Crispy savory cornbread dressing cakes can be made in minutes using leftover cornbread dressing from your Thanksgiving dinner! Southern Cornbread Dressing is a favorite holiday side dish in our family and we always make enough to have leftovers. If you get tired of smothering it with giblet gravy and swiping it through a creamy mound of mashed potatoes, here’s the next best way to eat leftover cornbread dressing!
What is Southern Cornbread Dressing?
Cornbread Dressing is like a big warm hug. It’s usually served at Thanksgiving and Christmas (and possibly a few other holidays throughout the year). It’s seasoned with sage and often poultry seasoning, and filled with chunks of chicken or turkey, buttery onions, and celery all held together with chicken stock, bread crumbs, and eggs to give it a consistency that’s somewhere between a spoonbread and savory bread pudding.
It’s firm enough to stand up on its own when cut or spooned from the dish, but it should be perfectly moist on the inside with a crispy golden brown top and edges. Cornbread dressing should never ever be dry. This combination of warm spices, a tender smooth interior filled with chicken, and a crispy buttery top give your tastebuds something to savor. Plus, it’s perfect to sop up all that homemade giblet gravy and mashed potatoes with.
Waste not, want not — Best Ways To Use up Holiday Leftovers
During the holidays, my Dad makes extra pans of cornbread dressing so that there are always leftovers. It’s mandatory to make additional pans of dressing because we all love it so much. It’s not the holidays in our family without it.
In the years I’m not home for the holidays, I make a big batch and freeze a few portions so I can pull it out a few months later and enjoy it again (without any effort). I also like to try to find new ways to repurpose some of the leftovers like these deliciously crispy cornbread dressing cakes.
Overview: Leftover Cornbread Dressing Cake Ingredients
If you have no idea what to do with your leftover Thanksgiving or Christmas dressing, turn it into a delicious breakfast side dish. Dress it up with fried or scrambled eggs and a side salad or fruit salad.
- leftover Southern Cornbread Dressing
- extra virgin olive oil
- fried eggs (optional but highly recommended)
Overview: How to make Leftover Thanksgiving Cornbread Dressing Cakes
Turn your leftover Thanksgiving dressing into one of the best breakfast sides ever! Because this dressing is filled with chunks of chicken and sage you can easily use this to replace breakfast sausage or bacon for your post-holiday brunch. Find the full instructions in the recipe card below.
- Form the cornbread dressing cakes.
- Cook the savory cakes.
- Fry the eggs and serve.
Southern Cornbread Dressing Cakes Recipe step-by-step photos
Looking For More Ways to Use Up Thanksgiving Leftovers?
Here are a few of our favorite ways to turn holiday leftovers into something totally new and delicious!
- Maggie’s Famous Turkey and Wild Rice Soup (A Family Favorite)
- Easy Turkey Tinga Tacos (Best Way to Use Up Leftover Turkey)
- Homemade 00 Crust Turkey Pizza
- Turkey and Dumplings
- Turkey Fettuccine Alfredo
- Turkey Salad Sandwiches (recipe coming soon)
Let’s get started!
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Thanksgiving Leftovers (Cornbread Dressing Cakes)
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
Description
Not only are these cornbread dressing cakes delicious, but they’re also a great-tasting unique way to use up Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner leftovers. Plus, with all its warm sage-filled deliciousnes it’s a perfect replacement for pork sausage for your next breakfast or brunch!
Ingredients
- 2 cups of leftover Southern Cornbread Dressing
- extra virgin olive oil (for sautéeing)
- eggs (for frying or poaching)
Instructions
- Form the cornbread dressing cakes. Using the leftover cornbread dressing, form small cakes and set aside while you heat the skillet.
- Cook the cakes. In a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the cakes to the skillet and do not move them once they hit the pan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook until golden brown on the bottom (about 4 minutes). Flip the cakes over and cook a 3 to 4 minutes longer until golden brown.
- Fry the eggs. When the cornbread dressing cakes are almost finished, fry the eggs.
- Assemble and serve. Place the cornbread dressing cakes on a bed of spring greens and top it with a fried egg. Season with salt and pepper to taste and Enjoy!
Notes
- Form the cakes when the dressing is cold so they hold together well.
- Make small cakes so they hold together well and are easier to flip without breaking.
- If the cornbread dressing won’t hold together, simply mix 1 egg and enough cornbread dressing to hold it all together to form the cakes.
- Serve cornbread dressing cakes with poached or scrambled eggs if you like. These cakes taste great with any kind of eggs, but poached eggs make an even more impressive brunch option.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Breakfast + Brunch
- Method: Skillet
- Cuisine: Southern
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cakes
