This Easy Stuffing Recipe will complete just about any meal!
Celery and onions are cooked with butter, herbs and seasonings. It’s all tossed with dried bread cubes and broth, then topped with a bit more butter and baked until hot and golden.
I love mashed potatoes, but homemade stuffing is easily my favorite thanksgiving side dish.
Ingredients for Stuffing
Bread – You can use almost any kind of dry bread for stuffing or purchase dry bread cubes. I prefer to use half white bread and half wheat bread and set them out to dry for a few days before making this stuffing recipe.
Celery/Onions – These add lots of flavor to this recipe and should be cooked in butter until tender.
Seasoning – Poultry Seasoning is my first choice for this turkey stuffing recipe. It is a blend of savory spices like sage, thyme, and rosemary and it adds delicious flavor to soups, stews, and casseroles. You can replace poultry seasoning with ground sage if needed.
Broth – Chicken or turkey broth adds moisture and the amount needed will vary based on the type of bread used and how dry it is. See the recipe notes for more details.
Additions – I think a simple classic stuffing recipe is the best stuffing recipe, so the add-ins are kept to a minimum however you can add shredded carrots, raisins, dried cranberries, or even cooked sausage.
Bread for Stuffing
The key to making this homemade stuffing recipe the right consistency is to ensure that the bread is really dry before adding broth. This allows it to soak up the broth (and flavor) without becoming soggy.
If possible, purchase the bread a few days (or even weeks) early, tear it or cut it into cubes, and let it dry for a few days on the counter. Any kind of bread will do (like sourdough bread or half cornbread), I most often use a combination of brown and white.
You can use dried bread cubes from the store, they’ll work just fine in this recipe although they may require a little bit of extra broth.
How To Make Stuffing
I prefer to cook my stuffing in a casserole dish (which would technically make it dressing) or to make Crock Pot Stuffing. Cooking the turkey and stuffing separately ensures that they both reach the right temperatures without overcooking.
Make ahead – Stuffing can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge in a casserole dish. Prepare the stuffing without baking and refrigerate up to 2 days in advance. You may need to add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.
Stuffing a Turkey – You can use this stuffing to stuff a turkey. Ensure that the stuffing has cooled in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.
Do not stuff the turkey until just before roasting or it can sit at an unsafe cooking temperature for too long. If stuffing a turkey, the center of the stuffing should reach 165°F as the drippings from the bird enter the stuffing.
To Make Ahead
Stuffing is a great side as it can easily be made ahead of time! Simply prepare as directed, cover tightly, and refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
To bake, remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking. Prepare as directed (you may need to add a few minutes extra if it’s still cold from the fridge).
How To Freeze Stuffing
Everyone loves turkey dinner leftovers. Turkey dinner stacks or hot turkey sandwiches are my personal favorite ways to enjoy them, but sometimes you can’t get to them by the time they will go bad. Fear not, as turkey stuffing freezes well! Just pop it in the freezer and it should last several months.
To reheat stuffing, pop it in the oven at 350°F for about 20 minutes with a little broth on it to keep it from drying out.
Easy Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 small yellow onions diced
- 4 ribs celery diced
- ⅔ cup butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons poultry seasoning or ½ teaspoon ground sage
- black pepper
- salt to taste
- 12 cups dry bread cubes
- 2 to 4 cups chicken broth see notes
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dry parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs sage, thyme, and/or rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dry herbs
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F.
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In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and poultry seasoning (and rosemary if using). Reduce the temperature to medium low and cook until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly.
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In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, onion mixture, parsley and fresh herbs.
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Pour 1 cup of broth overtop and toss the cubes. Add the remaining broth, a little bit at a time until cubes are moist (but not soggy) and gently toss. You may not need all of the broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Place the bread mixture in a baking dish, dot with additional butter if desired, and cover.
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Bake 35 minutes, uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
Cuisine American
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REPIN this Super Stuffing Recipe
I love all your recipes and this one does not disappoint!!! Thank you!! I was scared of stuffing but this turned out wonderful and everyone loved it last year! Making again today!!
How much bread to stuff a 15lb turkey?
I love your recipes. Always turn to them. Never had a failure. I am 81 and have not cooked turkey for a few years. I just had an oven fire so I have no oven. I am preparing here and transporting it to my sons to eat and cook. What a challenge. I have made cranberry sauce in the microwave, blueberry pie filling in the microwave, now I will be doing the stuffing in my instant pot and my yams in my toaster oven. I need a lot of luck.
Keep up the good recipes.
Hi Patricia, this recipe should be enough to stuff a 15 lb turkey. Just make sure not to overpack the turkey cavity to allow even cooking. Any extra stuffing can be baked separately in a dish for additional servings. Good luck!
Can I make this stuffing the night before, refrigerate it and then stuff my turkey with it the next morning and bake?
Hi Dana, you sure can! Let us know how you like it!
I’m making this recipe for 14 people how many times should I double this recipe for it to be enough?
This recipe serves 12, I would suggest maybe 1 ½ times the recipe so you have enough (and maybe a little bit extra). If making 1.5x the recipe, it should still fit in a 9×13 baking dish, you may need to add a little bit of extra cooking time.
I haven’t made this yet but if you use dried herbs, how much of each do you add, to make the full tablespoon?
1 teaspoon of dried herbs = 1 tablespoon of fresh herbs
Easy and delicious! We needed at least three times the amount of onion and celery to even it out with the bread though.
flavorless and mushy. Every bit of it went in the trash because no one liked it.
Sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy this recipe, Carol. Usually it’s voted 5 stars by our readers!
Great road map
Perfect! Exactly like my mom and grandma make it, minus stuffing it in the carcass lol thank you!! (Everyone loved it at Thanksgiving dinner)
So yummy and easy! I added dried cherries.❤️❤️❤️
Just made for our extended family Thanksgiving. Everyone raved how good it was! I will definitely be making this the next time!
It was soupy and inedible . I followed the directions exactly not sure what happened to it but it was terrible.
Sorry this recipe didn’t work out for you, Harriet, usually it’s a reader favorite!
I made this for Thanksgiving this year. I used half sourdough bread and French baguette. I dried out the cubes on my counter 2 days prior to putting together. I included one egg into the broth and also added a honey crisp apple. I froze it in my freezer the week before and then baked the day of Thanksgiving. I let it thaw out in my refrigerator the day before. Baked up perfectly! I may add sausage next year for some added flavor!
Excellent recipe! I made it as written. I used poultry seasoning and fresh parsley but no fresh herbs. I think I added a little too much chicken broth so I baked it uncovered and it turned out great with nice crispy top. It was a hit with the family too. Actually I made two different stuffing recipes, this one and one with sweet Italian sausage. This recipe was preferred by everyone! They devoured the whole thing and hardly touched the sausage one. So this is my go-to stuffing recipe from now on.
Hi! What size baking dish are you using for this recipe?
I use a 9×13 dish but it will fit in any 2 ½ to 3 qt dish.
Whenever I search the internet for a recipe, I am thrilled when I see your name come up. Everything I have made with your instructions is amazing!! Thanks! My husband is always impressed
I am making this recipe for the first time and we have the turkey at 325 and want to bake the stuffing at the same time. The recipe shows 350 for the temp. How much longer do I cook the stuffing at 325?
thank you
Hi Donna, to cook the 2 dishes at the same temperature, the stuffing will likely need an additional 15-20 minutes of cook time. I hope this helps!
This is a GREAT recipe!! I just LOVE the simplicity of it as I am NOT a cook at all!!!
Thank you for taking the time to post it!! I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving.
Pretty much my recipe for over 50 years. Over time I’ve added chopped sauteed mushrooms and occasionally sausage. Really came to life when I began using ciabatta bread with regular several years ago. Never feel like Thanksgiving till I smell onions and celery being sauteed in butter.
what is a non-dairy substitute for butter in this recipe?
You could use a vegan butter or margarine. Enjoy!
Schmaltz (rendered poultry fat). For dressing it is not only a suitable substitute for butter, it’s an improvement.