Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep cornbread dressing from getting gummy? ›

Stir occasionally to ensure even drying. And if your dressing is still too mushy after baking, you can add more crumbled cornbread, dry bread, or even dry breadcrumbs or croutons to absorb excess moisture. Mix it in gently, so you don't compress the dressing too much.

The stuffing should be moist but not wet. If there is a puddle of broth at the bottom of the bowl, you've added too much.

Avoid bland dressing by making sure to include plenty of onions, celery, and herbs in your recipe. Now is not the time to go easy with the sage, thyme, and pepper. The dressing should taste different from your cornbread.

Bolster it with warm broth

For every four cups of dressing, drizzle the dish evenly with ½ cup warm turkey or chicken broth. Toss to mix it in evenly, cover with foil, and allow the dressing to sit and rehydrate. Alternatively, to keep warm, return the dish to an oven at a low temperature.

One potential reason for gummy cornbread dressing could be using cornbread that is too moist. It's best to use cornbread that has been left out overnight or is slightly stale to ensure a drier texture.

You can use either stock or broth for keeping dressing moist or as a basis for gravy, but a strong flavor will give you better results.

(Generally speaking, this should take roughly an hour) You'll know it's done when the top is golden brown and the dressing has soaked up the liquid (I check this by poking the dressing with a fork all the way through to the bottom of the pan and gently pulling a bit of it aside to see how well the liquid is absorbed ...

The most important ingredient of stuffing may be the binder, which keeps all the other elements in place. For a fluffy texture, use eggs. Stock is the most-used binder. Less conventional possibilities include fruit juice (such as apple or orange) and alcohol (wine or liqueur).

Eggs add richness to the stuffing, and makes it cohere better. I'd use two eggs per pound of bread. I'm a no egg person - and I still stuff the bird (but also do a batch out of the bird). me, too, Chem - I make a boatload of dressing (we never stuff the bird) specifically so I have leftovers to eat with gravy.

We have found that cornbread dressing tastes best re-heated the next day, so technically, you can make this dish one day early, refrigerate it and then re-heat over very low heat before serving. In our family, I make it the morning of Thanksgiving and let it rest before re-warming and serving.

What is the difference between cornbread stuffing and cornbread dressing? ›

So stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked outside the bird, usually in a casserole dish.

Be sure to leave enough time — the cornbread needs to sit out overnight to harden slightly before you make the dressing.

Your Boxed Stuffing Is Flavorless

If you prefer to keep things simple with a boxed mix, but find that it always tastes bland and flavorless, we've found the solution: Cream of mushroom soup.

Patients are usually recommended to keep the dressing in place and not to shower the area for two days. After two days the patient can shower and change the dressing. The dressing will not need to be changed frequently; only to keep the area clean and dry.

If your dressing doesn't turn out right, don't fret. You can usually fix it. If you find your stuffing is too dry, add additional warmed broth to it, stir well, and return to the oven, checking periodically. If the stuffing is overly wet and too gummy, cook it uncovered for a bit longer, checking periodically.

Cornbread, or any baked good, will fall in the middle if it is not completely baked, or if you add too much leavening, which causes it to rise more than the structure of the batter can sustain. Always use a tester inserted in the center of your cornbread to make sure it's done.

Flour is sometimes added to round out the batter, but always in smaller amounts than cornmeal itself. Flip the ratio, using more flour than cornmeal, and you'll end up with corn-flavored cakey stuff (such as those gummy “Yankee-style” muffins of my youth).