Spoonbread Dressing
by Sommer Collier — on Sep 23, 2026 
If you’re not yet familiar, you are definitely going to wonder where spoonbread dressing has been all your life! It has the lightly sweet and buttery taste you love in a traditional cornbread, but baked more like a soft and moist casserole that is so good you can (and should) literally eat with a spoon. My tried-and-true version of a traditional Southern spoon bread recipe includes yellow cornmeal and half & half, plus a smidge of cinnamon, for a scoopable side dish that’s rich, uniquely flavorful, and right at home with any of your favorite comfort foods.
You know I love classic recipes with a ‘lil kick. A great example is my jalapeno cornbread recipe, which has incredibly bold flavors but is still familiar. This non-traditional bread is a Southern cornbread variation most popular in Appalachians. As the name entails, it’s a bread, however it’s so tender, fluffy and moist you serve it with a spoon… Similar to a stuffing or dressing recipe. This makes it a great side dish for southern pork or ham recipes, but also holiday recipes meals of all kinds. You can serve it in place of traditional corn pudding or stuffing, or serve alongside any meal you would typically serve cornbread for a unique twist!
Table of Contents
Sommer’s Recipe Highlights
Scoopable Side Dish – Like with my best corn pudding recipe, there’s no need to bring out the knife and try to get those (sometimes annoyingly) perfect slices to serve. Instead, I put a big metal spoon next the dish and let people figure it out for themselves! It’s cozy and rustic, sure. But from my POV really it’s just more convenient this way!
Unmatched Texture – Speaking of, you are going to LOVE the way it feels to scoop through spoonbread! It’s firm, but as I mentioned above it is also incredibly soft… Kind of like a moist traditional stuffing cooked in the bird, but not so dense. Here the spoon moves through the corn dressing almost like a knife through butter.
Gluten Free and Delicious – That’s right, this baked cornbread pudding casserole is tender and fluffy without all-purpose flour! The eggs and baking powder work together to create a moist gluten-free cornbread crumb with rich buttery corn flavor.
Key Ingredients and Tips
- Yellow cornmeal – I use a medium, stone ground cornmeal. This has a nice slightly gritty texture, and isn’t too coarse or crunchy.
- Half & half – You can use whole milk, however, the flavor won’t be quite as rich.
- Eggs – I use large eggs that are room temperature. It’s best to let the eggs sit on the counter for 15 minutes or so before using, so they aren’t super cold… Cold eggs can slow down the baking process.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter so I have total control over the amount of sodium in the recipe.
- More dry ingredients – I use granulated white sugar, baking powder, and a bit of cinnamon and salt for a pop of flavor.
How to Make
Find the full ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, storage tips, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Pro Tip – This recipe is great to make ahead and freeze for later. Prepare the spoonbread in a disposable aluminum foil pan that can go from the freezer to oven.
Prep – To start, I preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. As it preheats, I place an 8-inch baking dish in the oven and get out a large mixing bowl. (I heat the pan before adding the batter and baking, so that when the batter hits the hot dish it immediately gets a lovely golden crust on the bottom.) Then I bring 1 cup of water to a boil on the stovetop or in a microwave.
“Bloom” the Cornmeal – I pour the yellow cornmeal into the large bowl, and whisk in the boiling water. Then I put the bowl aside for 5 minutes to let the cornmeal absorb the water and soften up.
Add Remaining Ingredients – After the 5 minutes are up, I whisk in the half & half, eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Scrape down the bowl and keep whisking until everything is evenly combined into a flowing batter.
Add Butter and Batter – Now I CAREFULLY take the hot baking dish out of the oven and set it on the stovetop or other heat-proof surface. Add the 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan, and swirl the pan or use a utensil to get the butter to melt and coat the entire surface. Then pour the spoonbread batter into the center of the hot pan. This should cause the melted butter to move to the outer edges of the dish and up the side walls as the batter fills the pan.
Bake – Next, I place the baking dish in the center rack of the oven, and set the times for 25 minutes. Once the timer is up I use a toothpick to check the doneness… This is a moist spoonbread dressing, but the toothpick shouldn’t have any wet batter holding on. Pop the pan back into the oven for another 5 minutes or so if needed.
I know it’s done when the edges and top are set and crisp, the toothpick has a few crumbs when the dressing is poked, and the top of the spoon bread is a beautiful golden brown. Then pull the pan out of the oven and let the dish cool for a few minutes before serving warm.
Serving Suggestions
This is a Southern dish, and I am a Southern chef, so it feels very on brand that I’m going to suggest you serve spoon bread with all kinds of deep south foods! Here are a few of my favorite savory main proteins that are delicious to pair with this sweet-ish dish:
- Southern Fried Chicken
- Nashville Hot Chicken
- Oven Baked Baby Back Ribs
- Chicken Fried Steak
- Smoked Pork Chops
I also love to have it as another fabulous stuffing-style dish at holidays! Serve it on the table with smoked turkey breast or deep fried turkey for Thanksgiving, or with a glazed spiral ham at Christmas.
Storage Notes
Leftover spoonbread won’t be as soft, but it’ll still be very tender and taste delicious! I suggest letting it cool completely before transferring the leftovers to an airtight container. It will keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days, but tastes best within the first day or two.
It’s also a great dish to freeze! The easiest way to avoid freezer burn is to transfer the cooled leftovers to an airtight container, and if possible, wrap that container in a layer of aluminum foil. Freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. And as I mentioned above, you can prepare the whole thing in a disposable aluminum foil baking pan, wrap the cooled container in a layer of plastic wrap and aluminum foil, and freeze.
Thaw the frozen spoon bread in the fridge overnight. The best way to reheat it is in the oven. Short bursts in the microwave will technically work, but can make the dressing more spongey. Instead, I recommend transferring it to an oven-safe dish and lightly drizzling a tiny bit of water (or milk) over the top. Then reheat at 350°F for 5-10 minutes, until the top is crisp and the corn filling is piping hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Be sure the cornmeal batter is mixed well so there are no pockets of wet ingredients. You might also need to bake it for another 5-10 minutes to firm it up. But you can lay a piece of foil lightly on top to cover the spoonbread if it’s getting too brown too quickly.
This can be tricky. There’s not much you can do to fix super dry and crumbly spoonbread dressing… However, if it’s just not quite as moist as you’d like, there’s hope! First, preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Then use a pastry brush to lightly coat the top of the spoon bread with a bit of milk or melted butter. I cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil to trap in the steam, and bake for 10 minutes.
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More Side Dish Recipes
Spoonbread Dressing
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 cup half & half
- 3 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and set an 8-inch baking dish in the oven to heat.
- Set out a large mixing bowl. Place the cornmeal in the bowl and pour hot boiling water over the top. Whisk well and let the cornmeal rest for 5 minutes. Then whisk in the half-and-half, eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Scrape the bowl, and whisk again until smooth.
- Carefully move the hot pan out of the oven. Place 2 tablespoons of butter in the pan and swirl the pan to make sure the bottom of the pan is fully coded in butter. Once the butter is fully melted, carefully pour the spoon bread batter into the pan. If you pour it directly in the center of the pan, the butter should rise up the sides with the batter.
- Place the baking dish back in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the center is puffed and golden. Check the spoon bread by inserting a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, the spoon bread is ready.
- Serve hot, scooped up with a spoon!
