Savory Southern Cornbread Stuffing

This cornbread stuffing is a classic Thanksgiving, Christmas, or anytime side dish that’s completely packed with flavor. Sweet, savory, and tender, this traditional side dish is delicious and easy to make gluten free.

What Makes This Recipe So Good

• Ok, technicallyyyy….. this is a cornbread dressing rather than a cornbread stuffing. What’s the difference? “Stuffing” is stuffed into the turkey (or bird of choice) and cooked, but “dressing” is cooked in a dish on its own and served as a side. Some people use the terms interchangeably, though. Whatever you want to call it, this dish is GOOD.
• The cornbread is dense and rich and buttery, and then it’s crumbled with buttery sautéed onions and celery and deep, earthy sage and thyme. This stuffing is bursting with Thanksgiving flavors!
• You can prep this dish ahead of time! Assemble the cornbread stuffing up to the point of baking in step 4, cover the baking dish with plastic wrap, and refrigerate it up to 12 hours max. Bring it to room temp before baking, or bake it cold – you may need to add a few minutes to the bake time if it’s cold. You can make the actual cornbread 1 to 3 days ahead.

Key Ingredients

Cornbread Mix – I know, I know. Using a mix is blasphemous in a lot of kitchens. The holidays can get pretty hectic, though, and opting for a mix can make the day a little easier. You can 100% use a from-scratch cornbread recipe in your cornbread stuffing if you prefer it! You could also use a gluten-free cornbread mix (or from-scratch recipe, like my gluten free cornbread with honey) for a gluten-free cornbread dressing. One batch should do the trick – you want roughly 4 cups of cornbread crumbles.

Eggs – Along with the chicken stock, the eggs bind the cornbread stuffing together while keeping it incredibly moist and fluffy. If you’re vegan, you can omit the eggs entirely, and use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. The texture will be a little different without the eggs, but still delicious.

Chef’s Tips

• Dried cranberries would be a great cornbread stuffing add-in. This dish is overall super savory, and the sweetness of the cranberries would play off those rich flavors nicely.
• You control the amount of chicken stock you add, and that amount affects the texture of the dish. For a denser, mushier cornbread stuffing, use the full 2 cups (or close to it). For a lighter dressing, stick closer to 1 cup.
• Instead of canned chicken stock, try using homemade Instant Pot Chicken Stock, Instant Pot Turkey Stock, or Instant Pot Bone Broth. Each will give the stuffing a slightly different flavor.

Try These Holiday Sides, Too

• Cranberry Orange Relish
• Sweet Potato Soufflé
• Instant Pot Green Beans
• Great Grandma’s Sausage Stuffing
• Sous Vide Mashed Potatoes
• Asparagus Casserole