My Favorite Recipe: Memaw’s Cornbread Dressing

I’m completely serious, no exaggeration here. My grandmother’s cornbread dressing is the best in the world.  It is moist with a crusty edge. It is full of flavors of chicken and sage, and everything else yummy that reminds me of the holidays.

She’s been gone for many years now, but my Aunt Sissy was given the recipe, so she made it for years. My aunt finally gave me the recipe, after some prodding, and now I get to make it for the family every year. (And usually just for me and Drew about another 3 times a year.)

Wanna be a hero at Thanksgiving? Give this recipe a shot. I have already heard from hundreds of strangers online about this is the best dressing they have had and now they make it every year. So….I can’t be crazy, right? It is simply delicious.

*Side notes:
-This recipe may be frozen for later use, it will still taste
fresh.
-This recipe makes about 2 10×10 pans-worth. It makes a lot!

Recipe

Walk-Through Video:

Ingredients:
-1 large skillet sweet cornbread (you can make this from scratch or
just use a couple of those little jiffy mix boxes.)
-1/2 loaf white bread (stale is best)
-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-1 stalk of celery (the whole head, not just one stick)
-3 medium yellow onions
-2 garlic cloves
-2 tablespoons dried sage
-2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
-1 teaspoon ground red pepper
-1 roasted chicken
-6-7 cups low sodium chicken broth
– 2 10 ounce cans cream of chicken
-1 10 ounce can cream of mushroom
-1 10 ounce can cream of celery
-salt and pepper, to taste
-10 eggs (I believe this is the secret to the dressing’s perfect
texture, almost souffle-like.)

Directions:
1. Bake the cornbread until it is well done.
2. Crumble the cornbread and white bread into LARGE bowl.
3. Chop one full celery stalk, yellow onions, and dice garlic cloves.
4. In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions and
celery until soft. Add garlic and cook for two minutes.
5. Shred roasted chicken. (I find buying a rotisserie chicken from the
store is not only the easiest, but also the most flavorful.)
6. Add sauteed veggies to bowl with crumbled bread. Also, add
poultry seasoning, sage, ground red pepper, all cans of condensed
soups, and 6 cups of chicken broth.
7. Stir and continue to add any necessary broth, until the texture
very loose, like the texture of chilli? Sorry, that is all I can come up
with. If you watch the video, you can see the visual.
8. Taste and add any necessary salt and pepper.
9. Add 10 eggs, already beaten.
10. Shred roasted chicken. (I find buying a rotisserie chicken from
the store is not only the easiest, but also the most flavorful.)
Add chicken. Stir until well incorporated.
11. Bake for 2 hours at 300°. Then, turn temperature up to 350°
and top loosely with foil. Cook for another 30 minutes, or until
the middle does not jiggle and is firm. Bigger dishes will take
longer, of course.
12. Let cool at least 20 minutes before digging in.
13. Write a comment letting me know what you think. =)

The Best Southern Cornbread and Chicken Dressing

Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 3 hours
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 15

Ingredients
  

  • 1 large tray/skillet plain sweet cornbread 2 jiffy boxes works or you can make it from scratch
  • 1/4 loaf stale white bread
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 celery stalk The entire head, not just one stick
  • 3 medium yellow onions
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tbs[ dried sage
  • 2 tsp poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp ground red pepper
  • 1 roasted chicken I have been adding 2 to help bring more protein to the dish- so add what you like!
  • 6-7 cups low sodium chicken (or veggie) broth
  • 2 10 oz cans cream of chicken
  • 1 10 oz can cream of mushroom
  • 1 10 oz can of cream of celery
  • 10 eggs beaten
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions
 

  • Bake the cornbread until it is well done.
  • Crumble the cornbread and white bread into LARGE bowl.
  • Chop one full celery stalk, yellow onions, and dice garlic cloves.
  • In a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions andcelery until soft. Add garlic and cook for two minutes.
  • Shred roasted chicken. (I find buying a rotisserie chicken from thestore is not only the easiest, but also the most flavorful.)
  • Add sauteed veggies to bowl with crumbled bread. Also, addpoultry seasoning, sage, ground red pepper, all cans of condensedsoups, and 6 cups of chicken broth.
  • Stir and continue to add any necessary broth, until the texturevery loose, like the texture of chilli? Sorry, that is all I can come upwith. If you watch the video, you can see the visual.
  • Taste and add any necessary salt and pepper.
  • Add 10 eggs, already beaten.
  • Add chicken. Stir until well incorporated.
  • Bake for 2 hours at 300°. Then, turn temperature up to 350°and top loosely with foil. Cook for another 30 minutes, or untilthe middle does not jiggle and is firm. Bigger dishes will takelonger, of course.
  • Let cool at least 20 minutes before digging in.

Video

Keyword cornbread dressing, dressing, thanksgiving, chicken dressing, chicken, cornbread, recipe, amy westerman,

4 thoughts on “My Favorite Recipe: Memaw’s Cornbread Dressing”

  1. Amy, I can’t wait to try this! I’ve tried for a long time to replicate my mother-in-law’s dressing. Others in the family have tried, but it wasn’t the same. She passed in 2018, ten days shy of her 99th birthday. My husband asked me yesterday if I thought I could make dressing. I told him I didn’t think so, but decided to look for a recipe. I found another one on pinterest that looked good, but didn’t have the main ingredients I’d watched her always include. Then I found your recipe with the perfect name, and it sounds exactly like hers. Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to try it.

  2. I made this! It was awesome! The cream of soups added the right amount of moisture and the eggs did their trick. I grow my own herbs so I made my own poultry seasoning and MAN! I definitely recommend this recipe!

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