🍗 The Best Southern Chicken & Dressing (Old-Fashioned, Moist, & Full of Flavor)

With a secret ingredient your grandmother never wrote down.

There’s something about an old, yellowed recipe card that just hits different. The edges are curled, the ink is fading, and you can tell it’s been pulled out every Thanksgiving and Christmas for decades. This Chicken & Dressing recipe came straight from one of those cards given to me by my sweet cousin. It’s real Southern cooking, no shortcuts, no fuss, and most importantly no DRY CRUMBLES pretending to be dressing.

And let me go ahead and say it: The magic is the cream of celery soup. Not diced celery. Not sautéed celery. The soup. It gives the dressing moisture, flavor, and that old-school holiday taste that boxed mixes can’t touch.

But after making this dressing several times, my sweet cousin also added one tiny update that takes it from amazing to unbelievable:

👉 1 cup of Stovetop stuffing mix stirred into your crumbled cornbread. It adds depth, herbs, seasoning, and texture—and it’s one of those upgrades where nobody can pinpoint what changed… but they’ll swear it’s the best dressing you’ve ever made.

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the Cornbread

• You will need 1 skillet of cornbread, cooled completely. Use this perfect cornbread recipe!

For the Chicken & Broth

• 1 whole fryer chicken

• 1 Tbsp poultry seasoning

• 2 onion halves

• 2 celery stalks, chopped

• 2 carrots

• 1 Tbsp Salt & 1 Tsp pepper

• 2 Chicken Boullion Cubes

For the Dressing

• Crumbled cornbread

• Optional (but highly recommended!) → 1 cup Stovetop stuffing mix

• 1 stick butter, melted

• 1 small onion, diced & sautéed in the butter

• 1 can cream of chicken soup

• 1 can cream of celery soup

• 1–2 cups cooked chicken, chopped

• Poultry broth (to taste)

• Sage (to taste)

🍗 How Long to Boil the Whole Fryer Chicken

For dressing, you’ll want the chicken fall-apart tender and the broth rich enough to flavor the entire pan.

Boil Time:

➡️ 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes for a 4–5 lb fryer.

Instructions:

Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water by about 2 inches.

1. Add poultry seasoning, onion halves, celery, carrots, garlic, boullion cubes, salt and pepper.

2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered.

3. Once the chicken is tender and almost falling off the bone, remove. Plan on a 1 hour cook time.

4. Strain and KEEP every drop of that broth — this is your dressing liquid gold.

Let the broth cool so the fat floats to the top. Skim if you prefer.

Pull apart chicken and chop or shred, and add about 2 teaspoons of salt to the chicken.

How to Make the Dressing (Just Like the Card)

Step 1 – Crumble the Cornbread

Let it cool completely so it doesn’t turn pasty.

Add in your 1 cup of Stovetop stuffing mix and toss together.

Step 2 – Microwave butter with onions

The melted butter is what gives the dressing depth.

Melt 1 stick unsalted butter in microwave with 1/2 cup finely chopped onions. Melting the butter in the microwave with the onion will soften the onions.

***I do this because I DO NOT LIKE biting into a crunchy onion in chicken and dressing. They need to be soft.***

Pour the melted butter + softened onion over the cornbread mixture.

Step 3 – Add Soups

Stir in:

• 1 can cream of chicken

• 1 can cream of celery

This is your moisture and creaminess.

Step 4 – Add the Chicken

Add cooked, shredded chicken—usually 2-3 cups.

Step 5 – Season with Sage

Add to taste (start with 1/2 tablespoon).

Step 6– Add Broth

Pour in enough homemade broth (usually 2 cups) to make it very moist, almost like thick pancake batter. Dressing dries as it bakes, so no need to skimp.

Step 7– Bake

Spread into a greased deep baking dish.

Bake at 450°F for 15–20 minutes until the top is lightly browned.

Let it sit 5–10 minutes before serving so it sets.

Tell me it’s a Southern holiday plate without telling me. Chicken & Dressing smothered in cranberry sauce? Yes ma’am.

Tips From a Farm Kitchen

• Don’t overbake. Dry dressing is a crime in the Southern states.

• The Stovetop tip is gold. It doesn’t taste boxed—it blends like it’s always been there.

• Use as much dark meat as you can. Thigh meat is juicier and richer for dressing.

• Sage is personal. Some like it light, some like it heavy. Taste your sloppy dressing before baking.

• Never throw away your broth. Freeze it for soups, pot pies, or chicken and dumplings. You can always find a use for it!

Thanksgiving, Southern comfort food, old fashioned dressing, homemade broth, Christmas traditional dishes, farmhouse cooking, Alabama cooking, chicken and dressing

main dish

American

Yield: 12

Author: Erin Glover

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🍗 The Best Southern Chicken & Dressing

Moist, savory, old-fashioned Southern Chicken and Dressing made from a handwritten family recipe with homemade broth, cream of celery soup, and a secret stovetop mix upgrade make this the best dressing you'll ever bake.

Prep time: 1 H & 15 MCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 1 H & 35 M

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

For the cornbread

• You will need 1 skillet of cornbread, cooled completely. Use this perfect cornbread recipe!

For the chicken and broth

• 1 whole fryer chicken
• 1 Tbsp poultry seasoning
• 2 onion halves
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 carrots
• 1 Tbsp Salt & 1 Tsp pepper
• 2 Chicken Boullion Cubes

For the Chicken and Dressing

• 1 skillet of crumbled cornbread
• 1 cup Stovetop stuffing mix (optional, but highly recommended)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 small onion, diced & sautéed in the butter
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1–2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
• Poultry broth (to taste)
• Sage (to taste)

Instructions

For the Chicken

1. Place chicken in a large pot and cover with water by about 2 inches.
2. Add poultry seasoning, onion halves, celery, carrots, boullion cubes, garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for about 1 hour to 1 hr 15 minutes.
4. Once the chicken is tender and almost falling off the bone, remove.
5. Strain and KEEP every drop of that broth — this is your dressing liquid gold.
6. Let the broth cool so the fat floats to the top. Skim if you prefer.
7. Pull apart chicken and chop or shred, and add about 2 teaspoons of salt to the chicken.

How to make the Dressing

1. Step 1 – Crumble the Cornbread
2. Let it cool completely so it doesn’t turn pasty.
3. Add in your 1 cup of Stovetop stuffing mix and toss together.
4. Step 2 – Microwave butter with onions
5. This is what gives the dressing depth.
6. Melt 1 stick unsalted butter in microwave with 1/2 cup finely chopped onions. Melting the butter in the microwave with the onion will soften the onions. ***I do this because I DO NOT LIKE biting into a crunchy onion in dressing. They need to be soft.***
7. Pour the melted butter + softened onion over the cornbread mixture.
8. Step 3 – Add Soups
9. Stir in:
10. 1 can cream of chicken
11. 1 can cream of celery
12. This is your moisture and creaminess.
13. Step 4 – Add the Chicken
14. Add cooked, shredded chicken—usually 2-3 cups.
15. Step 5 – Season with Sage
16. Add to taste (start with 1/2 tablespoon).
17. Step 6– Add Broth
18. Pour in enough homemade broth (usually 2 cups) to make it very moist, almost like thick pancake batter. Dressing dries as it bakes, so no need to skimp.
19. Step 7– Bake
20. Spread into a greased deep baking dish.
21. Bake at 450°F for 15–20 minutes until the top is lightly browned.
22. Let it sit 5–10 minutes before serving so it sets.

Recommended Products

Lodge 10.25 Inch Cast Iron Skillet – Pre-Seasoned Frying Pan with Teardrop Handle

Pyrex Deep 9x13-Inch Glass Baking Dish with Lid, Deep Casserole Dish, Glass Food Container

Nutrition Facts

Calories

250

Fat

13 g

Sat. Fat

6 g

Carbs

26 g

Fiber

1 g

Net carbs

25 g

Sugar

5 g

Protein

7 g

Sodium

1464 mg

Cholesterol

40 mg

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Slow Cooker Vegetable Beef Soup (A Cold-Weather Classic from the Ranch)

https://www.crookedcreekranchlife.com/blog/the-best-southern-chicken-and-dressing

From my Farmhouse Kitchen to Yours

There’s something special about bringing an old handwritten recipe card back to life in a busy Southern kitchen. The Chicken & Dressing recipe on this card has fed generations, and I hope it brings that same comfort to your table. However you serve it—holiday feast or weeknight craving—may it warm your heart, your home, and your people.

Stay thankful, always…because that’s the best way to be.

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