A comfort food casserole recipe made with chicken (or leftover turkey) and Southern cornbread dressing with all the flavors of Thanksgiving that can be enjoyed year-round.
Photos and blog post updated 11/1/23
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Every year at Thanksgiving, I’d ask myself WHY do we only eat turkey and/or cornbread dressing once a year?
And every year I’d tell myself I would start cooking one or both more often. But I never did.
And THEN I started making this recipe and haven’t had to chastise myself for not keeping my word about making turkey and dressing more often.
Because this, my friends, scratches both itches AND it’s delicious AND a bazillion times easier than recreating my Thanksgiving favorites.
I first saw a recipe like this on Southern with a Twist, a Southern food blog my buddy Lynn runs. What drew my attention was Lynn puts chopped boiled eggs in hers – which I LOVE – but never really see very often on recipe sites.
Southerners (or at least my family) have been putting boiled eggs in our recipes forever. I never once saw a pot of Chicken & Dumplings at Nanny’s house that wasn’t loaded with sliced boiled eggs. And all the women in my family put chopped boiled eggs in our cornbread dressing.
Southerners sneak boiled eggs into stews, rice dishes, casseroles – really anything that makes a big batch. I suspect this was to add protein to dishes during lean times.
Food sources in the South were ravaged after the Civil War. Sherman ordered all the crops and livestock to be destroyed so folks got pretty creative working with what they had. That’s why collard greens (and mustard, turnip, etc.) and peas are so popular here.
The Yankees didn’t realize the peas and greens were food when they were scorching the earth so the two sustained much of the South in the years directly following the war. To this day, collard greens and black-eyed peas are eaten here on New Year’s Day for good luck.
I don’t include the boiled eggs in my recipe but you can certainly add them. You should add them! I messed around and somehow married a Canadian, so I tweak a lot of old school, deep South recipes for his sake.
FAQ ABOUT CHICKEN & DRESSING CASSEROLE
How much cornbread do I need? Use a 6-serving mix or half a pan of most standard family-size cornbread recipes (which bake in a 13x9 pan). You can also use leftover cornbread muffins from your local meat-and-three restaurant or Cracker Barrel.
Can I use Jiffy mix? Yes, but I personally don’t love straight-up Jiffy cornbread in this because it’s a little too sweet but LOTS of people love it (I think most people make this with Jiffy mix). When I do use Jiffy mix, I add 1/2 cup sour cream to the batter which really knocks the sweetness down a bit.
Can I use leftover, canned or rotisserie chicken in this? Yes, yes and yes! You’ll need to buy chicken broth to use since you won’t be making your own when you cook the chicken but I’ve done all three and they’re all great!
Is this a meal or a side dish? I serve this as a meal but a lot of folks serve this at Thanksgiving as a side dish. It makes a GREAT potluck dish since it can be served as either.
Can I use Stove Top or Pepperidge Farm stuffing in this instead of cornbread? Probably. You will likely need to add more broth since both of these are somewhat dehydrated. If using Stove Top, reduce the salt since it’s already pretty heavily seasoned.
Don’t you want gravy with it? Well, I ain’t never turned down gravy and I’m not about to start now but, no, I don’t make gravy to serve with this. This is super moist so it doesn’t really need anything but, gravy is never wrong. Ever. You could use a packet of gravy mix or a jar if you want something quick and easy.
Can I make this with turkey? Of course you can!
Would cranberry sauce be good served with this? Well, since I don’t like cranberry sauce, my answer would be heck no but I imagine folks who traditionally enjoy cranberry sauce with turkey and dressing would love it with this.
NOTES ABOUT MAKING THIS RECIPE FOR CHICKEN & DRESSING CASSEROLE
- The reason I specify to use a smaller saucepan when cooking the chicken is so you don’t have to use more water than necessary. The less water you use, the more flavorful the broth is.
- Once the chicken is cooked, you will most likely have more than 2 cups of broth so you’ll definitely want to measure the broth.
- Feel free to use leftover, canned or rotisserie chicken and prepared chicken broth or bullion.
- Diced boiled eggs are SCRUMPTIOUS in this and very much in keeping with the southern tradition of adding boiled eggs to cornbread dressing.
- This is very moist and doesn’t need gravy but feel free to serve gravy on the side. Gravy is never wrong. Ever.
- I like Campbells Cream of Chicken with Herbs condensed soup best but regular cream of chicken is great too.
- Substitute cream of mushroom, celery or onion for the cream of chicken if desired.
Recipe for How to Cook Grits
Chicken & Dressing Casserole
![Chicken & Dressing Casserole Chicken & Dressing Casserole](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPXdVD4dJHDKxeNKTWIb8NkwVJvD7Gk-W4qze-c3IYTkkXCiVJloARdcgQqGpxnkoE3hAIdsjHYh8VAmgU7pjjPoLAIoMQ3nHbVwWASx3_E3qUiLq-jse8tEZ6Ya7GWrDrR7E2Tgm8Q6QidCNLBzJws8Ja-lEHJyWxgz3K9ZvhR6Z3YjQcxVN6hly5ao4/s16000/chicken%20dressing%20casserole%201%20pn.png)
Ingredients
- 2-3 large chicken breasts
- 1 8x8 pan of cornbread, cooled
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 10-oz can cream of chicken soup
- 1 cup diced celery
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Instructions
- Add chicken breasts to a saucepan (the smallest pan you can fit them in so that 2 cups of water will cover or mostly cover them). Add water, salt and pepper. Cover then bring to a boil. Once, boiling, reduce heat to low then cook for 30 minutes or until cooked through (larger, bone-in breasts may take longer).
- Remove chicken from pot to cool, reserving 2 cups of broth.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine 2 cups reserved broth, cream of chicken soup (do not prepare first) and poultry seasoning then whisk until smooth; set aside.
- Sauté celery and onion in butter for 5 minutes then add to a large mixing bowl.
- Shred or cut chicken into bite-sited pieces, add to bowl with vegetables then stir to combine.
- Crumble cornbread into bowl with chicken and vegetables then pour in broth mixture. Gently fold to combine all ingredients. Taste for seasoning then add more salt, pepper or poultry seasoning if desired.
- Spoon mixture into a 2-quart casserole dish. Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. All of the ingredients are cooked (and there are no raw eggs, etc.) so we really just need to heat everything through and get a little color on the top.
Notes
- The reason I specify to use a smaller saucepan is so you don’t have to use more water than necessary. The less water you use, the more flavorful the broth is.
- Once the chicken is cooked, you will most likely have more than 2 cups of broth so you’ll definitely want to measure the broth.
- Add sage if you'd like! I'm a "less is more" kinda gal when it comes to sage and the Poultry Seasoning has just enough in it for me but if you love sage, go for it!
- Feel free to use leftover, canned or rotisserie chicken and prepared chicken broth or bullion.
- Diced boiled eggs are SCRUMPTIOUS in this and very much in keeping with the southern tradition of adding boiled eggs to cornbread dressing.
- This is very moist and doesn’t need gravy but feel free to serve gravy on the side. Gravy is never wrong. Ever.
- I like Campbells Cream of Chicken with Herbs condensed soup best but regular cream of chicken is great too.
- Substitute cream of mushroom, celery or onion for the cream of chicken if desired.
Just when I thought I was able to hole out on cooking chicken and dressing until Thanksgiving you post this recipe!! I think its going to be Thursday's dinner.. Do you have a recipe for gibblet gravy?
ReplyDeleteGo to your local butcher and get you a sack of gizzards. Liver, heart, ect.... Boil with salt, pepper and celery seed. Pull 'giblets' out and finely dice. Save broth! Chop a boiled egg. Heat broth up with a pat or 2 of butter. Make a flour slurry. For 2 cups of broth about 4 heaping tsps. of flour and 1/2 cup of the reserved broth. I like to put it in a sealed jar and shake the devil out of it! Whisk that into the broth and season with salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer slowly whisking often. Add chopped egg and gizzards after it thickens to get warm. Make and add more slurry if it doesn't get as thick as you want.
DeleteThis looks delicious! We like to add linguica (spicy Portuguese sausage) to the bread based dressing at Thanksgiving, I bet it would be delicious in this too.
ReplyDeleteMandy, there's another blogger I follow who has one of them pro-fessional blog sites. It's almost impossible to figure out where to click to get to the dang recipe for all them pretty, pretty pictures. You keep doin what you're doin and enjoy that supper, girl! We'll keep right on enjoying your blog!
ReplyDeleteI AGREE CLINT 100%..KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK MANDY.
DeleteThanksgiving dinner? I can eat this anytime of the year! And don't worry about your pictures, I can't speak for everyone else but I follow you because I love your RECIPES:)
ReplyDeleteIn my house we just call this dressing. We serve this at Thanksgiving & Christmas. It takes the place of "stuffing". This is a very old southern dish & I think it is amazing! The eggs are a must! Although I've never used the cream of mushroom soup...I will try it next time.
ReplyDeleteThe ONLY thing missing from the recipe is Sage
DeleteI added LoTs of Sage and some cranberry on the side….both are a must in my home 😊😊😊
DeleteHi Mandy, We are featuring this yummy recipe on Friday, can you email me the image url of the main photo? Thanks, doll!
ReplyDeleteTonya from 4 little Fergusons
and Weekend Potluck :)
Katerina, I make dressing too but it doesn't have this much liquid or the creamed soup. Or four chicken breasts. This eats more like a casserole than what I'd call dressing.
ReplyDeleteCan you use bread instead of cornbread??
ReplyDeleteAs soon as the liquid hit the bread it would turn into pasty glue. Wouldn’t work at all. You need the structure of the cornmeal. My grandmother always put a few slices of bread in her dressing but never entirely used bread.
DeleteDeb, I'm not sure. This seems like too much liquid for bread. But if you're after something like a savory bread pudding, I think it would work. If you try it, let us know!
ReplyDeleteAt Thanksgiving I use day old dried out white bread cubed small by about 1/4 amount to cornbread.
ReplyDeleteI tried this recipe for the first time on Sunday and it was AWESOME! It was my first time making dressing and I've always wanted to try making it. This recipe was easy to follow and the results were great. Thanks for posting this. I will be cooking again and again!
ReplyDeleteHello!! Can't wait to try this recipe for Thanksgiving, haha probably before then! Quick question: The reserved chicken stock you mentioned... is that from the pot the chicken was simmering in? or is this an additional 2 cups of stock? Thanks!!! LOOOOOVE YOUR BLOG!!!
ReplyDeleteYes, that's the 2 cups you reserved after cooking the chicken. Good luck! I hope you enjoy!
DeleteI don't sauté my Vegas I boil them and. Use chicken base half the fat I channel my yesterday when I made my chicken and dressing .it was so good!
ReplyDeleteWe have a version similar to this one except we add 8 raw eggs and we do not add coc soup. We use a whole hen (not chicken) -Mom says hen adds more moisture, 8 packages of cornbread (mixed) - recipe ends up with 16 eggs in it plus boiled eggs if we add them. It serves our whole extended family (30 ppl+) on special occasions. Would love to try this version as well for a simple family dinner. Oh, We add Sage!
ReplyDeleteI like your recipes,have made a lot of them.Keep them coming.
ReplyDeletePinterest has great pics but a lot of the recipes are not great. I like how your blog has real good meals I am actually interested making! I would love to see them, even with a poor pic, just to get a general idea of what it will look like. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was just me and my husband for Thanksgiving. I decided to try something new and simple but still traditional. I stumbled on this casserole. All I can say is, I will never cook another turkey as long as I live! I have spent years trying to replicate my Dad's dressing. This was dead on. It was moist and delicious and so easy. I did use sage rather than poultry seasoning and I added a lot more pepper but that was just personal preference. I will not wait until Thanksgiving to make it again. Leann
ReplyDeleteMandy, one small addition I learned of and may or may not be something of interest to these folks has become a new ingredient in my cornbread. Sometimes my cornbread can be dry and crumbly. It probably isn't a problem in making this casserole, as you're going to crumble it anyway. But, a friend of mine (Southern girl, of course) told me her mama added a tablespoon of mayonnaise to her cornbread mixture. It works like a charm. I just found your blog site today, but I will be back (just like the preacher for Sunday fried chicken!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe, I was wondering if you can substitute stove top stuffing mix instead of the cornbread recipe ???
ReplyDeleteStove top would DEFINITELY not make this traditional southern cornbread dressing
DeleteStovetop would ruin this recipe.
DeleteCornbread tip - grease your baking pan with lard (yes! lard!), and put the pan(s)in the oven that is preheating while you make the cornbread batter. Once the batter is ready the pan will likely be nice and hot. The lard now melted will create a buffer between the cornbread and the pan. My cornbread never sticks to the pan using this method. Pay attention while handling the batter and pan, don't forget what you are touching. Don't ask how I know, and now I own two Ove' Gloves.
ReplyDeleteHi I was just wondering is a side dish that can be eaten with this or is this a solo dish.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like it would freeze well .
ReplyDeletePeople who post recipes probably hate those of us that post comments with changes, lol. A very good dish. I did two chicken breasts, and instead of a third, I substituted organic crimini mushrooms instead. I did the veggies/mushrooms in garlic butter. I would cut back a bit on the poultry seasoning. It was also calling to me for cheese, so I put about a cup of shredded cheese into it. Not sure what the 3 chopped eggs did for the dish, but what the heck, they are good for you. Someone previously asked about how long to boil the chicken breasts for? I did mine on simmer for 2hrs. Make sure they are cooked, did not turn out rubbery. I also cooked the dish at 375 for an hour, as the dish I used(8.5 x 11?)was very full. Turned out just right. Looking forward to leftovers.
ReplyDeleteHello, great looking recipe that brings back many memories. The link to the recipe on the back of the House of Autry cornmeal bag is unable to be found. Do you use the HOA yellow plain cornmeal for your cornbread? I appreciate that you said no "sweetened" cornbread mix as here in NY it seems all you can find is a sweet mix. Homemade is best so the sugar can be adjusted/omitted. I have really enjoyed your recipes. Your photos are just how I want to see a recipe. Truly homemade and delicious looking!
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I just updated the link to point to their recipe for cornbread made with self-rising cornmeal mix (since that seems to be all you can find these days). I've never gone wrong with the recipes I've found on the bags of cornmeal so if you have plain, see if there's a recipe on the bag or just search their site.
DeleteHave you ever used a rotisserie chicken in the recipe? Or made it in a slow cooker?
ReplyDeleteThis is almost like the dressing that my family makes. I know my great grandmother made it. The only difference is we poach the chicken in plain water and save this water to moisten the dressing. Also, we use cream of chicken soup. It's my favorite part of Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteWhen we cook we always end up making A LOT of food. Because of roasting a turkey, frying a turkey and cooking a ham I omit the chicken in this recipe. I'm from michigan (who does NOT make or eat this) and my Floridian husband LOVES this recipe! Hes had me make this twice since Thanksgiving and it's only Dec 30th! Also, due to my schedule I use a cornbread mix rather than make homemade (which I'm sure would be better) but he loves it anyways! Definitely highly recommended and thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteHello! I am making this for my family and I found a buttermilk cornbread recipe that I am making in a 12" iron skillet. I want to get the correct amount of cornbread in the dish, but cannot find the volume 6 servings comes up to...(how many cups I'd need for the cornbread I've made). Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHalf of a 12" skillet should be good
Delete