Our Most-Saved Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe Tastes Just Like Grandma’s

I show up to Thanksgiving for the sides. While I like turkey, that’s not the dish that gets me most excited.

There are dinner rolls to hoard, green bean casserole, and plenty of mashed potatoes to fill up on. Of course, Thanksgiving dinner wouldn’t be complete without dressing or stuffing.

Everyone has different dressing preferences: Some use the inside of a turkey cavity, while others use a baking pan. As far as ingredients go, dressing is so adaptable. If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving dressing that everyone will be happy with, take inspiration from the Allrecipes community and try out our most-saved recipe of all time.

Our Most-Saved Thanksgiving Dressing

“When it comes to stuffing or dressing, cornbread dressing is hands down my favorite,” says Nicole McLaughlin (a.k.a. NicoleMcMom). That seems to be the case for the Allrecipes community, too.

Our most-saved Thanksgiving dressing of all time isn’t just any recipe—it’s a cornbread dressing from Grandma. 

“My grandmother always made this cornbread dressing for holiday dinners and for family gatherings at other times of the year,” says recipe submitter Amy. “Use your favorite cornbread mix to make a batch of cornbread, and then crumble it for use in this family-favorite recipe.”

Whether you purchase a fresh loaf from the store, make your cornbread by hand, or buy a box mix, it’s best to do this a couple days in advance so you’re not worried about preparing this part of the recipe and so the bread can dry out somewhat.

Here’s What to Know About the Recipe

This recipe includes fewer than 10 ingredients: crumbled cornbread, butter, onion, celery, eggs, chicken stock, dried sage, salt, and black pepper. 

With only about 10 minutes of prep (besides making the cornbread) and 30 minutes in the oven, this stuffing is ready in under an hour. Here’s a quick overview of the steps:

1. Crumble your cornbread and set aside. 
2. Saute the veggies on the stovetop in butter, then transfer to your bowl of cornbread.
3. Add in the stock, eggs, and seasonings.
4. Transfer to a baking dish and cook for about 30 minutes.

Tips and Tricks From the Allrecipes Community

This recipe is pretty straight-forward. Plenty of reviewers make this recipe as is, and the result is phenomenal. If you’re looking for ways to make it your own, check out what the Allrecipes Community says about this top-rated recipe:

• “This year was my first time making Thanksgiving dinner on my own. This recipe was the closest to what I remembered my grandmother making when I was growing up,” says reviewer Melissa Ciers. “I followed the recipe as is, just added green peppers to the veggie mix, and it turned out beautifully. It was such a hit, I had to make two pans.”
• I’ve been looking for a good dressing recipe that would be similar to the kind of dressing my mother always made at Thanksgiving,” says one Allrecipes reviewer. “This is it! The blending of flavors and moistness of this recipe is fantastic. I changed the chicken stock to vegetable stock, increased the celery to 1 cup, and the crumbled cornbread to 4 cups, and it fit nicely in an 8×8-inch dish.”
• “This is really similar to the recipe that my grandmother passed down to me. You can also substitute the chicken stock for the pan drippings if you are cooking a turkey,” says reviewer Sweet Southern Charm. “When prepared with the drippings, it is delicious and full of flavor.”