Corn Bread Dressing
This classic corn bread dressing uses homemade cornbread croutons, fresh sage, and plenty of buttery onions and celery to make a delicious prep-ahead side dish for the holiday.
Ingredients
- 1 2-pound cornmeal stuffing bread crumbled, should measure 12 cups once crumbled, see notes for substitutions
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter + more for greasing the baking dishes
- 6 stalks celery diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 1/2 (.5 oz) packages of fresh sage chopped, this is roughly 1/2 cup if using a fresh plant
- 4 eggs
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
Instructions
Prepare the Stuffing Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 300°F. Slice the loaf of cornmeal stuffing bread into 1/2-inch thick slices. Then roughly rip the bread into small 1/2-inch pieces and spread them out onto two large baking sheets so the bread has room to breathe without being tightly packed.
- Bake the sheet pans of bread for 10 minutes. Gently toss the bread with a spatula and bake for 10 minutes more. The bread will be very dry and crispy.
- Crumble the dried bread into even smaller pieces combined with bread crumbs. This is easiest to do with your hands.
- Prepared croutons can be done in advance. Store them in an airtight container for up to 2 days at room temperature or freeze for up to 6 months.
Assemble and Bake the Dressing
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and a smaller 7 x 11-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon softened butter.
- Melt the stick of butter in a large saute pan. When it is hot and bubbly, add the chopped celery and onions. Stir and cook until the onions are softened, about 5 - 6 minutes.
- Add the chopped sage and cook for one more minute.
- Place the corn bread croutons in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the eggs until well combined. Then add the onion and celery mixture, making sure to scrape all the butter from the skillet. Add the pepper and stir until everything is well combined. Drizzle in the chicken stock and gently stir to moisten the dressing.
- Pour the prepared dressing into the buttered bakng dishes and spread into an even layer.
- Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until the top of the bread mixture is golden brown. Serve warm with your favorite gravy.