Try out these delicious recipes for your leftover cornbread.

Also, check out “Top 5 Reasons Why Cast Iron Is The Greenest Choice For Non-Stick Cooking.”



It’s no secret that I love all my cast iron cookware. Each and every piece is a lovely friend that has given years of faithful service. But I do admit I have a favorite. It’s my tiny 6 inch skillet. I use it almost everyday.  I’m southern, so that means that I make a lot of cornbread.  It’s a staple in our house. But it’s just me and Mr. Lite Green rattling around here, so there’s always some left over. And I don’t like the idea of throwing out bread. 

What do I do?

Well, sometimes I might have some for breakfast. (I can see how that might sound weird to you yankees, but to the southern folk, it won’t be a surprise.) But usually, I freeze it and save it up to make other dishes, like cornbread salad or my thanksgiving dressing.

Cornbread will keep for several months if frozen. I keep a large tupperware container in my freezer and just add cooled leftover cornbread to it. 

A quick word about cornbread: I make a short, southern-style cornbread.  These recipes  aren’t designed for the sweet, northern-style cornbread.  We southern folk would serve that kind of cornbread with butter and honey and call it dessert!

Here are some easy recipes to help you use up any leftover cornbread:

Granny’s Southern Cornbread Dressing
Serves A Crowd!

2 pans cornbread, crumbled -- about 6-8 cups. (If cornbread is frozen, take out the night before and let thaw in the fridge overnight.)
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 large onions, finely chopped
4 hard cooked eggs, chopped
Cooked giblet meat, chopped
Stock from cooked giblets
1-2 cups of chicken or turkey stock
2 fresh eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp ground thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
salt to taste

Crumble cornbread into a very large bowl. Add celery, onion. Stir gently. Add seasonings, except salt, stir again. At this point, you can just let the mixture sit on the counter, uncovered, for several hours while you prepare other dishes. This lets the cornbread have time to dry out a little, and the spices to penetrate the mixture.

Next, stir in hard cooked eggs, giblet meat and giblet stock. Then, add chicken stock, 1/4 to 1/2 cup at at time, until the mixture is moist but not wet. At this point, taste and adjust seasonings as desired. Add salt if necessary. (The dressing can be made ahead up to this point. Cover tightly and store in fridge up to one day.)

Finally, stir in beaten eggs and mix to combine. Put mixture in a greased 11 x 13 pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until set and firm, but not dry. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

To cook giblets: Add giblet parts to pan and cover with water. Bring to boil with 1 celery stalk, chopped; 1 carrot, sliced; 1 medium onion, chopped. Add some salt and pepper, a bay leaf, 1 tsp. dried sage and 1 tsp dried thyme. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes. Drain, reserving stock and meat, and discarding solids. Remove meat from bones and dice. Store stock and meat separately in fridge up to 2 days.

Southern Cornbread Salad a la Lite Green
Makes 4 servings

2 or 3 slices of stale cornbread, cubed and lightly toasted (If cornbread is frozen, remove from freezer about an hour before toasting.)
2-3 slices of hickory smoked bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 yellow pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1-2 Roma tomatoes, chopped (or a handful of grape tomatoes, halved)
About a 1/4 cup chopped green onion (or to taste)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) corn
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 cup oil and vinegar dressing (I like Newman’s Own Olive Oil And Vinegar.)

Mix all together gently in a large bowl and dress lightly with dressing.

Note: This is a very versatile recipe. You can crumble the cornbread before you toast it, if you like, for a little different texture to the salad. You can add just about any veggies you have on hand to this salad, too.  Experiment with broccoli and purple onion, or add drained and rinsed red kidney beans and jalapenos, and dress with Newman’s Own Light Lime Vinaigrette. You can add shredded cheese, like cheddar or mozzarella.  Omit the bacon and add chopped cooked chicken or Boca Meatless Breakfast Links. Some people dress it with ranch dressing or mayo, but I like the flavor of the vinaigrette best.


Cornbread For Breakfast

1 wedge of cornbread
1 cup sweet milk or buttermilk
1 green onion, or 1 slice purple onion -- optional

Crumble cornbread into a glass.  Top with milk.  Eat with onion, if desired.  Mmmmm, Mmmm!

Just in case you don't have a good cornbread recipe, here is my grandmother's recipe. It's good right out of the oven and it makes great leftovers.

Granny’s Southern Cornbread

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons bacon drippings, Crisco or vegetable oil=

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Put bacon dripping or Crisco into cast iron skillet and heat in oven until it’s hot and beginning to smoke, about 6 minutes.  Meanwhile, mix wet ingredients into dry and stir until just moistened.  Don’t over mix.  Remove skillet from oven and quickly stir hot dripping into cornmeal mixture.  It will sizzle and crackle a bit.  Then quickly pour corn bead mixture into hot skillet and return to oven.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.  The edges should be slightly darker and crusty.  Remove and let rest for 5 minutes or so and then flip onto a plate.  Cut into wedges and serve with butter.