Oyster Dressing is a rich, classic southern holiday side dish made with golden cornbread, crisp French bread, spicy sausage, succulent oysters, herbs, spices and the holy trinity of vegetables. Perfect for every celebration, it’s a dish that’s as handsome as it is delicious.
Does your family have a favorite cornbread dressing or stuffing recipe that’s been handed down? Readers love my mamaw’s old fashioned Chicken and Dressing recipe and her Squash Cornbread Dressing recipe. They say both remind them of home!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- This southern oyster dressing recipe combines yellow cornbread with the cubed French bread traditionally used for New Orleans style oyster dressing to create a delicious deep south dish that is full of flavor and texture.
- The extra French bread cubes on top add a bit of crusty bread crunch that makes this dish so addictive!
- Don’t worry, the oysters won’t give your dressing a fishy taste. But, combined with the sausage, they do seriously amp up the savory, richness of a good cornbread dressing or stuffing just like adding mushrooms or the dark meat from a turkey would.
- In addition to being umami bombs, the oysters bring a nice brininess to the dressing recipe. Paired with a spoonful of tart homemade cranberry sauce, the play on sweet and salty is off the charts good!
Where Did Oyster Dressing Come From?
Even though New Orleans and south Louisianans are known for their oyster dressing recipes, this holiday side dish does not originate from my home state. It’s actually a dish that’s as old as the ages, was brought over by British immigrants who came to North America and is enjoyed up and down the eastern seaboard and all along the Gulf Coast.
Its origins harkens back to a time where oysters were one of the most plentiful and accessible foods in those areas, so using them was easy and even practical. Today, that’s not so much the case because of overfishing of wild oyster beds and the like, making them more of a delicacy than every day fare… which makes them perfect for the holidays!
For our family get-togethers, my Mamaw would make a small pan of oyster dressing just for my uncle. It was his favorite. She, herself, was not a fan, but that didn’t keep her from turning out a golden brown oyster dressing that was as gorgeous as it was delicious. It was a labor of love.
Recipe Ingredients & Overview
I’ll walk through an overview of ingredients & steps in these next sections along with helpful tips!
Look for specifics at the end of the post in the recipe card.
- Oysters and their liquor, or water, they are in
- ground pork sausage
- French bread loaf
- cornbread
- yellow onion
- green onion
- green bell pepper
- chicken broth
- salted butter
- eggs
- lemon juice
- all purpose Creole seasoning
- poultry seasoning
- minced garlic
- green onions
- parsley
Recipe Variations: If you don’t want to make your own Creole seasoning, Old Bay goes great in this recipe!
If you want to use a store bought Creole seasoning, make sure it is one with similar ingredients as my all purpose mix for full flavor- oregano, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika- not one with just salt and different types of ground peppers.
How To Make Southern Oyster Dressing
Oysters & Bread. Drain oysters and reserve their liquor (brine). Rough chop the oysters. In a large mixing bowl, mix together crumbled cornbread, 5 slices of cubed French bread, the chopped oysters and reserved oyster liquor. Set aside to marinate.
Veggies & Sausage. In a Dutch oven, melt 1 stick of butter. Add onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. When vegetables just begin to soften, add sausage. When sausage is browned, drain off any extra sausage drippings and return to the Dutch oven.
Combine. Over low heat, mix in creole and poultry seasoning with sausage and vegetables. Add cornbread and oyster mixture to the Dutch oven. Fold ingredients together until completely incorporated.
Remove from heat and add melted butter, lemon juice and beaten eggs to the mixture. Use your hands to completely mix all of the ingredients together. Add broth as needed to moisten the dressing. Spoon into prepared 9×13 dish. Top with remaining bread cubes, gently pressing them into the dressing.
Bake. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly around the edges and in the center.
Tips for Making Oyster Dressing You’ll Love
- Rough chop your oysters by using kitchen scissors and cutting them over your reserved liquor to catch all the extra brine. You’ll want it for your dressing, plus chop oysters is messy and slippery, and this way is the easiest!
- If you want a less briny, not as strong, southern oyster dressing, discard the brine and use chicken broth or stock in its place.
What To Serve with Oyster Dressing
Full of traditional holiday flavors, this special cornbread dressing pairs perfectly with all of your Thanksgiving and Christmas favorites. To make a complete holiday meal, serve it with:
What Type of Oysters To Use for This Recipe
Any time I can get fresh seafood, I go for it. I don’t live close to the Gulf, but there is a guy in my town named Lou who makes a weekly trip to the Louisiana shores and brings back the best fresh oysters, shrimp and fish. Plus, he will shuck those fresh oysters for me. So I am all about it.
But if you don’t have a Lou or a coastline or even a seafood market where you live, look for canned or packaged oysters. Once combined with all the ingredients of the recipe any quality difference in the oysters isn’t noticeable, and they make a great dressing all the same.
Making Ahead, Storing & Freezing
This dressing is best prepped ahead of time instead of made ahead of time and refrigerated. Make your cornbread a day or two before and cube your French loaf. The veggies can also be diced and cooked with the sausage.
On the day you’re ready to serve, simply combine the breads and the oysters. Add it to the sausage and veggies, top with bread cubes and bake as directed.
Get rid of leftover oyster dressing that has sat out longer than 2 hours. If refrigerated in time and covered tightly, leftover dressing can last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
To freeze oyster dressing, bake and allow to cool completely. Wrap tightly or place in an air tight container and freeze for up to one month. Allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating, covered with foil, in a 350° oven.
More Holiday Side Dishes You’ll Love
Southern Oyster Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound chopped oysters with their liquor (brine)
- 1 8×8 pan of cornbread, crumbled
- 7 slices french bread, cubed
- 2 sticks butter (1 stick melted)
- 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 pound ground pork sausage
- 2 teaspoons all purpose Creole seasoning
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 5 green onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Generously grease a 9 x13 casserole dish.
- Drain oysters and reserve the liquor. Chop oysters into pieces. In a large mixing bowl, mix together crumbled cornbread, 5 slices of cubed French bread, the chopped oysters and reserved oyster liquor. Set aside to marinate.
- In a Dutch oven, melt 1 stick of butter. Add onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. When vegetables just begin to soften, add sausage. When sausage is browned, drain off any extra sausage drippings and return to the Dutch oven.
- Over low heat, mix in creole and poultry seasoning with sausage and vegetables. Add cornbread and oyster mixture to the Dutch oven. Fold ingredients togethe until completely incorporated.
- Remove from heat and add melted butter, lemon juice and beaten eggs to the mixture. Use your hands to completely mix all of the ingredients together. Add broth as needed to moisten the dressing. Spoon into prepared 9×13 dish. Top with remaining bread cubes, gently pressing them into the dressing.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and bubbly around the edges and in the center.
Notes
- Rough chop your oysters by using kitchen scissors and cutting them over your reserved liquor to catch all the extra brine. You’ll want it for your dressing, plus chop oysters is messy and slippery, and this way is the easiest!
- If you want a less briny, not as strong, oyster dressing, discard the brine and use chicken broth or stock in its place.
Nutrition
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