Y’all know I love me some cornbread dressing and if you grew up on Southern cooking, you already know dressing is a big deal. This version brings squash into the mix with homemade cornbread, and let me tell you, my recipe slaps HARD. The squash makes it extra tender and flavorful. It’s simple and old-school, you're gonna love it!
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This Easy Southern Squash Dressing recipe is a cornbread casserole made with chicken soup, yellow or butternut squash, celery, and green peppers. Serve this for Sunday dinners, Thanksgiving, and throughout the holiday season.
Squash Dressing Ingredients/What Goes in the Dressing
- Cooked/Day Old Cornbread: You can't go wrong with my Southern Cornbread Recipe
- Olive Oil
- Yellow Squash
- Onions
- Celery
- Bell Peppers
- Garlic
- Ground Sage, Creole Seasoning, Salt, and Pepper: These are used for flavor. Creole Seasoning has an emphasis on herbs such as basil, oregano, and thyme. It is milder than Cajun Seasoning, so it isn't very spicy to me. You can substitute it for whatever you like, Cajun Seasoning, or omit it if you wish.
- Cream of Chicken Soup: You also can't go wrong with my homemade version!
- Broth
- Eggs
How to Make Squash Dressing
Detailed measurements and full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Heat a skillet on medium-high heat with olive oil, squash, celery, onions, garlic, and green peppers.
- Saute.
- Place day-old cornbread in a large mixing bowl. Use a large spoon and/or your hands to break down the cornbread.
- Add in the sauteed veggies, ground sage, Creole Seasoning seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- Add in eggs and cream of chicken soup. Stir.
- Slowly pour in the chicken broth.
- Add the dressing mixture and spread it throughout the bottom of the pan.
- Bake.
Squash Dressing Recipe
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I'll email it to you, so you can come back to it later! You will also get my FREE Thanksgiving menu, exactly what I'm cooking, plus my tips for making it a stress-free meal seasoned to perfection. Let me do the planning for you!
Equipment
Ingredients
- Cooked/Day Old Cornbread
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cups diced yellow squash
- 1 cup finely chopped white onion
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- ¼ cup finely chopped green peppers
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons ground sage Adjust to taste. 5 leaves if using fresh
- 1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 14 oz cream of chicken soup
- 2 – 2 ½ cups broth Any broth is fine including vegetable broth
- 2 eggs Beaten
Instructions
- You can get the recipe for homemade cornbread here.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Heat a skillet on medium-high heat. When hot, add the olive oil, squash, celery, onions, garlic, and green peppers.
- Saute until the onions are translucent, fragrant, and the vegetables are soft. Remove the vegetables from the pan. Set aside to cool while prepping the remaining ingredients.
- Place day old cornbread in a large mixing bowl. Use a large spoon and/or your hands to break down the cornbread. You want to fully crumble it.
- Add in the sauteed veggies, ground sage, Creole Seasoning, salt, and pepper. Mix well. Stop and taste the mixture here. This is where you want to adjust the seasoning and spice if necessary to suit your taste. Before adding the eggs, taste the dressing.
- Add in the eggs and cream of chicken soup. Stir.
- Slowly pour in the chicken broth. Start with a little chicken broth and then stir until the dressing is thick. Add more when needed. You should get the consistency of thick oatmeal.
- Add the dressing mixture and spread it throughout the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes uncovered on 350 degrees until a toothpick returns clean.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Data
Macros are provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. This information is calculated using MyFitnessPal.com. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.
Frequently Asked Questions and Recipe Pro Tips
Stuffing is when you actually stuff a chicken or turkey. Stuffing is made using cubes of bread and it’s really dry. Dressing is served using cornbread and is moist or a balance between moist and not soggy.
Yellow squash is the way to go. It cooks down tender, has a mild flavor, and blends perfectly with the cornbread without overpowering it. Zucchini will work in a pinch, but yellow squash is the classic Southern choice, it gives you that soft, buttery texture that makes the dressing so good. Check out my Air Fryer Butternut Squash to add even more flavor to the dish.
If you use fresh cornbread, your dressing mix will be really soupy and hard to thicken. Your cornbread has to be dry and pretty much stale. I like to make mine the night before. You can use a boxed cornbread mix, like Jiffy, if you wish.
Once baked, allow it to cool. I store mine in the fridge overnight loosely covered in foil. You don’t want to store it in a tightly sealed bag because that will lock in moisture and it won’t dry out.
If you can’t use day-old cornbread, you can also over-bake the cornbread until it’s really dry.
Sure, if you want. If you're using a box mix you will need 2 cups, which is about 16-17 ounces. Follow the box instructions.
Bake the dish for 45 minutes uncovered at 350 degrees until a toothpick returns clean.
If you like moist dressing, cover it with foil while it bakes. If you like drier dressing with a crunchy top, bake it uncovered.
A lot of people love to add actual bread to their dressing. If you wish you can add any of the following: pieces of cubed bread, pieces of cubed biscuits, cubed dinner rolls, or croutons.
You can prepare it the night before and place it unbaked in the refrigerator. From there, you can bake when you like. Allow the dressing to come to room temperature prior to baking.
Place the dish in sealable bags or containers. Ensure they are tightly sealed. It can be frozen for up to several months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight and reheat it in the oven until warm.
Pair With These Side Dish Recipes
Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes
Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
Homemade Creamed Corn
Southern Mustard Greens
Southern Coleslaw Recipe
Southern Potato Salad
Scalloped Corn
Southern Black Eyed Peas
Slow Cooker Crockpot Pinto Beans
Ham Hocks and Beans
More Dressing Recipes
Southern Cornbread Dressing with Chicken
Seafood Dressing
Oyster Dressing
African American Cornbread Dressing
Gina says
I am such a big fan of squash and this was so fantastic. I can't wait to make again!
staysnatched says
That's what I like to hear!
Taryn says
Great recipe. Adding squash to cornbread stuffing lightened it up and gave it great flavor.
staysnatched says
So glad you think so!