Oyster Cornbread Dressing is a surprising and delicious addition to your holiday table. Made with celery, onion, herbs, cornbread, and flavorful oysters.
Cornbread Dressing is a wonderful Southern take on typical stuffing. This version of the recipe takes it up another notch by adding in oysters. It makes a great Thanksgiving stuffing and a fun Holiday Dish that your guests are sure to love.
OYSTER CORNBREAD DRESSING
This Oyster Dressing recipe is the perfect side to serve for a Southern Thanksgiving. The sweet cornbread pairs perfectly with the fresh oysters with liquor, and soaks up their flavor while it bakes. By the time the bread mixture is done baking, you’ll have toasted, savory cornbread with all the taste from the celery stalks, onion, herbs, freshly ground pepper, and oysters baked into it.
You can make this Oyster Dressing recipe with Traditional Southern Cornbread or a more basic Cornbread Recipe. It’s great to make the cornbread a day in advance so you don’t have to worry about it on the day of. If you don’t want to bake the cornbread yourself, you can always buy pre-made cornbread from the store, and it will work just fine in your Oyster stuffing.
Bring this dressing along to a holiday potluck or serve it on your own holiday table as your Thanksgiving Stuffing. It’s an interesting take on classic Stuffing. Oyster Dressing keeps all the comforting and traditional Cornbread Dressing ingredients, while also bringing extra flavor. So, you get something old and something new in one dish. It’s a win-win!
MORE SIDE DISH RECIPES
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
Candied Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows
TIPS FOR MAKING OYSTER CORNBREAD DRESSING
- Prep time: You’ll need to make the cornbread ahead of time, and break it into cubes once it’s cooled. It’s best to use slightly dried out cornbread so that it absorbs the liquid easily. Start the Oyster Dressing recipe by preheating your oven to 350 degrees, then spray your casserole dish with cooking spray. Use cooking spray to make a prepared baking dish. The cooking spray will make sure the stuffing doesn’t stick to the pan. Next, slice the medium onions and the celery so they’re ready for the recipe. Chop the oysters, drain the oyster liquid, and set it to the side.
- Sear: Add 4 tablespoons of the butter to a large cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat. Add in the celery and onions. Cook them until translucent. It should only take about 6-8 minutes of cooking. Add in the seasonings and stir the onion mixture until nicely combined
- Stuffing mix: Add the cornbread cubes, vegetable mixture, and oysters to a mixing bowl and toss them all together.
- Liquid ingredients: In a medium bowl whisk together the chicken broth, eggs, melted butter, and the reserved cup liquor. Pour that egg mixture over the cornbread cubes and gently toss them until nicely coated.
- Cooking time: Pour the cornbread mixture into your prepared baking dish, then pop it in the 350-degree oven. Bake until the top of the cornbread is nicely golden brown and toasted.
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VARIATIONS ON OYSTER CORNBREAD DRESSING
- Bread Mixture: This recipe tastes delicious with a loaf of cornbread. However, if you want to do something simpler you can change from corn bread mix to other types of bread. Try using wheat bread, white bread, French bread, or sourdough for the bready base. You can also top the bread crumbs off with a cracker mixture made with saltine crackers.
- Seasonings: Instead of using dried herbs you can try fresh sage leaves, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary. You can also add new kinds of seasonings to the Oyster Stuffing like flat leaf parsley, cajun seasoning, paprika, or teaspoon poultry seasoning.
- Pork sausage: Try adding a sausage mixture to the stuffing mix. Cook sausage in the skillet with the onion and celery. Then add the sausage mixture to the cornbread cubes.
- Add-ins: Add to the dressing mixture with some chopped sweet potatoes, green bell pepper, or slices white mushrooms. You can also whisk different flavors into the liquid ingredients like hot sauce and lemon juice.
HOLIDAY MAIN DISHES
Roast Turkey
Bourbon Glazed Ham
Baked Ham (with Brown Sugar Glaze)
Roast Turkey (in Electric Roaster)
HOW TO STORE OYSTER CORNBREAD DRESSING
- Serve: Don’t leave Cornbread Oyster Dressing at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
- Store: Once the dressing is cooled cover it in aluminum foil or plastic wrap or put it in an airtight container. The covered-container will stay good in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freeze: You can also put it in a freezer safe container to store in the freezer. Take it out after 1 month to make sure it doesn’t get freezer burn.
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter , divided
- 4 stalks celery , finely chopped
- 1/2 yellow onion , finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon rubbed sage
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 6 cups cornbread cubes
- 18 ounces oysters , chopped, liquor reserved
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
- Add 4 tablespoons unsalted butter to a large skillet on medium heat.
- Add in the celery and onions, cook for 6-8 minutes until translucent.
- Add in the salt, sage, rosemary, thyme, and black pepper and stir.
- To a large bowl add the cornbread cubes, vegetable mixture, and oysters and toss.
- In a second bowl whisk together the reserved oyster liquor, chicken broth, eggs, and melted butter.
- Pour the mixture over the bowl and toss gently to moisten the cornbread cubes.
- Pour the mixture into your baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
Nutrition
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