A million times better than boxed stuffing, this simple homemade stuffing is so delicious. With fresh ingredients and herbs, you’ll taste the difference in the flavor. The texture is perfect, soft in the center and just a little crispy around the edges.
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I grew up with boxed stuffing with my Thanksgiving dinner, my friends. Good old Stouffer’s.
We loved it. Some of us kids thought it was the best part of the meal.
Fast forward a few years to a my first encounter with homemade stuffing– shortly after we were married. I’m sure it was delicious when it was made, but I think the problem was it got put in a zip lock bag to transfer to us when it was still warm. By the time we tasted it, it was soggy beyond recognition.
Needless to say, good old Stouffer’s continued show up every year.
A few years ago we went to my husband’s Uncle’s family for Thanksgiving and his wife made a delicious homemade stuffing.
It tasted amazing.
For me, I remember it being one of the stars of the whole meal. The flavors were so fresh and delightful. The texture was soft and a little crispy on the sides.
I couldn’t stop eating it. And then thinking about it when the meal was over.
After begging, she sent me the recipe. And rest is history. I haven’t touched a box of Stouffer’s since. And don’t have any plans to in the near future. Sorrynotsorry.
I’m so excited to finally share this recipe with you, my friends. I had it most-of-the-way ready to share last year. And then we moved and life got just a little too hectic. So you might recognize some of the pictures as actually being taken in our old house.
What you Need to Make this Simple Homemade Stuffing
1. Hearty Bread
Let’s talk about what hearty bread is for a second. Hearty bread is bread that is not soft or squishy. That rules out most of your store-bought sandwich breads. Usually hearty bread that is a few days old works better than freshly made.
I usually use a French Baguette or 7 French baguette rolls, a rustic loaf, or a sour dough loaf. But even good quality day old sandwich bread like this one will work.
2. Fresh Vegetables & Herbs
Diced fresh onions + celery for the vegetables.
Fresh sage, parsley, rosemary + thyme for the herbs. In a pinch you can make this with dried herbs, but the fresh herbs really make the dish stand out as something special.
3. A few more ingredients
- Butter
- salt & pepper
- Chicken broth – If you don’t have any on hand, this homemade chicken bouillon substitute + water works well.
- eggs
How to Make it
First, dry the bread in the oven until it’s nice and crispy.
Melt the butter and sauté the onions and celery.
Add the softened veggies to the bowl with the dried bread cubes.
Then whisk together some eggs and chicken broth and fold it in.
Plop it all in a sprayed baking pan and it’s ready to bake.
Tips for Making it Ahead (a.k.a. Your Thanksgiving Day Lifesaver Tips)
One of the things I love about this stuffing is that it’s easy to prep it ahead of time. No need to worry about it taking up 2 1/2 hours of precious oven resources on the big day.
The bread cubes can be dried up to a week in advance.
Once they’ve dried, just let them cool completely (this is super important). Then pack them in a sealed container (I use a zipper freezer bag) until the day before and you’re ready to go.
Then the day before, the stuffing gets prepped and baked covered for 40 minutes.
Uncover it and let it cool completely (again–super important so it doesn’t get soggy).
Cover it again and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Then the day of, just do the final baking (uncovered) for 50-60 minutes and you’re good to go. It’s really easy to bake alongside another dish like these sweet pecan yams, which are a huge favorite around here and can also be prepped ahead of time.
Easy, homemade make-ahead-able side dishes are the name of the game around here as far as Thanksgiving is concerned. This delicious, simple homemade stuffing will earn you kitchen rock-star status and is totally do-able with this fabulous recipe.
Enjoy, my friends.
Simple Homemade Stuffing
A million times better than boxed stuffing, this simple homemade stuffing is so delicious. With fresh ingredients, you'll taste the difference in the flavor and the texture soft and crispy (not soggy at all).
Ingredients
- 1 pound hearty bread cut into 1-inch pieces, see note
- ¾ cup salted butter
- 2 ½ cups diced white or yellow onions about 1 ½ small/medium onions
- 1 ½ cups celery diced, about 2-3 large stalks
- 2 tablespoons fresh sage 2 teaspoons dried
- ½ cup chopped fresh parsley 2 tablespoons dried
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 ¾ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth divided, see note
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment paper. Scatter bread evenly on baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes until bread is crispy and dry. Let bread cool completely before using. This step can be made up to 1 week ahead of time (once cooled, store in a sealed container).
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Add the dried, cooled bread cubes to a large bowl. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
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In a large sauté pan, melt ¾ cup salted butter over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and celery and cook about 10 minutes, stirring often, until vegetables start to brown.
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Add the softened vegetables to bowl with the bread and then stir in sage, rosemary, thyme, coarse salt, and black pepper. Stir well. Then drizzle over 1 ¼ cups chicken broth and stir gently.
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In a small bowl, whisk together remaining 1 ¼ cups chicken broth and 2 large eggs. Add to the bread mixture and fold gently until combined.
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Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray and transfer bread mixture to it. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F or until instant read thermometer reads 160 degrees F.
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If making ahead of time: uncover, let cool completely. Then cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. If baking immediately, skip this step.
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Remove cover and bake at 350 degrees F for an additional 40-45 minutes (plus 10-15 minutes if chilled) until stuffing is set and top is browned and crisp.
Recipe Notes
1. For the bread make sure to use a hearty bread. Usually bread that is a few days old works better than fresh. I usually use a French Baguette or 7 French baguette rolls, a rustic loaf, sour dough, or even good quality day old sandwich bread will work.
2. For the chicken broth I often use 2 ½ cups water + 1 ½ teaspoons chicken bouillon substitute.
Recipe Source: Adapted from a recipe shared with me by Pam B., she found here, originally from Oct 2012 issue of Bon Appétit.
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains a few affiliate links for items on Amazon.
