Everyone has their favorite holiday dish. The dressing has always been a favorite of mine. My mother made dressing from bread cubes. And my first experience with cornbread dressing had been at someone else’s house. The cornbread was an orangish color (too much soda) and burnt. Ugh.
You can imagine my alarm when Tom declared cornbread dressing to be his favorite! Oh no! But, alas, it was true love and I was eager to please, so I asked his mom for her recipe. Like many family favorite dishes, there was no recipe! There was a general knowing of what to do and that’s what I jotted on a recipe card.
I’m going to get as close as possible to being recipe-ish with this dish, adding a little rhyme too, along with some other ingredients that weren’t on that original recipe card. You’ll have to guess which ones! Maybe you’ll even add some of your own.
If you have a favorite cornbread recipe, you can use it…omitting any sugar. If you don’t, that’s okay, I’ll share mine. Baking the cornbread a day ahead takes some extra “last minute” work out of preparing this dish on an already busy, “make room in the oven” type of day.
You’ll find this recipe easy to make, flexible and fit for a holiday meal. If your family is lucky, you’ll make it much more often because it’s so yummy and meets popular demand!
*Watch the video for tips on how this recipe is flexible and how you can achieve the consistency you desire.
Cornbread
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
Combine dry ingredients. Stir in remaining ingredients by hand, just until smooth. Pour into a 9×9 greased pan. Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes.
For the dressing:
- Cornbread, crumbled
- ½ – 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 can mushrooms, drained, optional
- 1 cup spinach, chopped, optional
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1-1 ½ Tbsp ground sage
- Salt, to season vegetables
- Water (1 ½-2 cups)
Crumble cornbread in a large bowl. Add onion, celery, mushrooms and spinach. Add sage and salt. Stir together. Beat an egg, with a cup of water. Pour over other ingredients and stir, adding water until all is thoroughly moistened, thicker than a batter. Spoon/pour into a greased 9×9 pan. Bake at 350°F for about an hour*. Stir part way through if more moisture needs to escape the dish.
*Be sure to watch the video for my tips on baking temperatures and times.
