Rich Cornbread Dressing Recipe (2024)

Can you make this ahead of time and re-heat on thanksgiving? or is it best to do it the day of?

Can I make this the night before Thanksgiving, cover with foil, then stick in the oven Thanksgiving evening? The direction that the mixture should be "very moist" makes me worried that it will be a soggy mess if it's refrigerated for a day. Experiences, anyone?

Highly suggest not making the sage optional for maximum flavor - it's key. Vegetable broth works just as well. And in addition to oysters, consider mushrooms or (wait for it...) a bit of cream of mushroom soup. Either way, sautee mushrooms (or add soup) to the butter sautee along with the celery and onion (I include scallions). If you do use the cream of mushroom, you can cut back on the heavy cream. Lastly, consider swapping out a teaspoon of salt for a teaspoon of poultry seasoning.

SO..... i halved the recipe but forgot to halve the butter... then instead of the oysters i added 1/2 lb of hot italian sausage and 1/2 pound of mild italian sausage... let me tell you it was brilliant. Some of the best stuffing i have ever made. OH! and i sautéed the onions and celery in the butter before adding it to the bread... seriously it was delicious. I am more excited about this stuffing then literally anything else that i am preparing for thanksgiving today!

I always find that stuffing/dressing tastes better a day or two after making—it gives enough time for the spices to more evenly distribute. You can make ahead and freeze if you'd prefer, but we always make ours a few days ahead of time and just reheat

I am making this for Thanksgiving on Thursday and am interested in finding out how crumbled the cornbread should be? Should it be fine or should there be chunks of cornbread? Additionally, about how much cornbread will yield six cups of crumbled cornbread?

DELICIOUS. just made it yesterday and hope it's good til Thursday. One modification for my family: use some of the butter, and sauté the onions ahead of mixing into bread mixture. Just a personal preference, but the onion doesn't cook enough for our taste.

If anyone is cooking gluten free, I tried this recipe using 12 cups of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix, and it was really good.

The first time this article appeared in 2002, I was going to make my first Thanksgiving dinner. This is simply best dressing that I have ever had. And since it's the only one I've ever made, it's "moms famous dressing" now! ;)

Anyone use fresh sage - if so how much? We have a ton of it in the garden.

I've made this the last two years and it's simply great. We don't do oysters as some in my family have shellfish allergies. The sage IS KEY.

Sauteed vgetables in butter first. Would probably reduce butter to 8 Tbsp (plus amount to grease pan), decrease stock to 1 cup, salt to 1 1/2 tsp., and increase sage to 2 tsp.

I toast the breads briefly (15 minutes) in a hot oven just enough to crisp some edges and reduce the moisture.

I made this 2 days before Thanksgiving and tried a few bites when it came out of the oven and was underwhelmed; I did not understand the rave reviews. Kept it in the frig and placed in oven to reheat on Thanksgibing with some added broth and heavy cream. Today, it was amazing and everyone loved it. I sauteed the celery and onions first as recommended by readers and did not use oysters.

I sauteed the onion and celery in the butter with chopped pecans. I skipped the oysters.

Add waaaay more sage

Super, super disappointing after all the glowing reviews. Added the oysters but not the juice and it smelled super fishy (not in a good way). Otherwise followed recipe exactly. It was very wet before cooking (and did not use the extra liquid) and was quite dense after. Fishiness was more smell than taste, but still... Fam requested the old cornbread/sausage for next year.

I made this for our Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone loved it. I've made dressing for many years with many different recipes, but this is the best one ever. Thank you

I made this gluten free and it was amazing! Instead of bread I used homemade gf buttermilk biscuits (recipe from Let them eat gluten free cake- incredible recipe), and used gf Krusteaz honey cornbread. I crumbled and dried out both overnight. I lightly sauteed the veggies before adding. I added 1/2 chub cooked jimmy dean maple sausage, and 1/2 diced Honeycrisp apple, and used homemade turkey stock. Yum- my favorite stuffing ever- thank you!

Delicious! I made the cornbread a few days before and toasted in an oven to completely dry it out. Sautéing the veggies before baking is a great idea. I only used a couple of eggs and skipped the oysters, still came out great.

I used fresh sage — I lightly simmered fresh sage into the heavy cream until infused, removed half, and let the other cook into the stuffing. If people have to pick out some leaves, they’ll live :) this was DELICIOUS

Swapped italian sausage for the oysters and it was a huge hit.

This dressing is delicious! My mom made the best dressing and it was always my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. I've tried to duplicate her dressing, but something was always missing. This recipe is as close as I have come to hers. Thanks NY Times!

Made it without the oysters. Sautéed the onions/celery with the sage, salt, & pepper, as well as fresh thyme, fresh bay leaves, and the turkey neck/giblets (removed after sauté) to get a little more flavor as other comments made me think it might be under-seasoned. It came out great and we would definitely consider making again. The crispy bits along the edges were particularly tasty.

The best stuffing I’ve ever made, and I’ll never make another one. Re: whether to sauté onions and celery first, I’ve tried it both ways and found using them raw is much more flavorful, and they cook down plenty in the oven. I only have two adjustments: I don’t use oysters in dressing ever because I think it’s a waste of a good oyster; instead I use reconstituted dried mixed wild mushrooms; and I use a mixture of breads, one part, homemade cornbread, one part brioche bread.

Has anyone subbed half and half for the heavy cream successfully?

Has anyone tried baking this with cornbread MIX (rather than already made cornbread)? Seems like this would save some time (similar to the Jiffy Corn Casserole recipe).

I make a version of this every year with pecans and muchrooms instead of oysters. I make herbed butted in advance and roll in plastic wrap to put under the turkey skin and in the stuffing. I have never put in cream before but...

I add the onions and celery to the cornbread batter before I cook the cornbread. That saves a steps of sautéing the onions and celery.

My mother, a truly fantastic Southern cook, makes dressing very much like this. She opts for cream of chicken soup instead of cream (but both are good), and she adds a diced apple to the mix, which I highly recommend. Pulverize the breads and add enough of the liquids to make it sloshy and pourable. When finished, it will be crunchy on top and solid (but very moist) in the middle.