Chicken and cornbread dressing is a Southern favorite and served with homemade gravy, makes for pure comfort food anytime of the year. It's a perfect dish for the holidays or to carry to a potluck or church social too!
Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing
I have shared several dressing recipes along the way and I've even had my hissy fit rant about my feelings on the dressing vs. stuffing debate to which, I will reiterate, once again... whatever you grew up with, and what you do in your Southern kitchen, is right, bottom line. It's all good folks, so let's just eat, okay?
I know. I am such a rebel.
So here's the more classically known Southern chicken and cornbread dressing because, yes we also do indeed love our cornbread - though you can get in a big ole argument with some Southerners about that too. But guess what? I use both cornbread and bread in my chicken and cornbread dressing, cuz that's how we rebels roll.
This style of chicken and dressing is typically made with, well - chicken - rather than turkey, simply because it's either a potluck or holiday dish that, unless you are making your turkey well ahead of time (which most of us don't do) and you're also willing to sacrifice several cups of said turkey for a dressing side, or you're willing to add a whole other (not so cheap) turkey breast to your (already outrageously expensive) holiday grocery list (which most of us aren't), well... it's just usually made with inexpensive chicken.
Wanna use turkey? By all means, certainly do!
By the way, while it's not entirely essential that you do, make your cornbread a day ahead whenever you can, break it up into pieces and let it dry out. It just absorbs the moisture in your dressing without being too soggy and helps distribute the seasonings a little better overall. If you forget to do that, no worries. It'll still be good!
You can use any kind of leftover chicken, boil a chicken, or grab one of those rotisserie chickens from the deli and let them do the work (just be mindful of sodium because those babies are salty!) Here I used about 3 pounds of chicken thighs that I roasted in a 425 degrees F oven for about 35 minutes or so.
Use homemade chicken stock if you've got that, otherwise, a commercial turkey or chicken stock/broth is fine, just be mindful about the overall salt there too, unless you're using a reduced sodium version.
Consistency is one of those areas that can take a few times of making for dressing. Too much liquid and it's far too gooey. Not enough and it's way too dry. Over time, experience is the teacher. I used 4 cups of broth this time - here's the consistency. A little soupy, but not too much. I always say it should look a little like a cooked oatmeal, though that's for me. Your mileage may vary.
This produces a nice dressing that, once you let it rest a bit, will hold together in squares as in the top picture, yet still be moist, as hopefully shown in the picture below where I pushed it apart with a fork.
Before turning it out into the casserole dish, you can mix the chicken and dressing all together if you like, but I'm kinda into this concept of layering with the chicken sandwiched between layers of dressing. Since you're working with already cooked chicken, I feel that the layering helps to keep the chicken more moist. Neither way is right or wrong, so do what you prefer. I do dressing first on the bottom layer, then top that with the cooked chicken.
And then top that with the rest of the dressing. Remember, never pack down dressing!
Bake it uncovered at 350 degrees F until bubbly and golden brown, about 45 minutes or so.
For more help with your dressing, be sure to check out my 7 Top Tips to Perfect Your Holiday Stuffing and see my gravy tips for additional information.
For more of my favorite dressing recipes, visit my page on Pinterest!
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