Traditional Bread Stuffing Recipe
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Loaded with flavorful vegetables and the perfect herbs to complement your dish, this classic bread stuffing will go great at your Thanksgiving feast or any meal you’d like to pair with an easy stuffing recipe.
Back in 2015 when I was pregnant with our first son, we started hosting Thanksgiving for us, our two kids, and usually at least 2 and up to 6 additional people.
You can say we’ve become pros at preparing everything and having it all on the table nearly stress-free and with time to actually spend with our guests.
Make no mistake, we still have a bit of prepping to do, but it’s nowhere near what it used to be. Our menu usually includes:
•roasted turkey breast from our local grocery store that we don’t have to cook all day nor actually carve
•Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes (takes up zero space on the stove!)
•canned cranberry sauce (because of course)
•homemade spiced cranberry sauce* (the by-product of this amazing winter sangria* that also make an appearance)
•some easy yeast rolls*
•a skillet full of homemade cornbread
•some sort of green vegetable
•whatever various 12 Days of Christmas Cookies I’ve made over the last couple months and stuck in the freezer* (SCORE)
•mandatory classic pumpkin pie* and chocolate chip pecan pie
And then… The star of the show… This traditional bread stuffing.
What? The star of your show isn’t the stuffing (or bread dressing, as I’ve come to learn it can also be called)? Because GIMME ALL THE STUFFING. ALL OF IT.
*Check it out— all of these items are made ahead of time and either kept refrigerated or frozen and then baked on demand, or made earlier in the day and kept warm until needed. Do it this way and you’re bound to never go back to starting from scratch the morning of!
Why you’ll love this Traditional Stuffing Recipe
How do you like your bread stuffing for turkey? Do you prefer a traditional stuffing recipe? A sausage one? With or without corn? With fruit or no fruit? Maybe cornbread stuffing? Tell me. I love talking about carbs.
I have always been and probably always will be all about the traditional stuffing, and this classic stuffing recipe from Cook’s Illustrated has morphed over the years in our house to be the turkey stuffing recipe I have for you here.
It’s well-liked by everyone, can easily be made vegetarian with the use of vegetable stock, and if you have to, you can make this stuffing with bread you’ve staled on your own (this can include white bread, French bread, sourdough bread, dry bread cubes, whatever kind of bread you want– see recipe notes for specifics about the bread).
Homemade Bread Stuffing ingredients
- dried bread cubes
- unsalted butter
- celery
- onion
- parsley leaves
- dried sage
- dried thyme
- dried oregano
- chicken broth or chicken stock
- eggs
- salt
- black pepper
The recipe itself is very basic, but make no mistake, it does not skimp on flavor, presentation, sturdiness, or everything Thanksgiving.
And you know, you can totally eat stuffing any time of year, because WHY NOT, RIGHT? This homemade stuffing recipe pairs nicely with most meats.
HOW TO MAKE BREAD STUFFING
While this homemade bread stuffing recipe is very easy, it does require a little bit of stovetop time, which is why I like to make it ahead of time (more on that in a bit).
STEP #1
Place the bread crumbs in a very large mixing bowl, then set them aside.
STEP #2
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 8-10 minutes). Add the parsley, sage, thyme, and oregano, and continue to cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).
STEP #3
Add the melted butter, vegetable, and herbs mixture to the bread cubes.
STEP #4
Add the chicken stock, eggs, salt, and pepper, and stir with a rubber spatula to distribute until everything is coated and distributed evenly.
STEP #5
Pour the coated bread cubes into a prepared casserole dish, then cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until golden brown, about 25-30 more minutes.
PUT THIS THANKSGIVING STUFFING TOGETHER AHEAD OF TIME
What I love about this recipe for traditional stuffing is that it can (and probably should) be assembled up to 24 hours in advance. I’ve taken to getting it together the night before Thanksgiving and then popping it in the oven while the turkey finishes up.
It takes about an hour to bake, so if you time things right and find the space, you can get this bad boy finished just in time for that bird to get carved and served and everyone is happy about that happening at the same time.
Plus, assembling ahead of time allows all those veggies and herbs to get all up in each other’s business and create the greatest flavor and the best stuffing recipe to accompany all those tasty sides that make Thanksgiving the best holiday ever.
If you can’t or would rather not prepare this easy bread stuffing that close to actual turkey day, there are plenty of freezing options in the recipe below.
What to serve with Traditional Bread Stuffing
While stuffing is typically only eaten in our house at Thanksgiving, there’s no reason you can’t eat it with meat or other dishes year round! This stuffing goes well with turkey, chicken, and beef.
How to store leftover Bread Stuffing
Store stuffing in the refrigerator, covered tightly, so it does not dry out.
CAN YOU FREEZE STUFFING?
You can absolutely freeze stuffing. I suggest freezing it before baking so that it can crisp up in the oven. You can also par bake (for about 20 minutes) before freezing, and then pick up with the remaining baking after thaw.
Bread Stuffing Recipe FAQs
While technically, stuffing is baked/cooked inside the bird and dressing is baked/cooked outside of the bird, the names have become interchangeable. They are, essentially, the same thing and what you call it may depend on where you’re from or what your family grew up calling it. You can use this recipe to bake inside of the bird, if you’d prefer.
Add a little butter and/or chicken broth/stock to a portion of stuffing if you feel it has dried out a bit.
You likely have too much liquid in your stuffing or you didn’t bake it long enough. Be sure you’re using at least a 9” x 13” baking dish for this stuffing recipe, otherwise the lower layers can tend to get soggy.
Nothing fancy, no frills about it, and sure to please all those who gather at your table this holiday season. Whether you’re celebrating with 2 people or 40 people, make it a great one and remember all that you are thankful for.
Including all the stuffing.
Round out the rest of your Thanksgiving sides!
Instant Pot garlic mashed potatoes, spiced cranberry sauce, easy yeast rolls, pumpkin pie, sweet potato crunch, and whipped cream!
Traditional Stuffing
Ingredients
- 24 ounces (680) plain dried bread cubes1
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter
- 3 medium stalks of celery chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- ¼ cup (15g) dried parsley leaves
- 1 and ½ teaspoons dried sage
- 1 and ½ teaspoons dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 32 ounces (907mL) chicken broth or chicken stock2
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF (204ºC). Lightly spray a 9" x 13" casserole dish with non-stick spray. Set aside.
- Place the bread crumbs in a very large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the celery and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 8-10 minutes). Add the parsley, sage, thyme, and oregano, and continue to cook until fragrant (about 1 minute), then add to the bowl with the bread cubes.
- Add the chicken stock, eggs, salt, and pepper, and stir everything with a rubber spatula to distribute until all of the bread is coated and the herbs are distributed evenly.
- Pour the coated bread cubes into the prepared casserole dish. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until golden brown, about 25-30 more minutes. Allow to sit for 15 minutes before serving.
- Made ahead3: this stuffing can be assembled and wrapped tightly with plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator up to 24 hours before baking. When you are ready to bake the stuffing, allow the stuffing to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and proceed with baking directions.
Notes
- Bread cubes: you can also stale your own bread cubes. Cut your own bread into small cubes, then leave out on the counter overnight.
- Chicken broth or stock: this is personal preference or whatever you can find. Chicken stock tends to have a more flavorful taste and heartier mouthfeel, but I find it doesn’t matter too much in this stuffing recipe.
- Make ahead: I have also frozen completely baked stuffing, thawed, and baked covered at 200ºF (93ºC) until heated through (about 25-30 minutes). You can also freeze unbaked stuffing up to 3 months. Bake frozen and add 5-10 minutes to the initial bake time.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Don’t forget to make some turkey and cheese sliders with your leftover turkey!
Simple, straightforward, and really good! We used stale bread we cubes ourselves but it worked like a charm and went perfectly with our non-Thanksgiving turkey dinner.
Great to hear! Thanks, Jacqui!
Such a delicious and basic stuffing! My go-to!
I love hearing that 🙂 thanks, Brianna!
I was looking for a new stuffing recipe this year. With my success with Lynn’s other recipes, I gave this one a shot. I used Marble Rye bread that I cubed and dried myself. I put everything together the night before, threw it in the oven on Thanksgiving morning and it turned out absolutely delicious. I have my new stuffing recipe!!
Awesome, Lori! Thanks for trusting my recipes. I appreciate you!
I was looking for the taste of the dressing my mom used to make. This duplicated perfectly.
So glad you liked it, Jane!