The best side dish for your keto Thanksgiving table is this Southern Keto Cornbread Dressing. It’s so good it’ll fool the biggest carb lover in your family! Just one bowl and one bake required. Only 5 net carbs per serving too!
I could eat Southern cornbread dressing with every meal, no lie. It is hands down one of my all time favorite foods. Of course, my Gran’s and my Mom’s are the best and I relish every bite at holiday meals. Over the years, I learned how to make theirs and perfected my own.
Then, when I transitioned to a low carb diet, the original recipe wasn’t going to work anymore since it contained cornmeal. My first low carb Thanksgiving, I indulged in my Mom’s version. But come my second low carb Thanksgiving, I made what would eventually become a low carb southern keto cornbread dressing. I tested the recipe on all (we’re talking 20+) of my non-keto family members last year and they were really surprised at how yummy it was!
This Is The Best Keto Cornbread Dressing Ever
And here’s why:
- Tastes just like cornbread without any grains
- Only one bake required (traditional recipes require two)
- Crowd pleasing
- Simple ingredients
- Ready in (almost) 30 minutes
- Signature sage flavor found in traditional southern cornbread dressing
What is Southern Cornbread Dressing?
If you’re not from the South, maybe you don’t know what cornbread dressing is. Let me explain…
Cornbread dressing is NOT stuffing. It is NOT chunky. It does NOT have apples, nuts, or other weird things in it. And most importantly, it is NOT dry!
Cornbread dressing is probably made various ways by families across the South but where we come from, the signature flavor (secret ingredient) is dried sage.
Traditionally, a batch of homemade cornbread (not Jiffy, please) is baked, cooled, and crumbled. You mix it up with seasonings, egg, melted butter, cream of chicken soup, and a whole bunch of chicken stock. Then, it gets baked until golden brown.
There’s debate on how wet or dry cornbread dressing should be. We prefer it more on the wet side.
So, essentially, southern cornbread dressing is a really moist, non-chunky, stuffing (for lack of a better word). It is absolutely delicious!
Making Your Own Southern Keto Cornbread Dressing
To make this dressing keto friendly, I had quite a bit of tweaking to do.
I started with my original keto cornbread recipe, obviously, but I did not bake it first. Thankfully, in this low carb version, it didn’t make a difference!
You can make this low carb cornbread dressing in your Instant Pot or oven. Since the Instant Pot steams food and naturally keeps it more moist, you need less liquid than if you’re baking it in the oven. See the notes in the recipe card for specifics.
If you’ve been a long time cornbread dressing baker and have a preference on how wet/dry yours is, feel free to adjust the amount of chicken stock you use.
Additionally, if you’d like to add shredded chicken or leftover turkey to make this a casserole, go for it! No adjustments necessary! This is my absolute favorite low carb Thanksgiving recipe. I really hope you love it as much as my family does!
They are actually similar. but they have their own little differences. cornbread stuffing is put inside the bird, like chicken, duck, or turkey. It gives the bird flavor and the juices of the poultry is then absorbed by the stuffing. Dressing is cooked separately from the bird. It’s called “dressing” because rich families wanted the bird “dressed” and surrounded by side dishes.
Traditionally it’s not. Cornbread dressing is made with flour which is loaded with carbs making it incompatible with keto. But when you substitute it with low-carb ingredients you’ll end up with a tasty and scrumptious side dish that’s low-carb and keto friendly.
If you want to make this vegan, do the recipe as you normally would just omit the butter and eggs. Use almond milk instead of broth. You can also use cornstarch or cornmeal instead of flour for gluten-free cornbread. This will make your cornbread denser as well. as an alternative to butter, you may use vegetable, canola, olive, or coconut oil. They will keep the cornbread moist just as well.
If you want to store cornbread, transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the fridge. This will keep for 3 to 4 days. If you want it to last longer, divide your cornbread into individual servings and wrap them with plastic wrap. Put all of them in a freezer-safe bag or airtight container, then store them in the freezer. This will keep for up to 3 months.
Southern Keto Cornbread Dressing
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups almond flour
- 2 tablespoons ground sage
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 4 tablespoons butter melted (or ghee for dairy free)
- 3 ounces finely diced onion
- 2 ounces finely diced celery about 2 ribs
- 1.5 to 2 cups chicken broth use more for a wetter dressing
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preahet oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sage, baking powder, and salt. Whisk well to remove any lumps.
- Add the eggs and butter and whisk togeher until well combined. Fold in the onion and celery.
- Slowly add the broth and whisk until well combined. The mixture will be very thin and runny.
- Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and trasfer the cornbread mixture to the dish.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is browned and the center is not jiggly.
- Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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