Old fashioned Southern Cornbread Dressing recipe is melt in your mouth moist and buttery, with bursts of sage, onion, and celery in every single bite. It's so light and fluffy you'll want to keep a cover on it so it doesn't float away. I've made it even better by adapting my favorite family dressing for crockpot cooking and freeing the oven up for all those pecan pies you're planning on making!
First Published November 6, 2017 --
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Cornbread dressing is nothing but a gathering of simple ingredients.
- Cornbread of course. This can be homemade or if you're in a rush just buy a batch at the bakery.
- Herb stuffing mix is not something I normally use but honestly I like to keep things easy as possible during the holidays... and this does.
- Cream of chicken soup brings in moisture and creamy flavor.
- Creamed corn is a little unusual but I promise you - you'll love this.
- Chicken stock or turkey stock for moisture and flavor - I've used vegetable stock in a pinch.
- Onion is essential. I generally use yellow onions but use what you want.
- Celery is also essential. What would stuffing be without it? I always get an untrimmed stalk and chop the leaves right into it, too.
- Poblano pepper adds just a little spice. You could use jalapeno, chipotle, or Bell pepper if you like.
- Eggs are used as a binder. I use free range, organic eggs.
- Sage used in this recipe is the dry, rubbed sage from the herbs and spices area from the store.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Butter because what's a southern recipe without some butter in it?
Learning When to Do It the Easy Way
There is a time and a place for making every single thing from scratch but as far as I'm concerned Thanksgiving isn't it. I'll cut corners where I can because I am making pretty much everything but the mashed potatoes and the cranberry sauce. I am likely feeding nine or more people and I'll won't likely take off work until just before Thanksgiving Day ... and probably Thanksgiving morning.
SO... if using prepared food once in awhile bothers you then either make your own from scratch substitutions or click away for now. I don't know about you but I will be frazzled enough without worrying about some cream of chicken soup or herb stuffing mix.
I'll be honest. I've been known to just buy a big, old slab of cornbread from the store, too.
Dressing vs Stuffing
Now that True Confessions is out of the way let's chat about this Southern cornbread dressing. So, some of y'all might know dressing as stuffing and get confused. Here's the deal - in the South stuffing is actually stuffed inside the bird, whether it's a turkey or a chicken, and dressing is baked separately and served alongside.
The thing is, nowadays most people don't stuff their turkey because the FDA or whoever decided that it was unsafe. I like to live dangerously - I tend to eat raw cookie dough, too.
In the future this easy, crockpot cornbread dressing will be on the table whether the sage stuffing is or not -- it's really that good.
And this recipe is mindless and foolproof. You just dump everything in, set the heat and timer, and move off to your next cooking chore.
FAQs
Here are the most commonly asked questions about this recipe. If you don't find the answer to yours here leave a comment below or email me - I'll get back to you as soon as I can!
Can this be made ahead of time?
Yep. You can assemble it about a day ahead and store it in the refrigerator, tightly covered. Since you're starting from cold I'd give the slow cooker an extra hour or two.
Can dressing be frozen?
It freezes relatively well. It's so easy I wouldn't make it ahead and freeze it but if you have leftovers you could freeze and then serve it with chicken and gravy later on. The texture changes just a touch.
More Thanksgiving Recipes
So once you get the Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe down you've still got a few things to even out the table. Y'all know I have a ton of Thanksgiving recipes, right? Here are a few of my favorites.
- Green Bean Casserole This really is from scratch. No cream of "xyz" soups at all and even homemade crispy onions for the topping.
- Potatoes au Gratin These are done on top of the stove which keeps your oven open for other things.
- Chipotle Sweet Potatoes Classic sweet potatoes are updated with smoky, spicy chipotle.
- 50 Best Side Dishes on the Internet You'll definitely find something here.
- Pumpkin Pie This is the classic Libby's recipe. I just like it the best.
- Classic Pecan Pie Perfect amount of goo. Perfect amount of pecans. Perfect amount of sweet.
- Holiday Buttered Rum Toffee Pecan Pie Cheesecake I don't think I need to say anything else, right?
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I love my slow cooker – I’ve had it for several years and it makes my life SO much easier. But… when I get a new one I’m getting this one that can be programmed with my smart phone!
Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe - In a Slow Cooker
I definitely need more easy recipes like this one! Cornbread dressing is a southern classic and you just have to try my Crockpot version! Easy as eating pumpkin pie on the porch!
If you're looking for more slow cooker recipes be sure to check out this great collection!
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Cornbread Dressing
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Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups cornbread crumbs
- 14 ounces herb stuffing mix
- 10 3/4 ounces cream of chicken soup, 1 can undiluted
- 14 ounces creamed corn, 1 can
- 28 ounces chicken stock, you might not use all of it
- 2 cups onion, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, fire roasted and diced - optional but yummy
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut up in small cubes
Instructions
- Stir together everything but the butter in a 6 quart slow cooker that you've greased.
- Dot with the butter.
- Cook, covered, on LOW for 4 hours or until cooked through and set.
- Fluff with fork if needed.
Amelia Bautista
Can this be made in the oven? If so how long? And what temp?
Marye
yes, bake it, covered, for about 45 minutes at 375F