Try this Southern Cornbread Dressing recipe, or contribute your own.
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 cups celery chopped
- 2 tablespoons bacon grease
- 2 cups onion chopped
- 1 pan buttermilk cornbread
- 3 large homemade buttermilk biscuits
- 1/2 teaspoon dried sage or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
- 2 quarts (or more as needed) turkey stock
- additional butter for top
- Carbohydrate 162.097870136883 g
- Cholesterol 494.458000395381 mg
- Fat 133.670652603072 g
- Fiber 0.0900500012040138 g
- Protein 109.964852592846 g
- Saturated Fat 80.8573387625928 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -12 (1632g)
- Sodium 1726.10280873685 mg
- Sugar 162.007820135679 g
- Trans Fat 7.03255690530355 g
- Calories 2266 calories
Step-by-step
- Make cornbread and biscuits the day before.
- Crumble cornbread and biscuits on sheet pans and let dry overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Grease 9x13 dish. Use another 8x8 dish if you have extra.
- Melt butter and bacon grease in large skillet and saute celery and onions until tender.
- In large mixing bowl, combine cornbread and biscuit crumbs.
- Add celery and onions and all the seasonings and stir gently.
- Add one quart of stock and stir until mixed well.
- Add additional stock until consistency is very moist but still thick.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour dressing into prepared dish.
- Dot butter on top of dressing and cover with foil.
- Bake for thirty minutes, then remove foil and bake another twenty to thirty minutes, until well browned.
Turkey stock acts as the primary chemical engine in this dish, hydrating dry starches while delivering soluble proteins that bind the crumb mixture together. Cornbread and biscuits provide distinct structural starches containing varying ratios of amylose and amylopectin, which react differently to liquid absorption. Bacon grease contributes rendered animal fats loaded with Maillard reaction precursors, working alongside dairy fats from butter to coat the starch granules and prevent gummy compaction. Dried sage and thyme release hydrophobic essential oils that dissolve readily into these melted fats, distributing herbaceous aromatics evenly across every crumb.
- Dry the crumbled cornbread and biscuits overnight on sheet pans to maximize water absorption capacity when the stock is introduced.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure rapid heat penetration through the dense starch matrix.
- Bake the dish covered with foil for thirty minutes to gelatinize starches without prematurely scorching the exterior lipids.
- Remove the foil for the final twenty to thirty minutes of baking to drive off excess surface moisture and promote browning via the Maillard reaction.
Proper moisture control remains the sole factor determining success or failure, requiring enough stock to yield a wet mixture that firms up during baking. Precise temperature management during the uncovered phase develops a crisp crust while maintaining a tender interior.
