If you live north of Tennessee, y’all probably call this stuffing — down here, it’s dressing, and this is the real deal from Becky’s kitchen. A tried-and-true holiday favorite that’s worth making any month of the year.
This one is more than a recipe in our house — it’s the family tradition. It’s the very first Thanksgiving dish Mike ever taught me to make. I didn’t grow up with a big family Thanksgiving; my Grandmother lived in another city, and we’d visit her and go out to eat. When Mike and I got married, we started hosting Thanksgiving at our house, and he showed me how to make his dressing. Over the years the kids started helping too, cutting up the ingredients right alongside us. Now it shows up at every holiday — and it wouldn’t feel like Thanksgiving without it.
Cast Iron Skillet Southern Cornbread Dressing
Makes 12 servings · ~350 calories per serving (estimated) · 30 min prep · 1.6 hr cook
Ingredients
- 1 batch of cornbread (follow the directions on the bag — use self-rising cornmeal, not cornbread mix; a quarter cup of bacon drippings in the batter makes it good)
- 1 1/2 large yellow onions, chopped
- 6 green onions, chopped
- 10 celery hearts, chopped
- 4 boiled eggs, chopped
- 4 raw eggs, scrambled
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
- About 24–28 oz chicken broth
- Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
Instructions
- Bake the cornbread and crumble it fine — no big chunks. (The brown parts are the best part.)
- Chop the yellow onions, green onions, and celery, then sauté them in a separate pan until soft.
- Peel the hard-boiled eggs and chop them. Crack and scramble the raw eggs in a separate bowl.
- Cut the chicken thighs into 1-inch cubes. Use thighs, not breasts — the dark meat keeps the dressing moist. There's nothing worse than biting into sandpaper; follow this recipe and it'll make you a hero.
- Mix everything together in the skillet, adding one ingredient at a time and mixing well before adding the next. Gloves on — you've got to get in there by hand; utensils don't do the job.
- Season with salt, pepper, and a light dusting of garlic powder. You can always salt it at the table.
- Add the chicken broth a little at a time, working it in until the mixture is almost soupy — it'll look almost wrong, but it's going to be good.
- Cover the cast iron skillet with foil (shiny side down), set it on a pan to catch drips, and bake at 350° for about 50 minutes, until the center reaches 180°.
- Uncover and move to a 425° oven for up to 45 minutes more, checking every 15 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Let it rest 10–15 minutes before cutting.
Hungry for more? Browse all of Becky's recipes, or try the free weekly meal planner to plan your week.
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