the world than it seems.
For as long as we have cornbread dressing, cranberry sauce, pecan pie and a friend or two, there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow.
Old-Fashioned Southern Cornbread Dressing
Ingredients
Dressing
- 3/4 pan cooked cornbread (recipe below) important to make this yourself
- 1 rotisserie chicken, cooked
- 10.5 oz cream of chicken soup
- 5 pieces white loaf bread
- 2 boiled eggs, chopped
- 1 cup onion finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
- 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cube Knorr chicken bouillon
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 eggs
Cornbread
- 1 1/1 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups White Lily Self-Rising White Cornmeal Mix
- 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 1/4 cups buttermilk can substitute whole milk
- 3/8 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Bake cornbread according to directions below. Use 3/4 of the cornbread you'e prepared for the dressing. Save the rest for another use (such as eating with a bowl of chili).
- Pull chicken off bone and break into small pieces.
- Combine chicken, cornbread and all other ingredients in a bowl. Use your clean hands to mix it up. Mixture should be very moist and even a bit runny.
- Pour into greased (Pam spray) casserole dish so that it is about 3 inches thick, If it's shorter, it will get too dry.
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 70-80 minutes until firm. Do not overcook.
Cornbread
- Spread the 1 1/2 teaspoons of oil in skillet or pan and heat for about 5 minutes at 450 degrees.
- Meanwhile, combine whisked eggs, cornmeal mix, sugar and buttermilk just until blended a bit. Stir in a enough of the oil to make it nice and moist (should still be lumpy).
- Pour batter in hot skillet and bake at 425 degrees for about 25. Do not let it get too brown - maybe even ever-so-slightly underdone.
- Serve with giblet gravy.
