Dressing and Stuffing Recipe Round Up

From traditional holiday classics to unique regional specialties, here are some of my favorite dressing and stuffing recipes that have graced our family table over the years.

Dressing and Stuffing Recipe Round Up

In the South, dressing isn't just a side dish and it's not only for holidays either!

It's a tradition, a family recipe passed from one generation to the next, and often the dish everyone hopes makes an appearance at family gatherings, but if you don't have one that was handed down, no worries. I got you!

Whether you grew up on classic cornbread dressing, seafood dressing fresh from the Gulf Coast, or rich rice dressings packed with Cajun flavor, there's something special about gathering around a table filled with these cherished favorites.

A baked rice dressing, made with freshly shucked Gulf oysters, with sautéed onion, green onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, rice and seasonings, and always a holiday favorite here in the Deep South.

Oyster Rice Dressing

Rice stands in for bread and cornbread in this common dish here in the Deep South and is what we refer to as a rice dressing.

A mix of meats or seafood, or sometimes, as with this oyster rice dressing, a blend of them, along with onion, green onion, bell pepper and celery, rice and seasonings, it's very often offered as a side dish, though it is also used as a stuffing at times.

One thing is for sure. It's a favorite here in the Deep South year-round, and super popular for  Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

A cabbage and rice dish, commonly called dressing here in the Deep South, made with the trinity sauteed in bacon drippings, stewed down with cabbage, browned ground beef or sausage, cooked rice, and cream soup, baked, and finished with a buttered bread crumb topping. Pictured here with my collard greens and squash salad.

Cabbage Rice Dressing

Okay all you kindred cabbage lovers - if you've been around here any length of time, y'all know how much I love the stuff... though to be honest, 99.9% of the time when I pick up a new head of cabbage, thinking I'll bring something different to the blog, good intentions fall the wayside and I end up making fried cabbage. What can I say? It's an easy dish, and it really is my number one favorite.

A mixture of long grain rice, Louisiana crawfish tails, cream soups, bell pepper and spicy seasonings brings this rice dressing to life.

Crawfish Rice Dressing

I recently had the chance to give Cajun Country Rice a try and they provided me with a Crawfish Rice Dressing recipe that sounded too good to pass up.

A recipe that has been handed down from mother to daughter, it was absolutely delicious and would make a fantastic addition to any holiday, including your New Year's Eve party menu.

Cajun rice dressing is a rice based mixture similar to dirty rice and often served during the holidays. Some folks say omitting the livers is what sets it apart, but I like to include them along with a small roux.

Cajun Rice Dressing

This Cajun Farre Rice Dressing is essentially a dirty rice recipe, sometimes called Dirty Rice Jambalaya, that's been jazzed up a bit with a small roux for the holidays, beef stock added and baked, resulting in a more moist dish than dirty rice. It often makes an appearance both stuffed into some kind of bird or beef, or just simply as a side dish. 

I most often make this with chicken livers, or I use all of the giblets, though some folks say that rice dressing shouldn't have the livers - only dirty rice. I say do what you like! Love them? Use them. Not so fond of them? Don't use them. I happen to like them and so long as I grind them up, The Husband, aka The Cajun, who wouldn't touch liver for the life of him, gobbles it up. Hey, don't judge! All I can say is it works, because not only does he eat it, but he always goes back for more.