Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Alex Brannian, Food Styling by Ali Nardi
With all the other side dishes on your holiday table, does your Thanksgiving stuffing recipe really need all those extras? Our best stuffing recipe leaves the sausage, pecans, cornbread, sweet potatoes, and dried fruit—we love a cranberry, but save it for the relish—on the cutting room floor. The result is a buttery, vegetarian-friendly jumble of torn country or sourdough bread and aromatics perfectly suited to sidle alongside roast turkey and mashed potatoes.
The only prep you’ll need to do is dry the torn loaf of bread in a low oven and sauté the diced onions and celery. Toss it all together with beaten eggs, store-bought chicken stock (or vegetable broth for vegetarian stuffing), and a quartet of fresh herbs, including parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, and slide it into the oven. Want to simplify this classic stuffing recipe even further? Go ahead and substitute dried herbs for the fresh ones; we won’t tell.
For truly crispy stuffing, it’s important to oven-dry the bread cubes rather than letting them simply go stale on the counter. (But that doesn’t mean you can’t use stale bread!) Stale bread isn’t actually dry, it’s just hard, and it won’t absorb stock at the same rate—so go ahead and give it a spin in the oven too if that’s the kind of bread you’re using.
Finally, traditional stuffing is baked inside the bird on Thanksgiving; baking this version in a casserole dish technically makes it dressing, but it’s your Thanksgiving dinner, so call it whatever you want. Feel free to bake this homemade stuffing recipe ahead of time, refrigerate after letting it cool down, then reheat the stuffing at 350° while the turkey rests, just until warmed through.
What you’ll need
- 13”x9” Baking Dish
- 12-inch Stainless Steel Skillet
- Instant Read Thermometer
- Balloon Whisk
Ingredients
8-10 servings
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for baking dish
- 1 lb. good-quality day-old white bread, torn into 1" pieces (about 10 cups)
- 2½ cups chopped yellow onions
- 1½ cups (¼” slices) celery
- ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt
- 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 2½ cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth, divided
- 2 large eggs
Step 1
Preheat oven to 250°. Grease a 13x9x2” baking dish with unsalted butter and set aside. Scatter 1 lb. good-quality day-old white bread, torn into 1” pieces (about 10 cups), in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until dried out, about 1 hour. Let cool; transfer to a very large bowl.
Step 2
Meanwhile, melt ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add 2½ cups chopped yellow onions and 1½ cups (¼” slices) celery to melted butter. Stir often until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add to bowl with dried bread cubes; stir in ½ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage, 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary, 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle in 1¼ cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth and toss gently. Let cool.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk 2 large eggs and remaining 1¼ cups low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth in a small bowl. Add to bread mixture; fold gently until thoroughly combined. Transfer to prepared baking dish, cover with foil, and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of dressing registers 160°, about 40 minutes.
Make Ahead: Dressing can be made 1 day ahead up to this point. Uncover dressing, let cool, then cover again and chill. The next day, proceed with the final bake as described below.
Step 4
Uncover dressing and continue to bake until set and top is golden brown
and crisp, 40–45 minutes longer (if chilled, add 10–15 minutes for a
total time of 1 hour 30 minutes–1 hour 40 minutes).