The Easiest Authentic Southern Cornbread Dressing Recipe — Old World New (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between New York cornbread and southern cornbread? ›

While both styles generally use the same ingredients -- cornmeal, flour, eggs, and baking powder -- the variance lies in the flavor and texture. Northern-style cornbread tends to be sweeter, moister, and cake-like compared to its Southern counterpart.

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

Kush in the South was born from the ingenuity of enslaved West Africans, who would take day-old cornbread (as a couscous substitute), mix it with onions, herbs and spices, then fry the concoction in a skillet to make a delicious cornbread hash. Twitty calls it the “grandmother” of Southern cornbread dressing.

Add sautéed onion and celery to the crumbled cornbread. Stir in chicken stock, eggs, sage, salt, and pepper until well combined. Pour dressing into the prepared baking dish.

The most common theory is a change in cornmeal itself. Until early in the 20th century, Southern cornmeal was made with sweeter white corn and it was water-ground. When industrial milling came along, that changed. The steel-roller mills used yellow corn that was harvested before it was ripe, so it had less sugar.

The thing that distinguishes Southern cornbread from, say Yankee cornbread, or any other cornbread one is likely to eat outside of the southern states, is that it is savory, not sweet, and it is made mostly with cornmeal.

Why is my Cornbread Dressing gummy? Adding too much liquid can result in a gummy-like texture. Baking it longer, using less liquid, and more stirring can help avoid a gummy texture.

"A dry stuffing or dressing is usually dry after baking simply because the recipe lacked enough moisture or fat," confirms Bridget Lancaster, executive editorial director at America's Test Kitchen.

Why is my cornbread dressing mushy? If your cornbread dressing is mushy, be sure you baked it in a wide enough pan.

Among them was a version of Indian bread made of cornmeal, salt and water called pone or corn pone. The name came from the Algonquin word apan, meaning "baked." The Narragansett word for cornbread, nokechick, became no-cake and then hoe-cake.

Did Native Americans eat cornbread? ›

Cornbread was also a very common food among all Native Americans [35] and could be thin flat breads such as tortillas or thick breads more like modern cornbread or pancakes made from corn.

This hearty bread was once a staple in the diet of the Oneida People. For centuries this nutritious “staff of life” and its primary ingredient, corn flour, provided energy. Cornbread remains a traditional favorite to this day.

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.

Yellow cornmeal is the most common, but if you have white cornmeal, that's also fine to use. Can I Bake This in a Skillet? Baking cornbread in a skillet gives it an even heartier, crunchier crust. Bake this in a 9- or 10-inch oven-safe greased skillet at the same temperature for the same amount of time.

Cornbread is as American as apple pie, but its origins date back far beyond the inception of this country. With roots in Mesoamerican, Native American, and African cultures; history and people have shaped this iconic American bread into what it is today.

The verdict: While on its own, Southern cornbread may be underwhelming, it's neutral flavor and crumbly texture make it the perfect vessel to soak up liquidy foods, like cranberry sauce or turkey gravy. Or, it can be eaten on its own, perhaps mixed with gooey cheese or spicy jalapeños.

Real, traditional, Southern-style cornbread is savory, not sweet, and always has been.

There are cornmeal puddings served with sweet sauces, but no Southern cook would risk the spoiling of her cornbreads by sweetening them." In 1937, the Times reported that "cornbread in Kentucky is made with white, coarsely ground cornmeal. Never, never are sugar and wheat flour used in cornbread.