Crock Pot Stuffing takes my favorite classic stuffing recipe and turns it into an easy make ahead side dish. This stuffing is perfect to serve along side turkey dinner!
Once I started cooking my stuffing in my slow cooker, it’s the only way I make it now! Not only is it easy and delicious, it can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance making it the perfect side during a busy meal! Turkey dinner is a big undertaking so I try to plan ahead as much as I can both before the meal and on turkey day (I use this turkey dinner planner to keep everything in order).
When you walk into my kitchen a few hours before that golden turkey is out of the oven, you’ll see slow cookers and vegetable steamers all lined up on one side of the kitchen. I try to have all of the sides and accompaniments prepared ahead of time. I no longer boil my mashed potatoes, I make slow cooker mashed potatoes and I often have veggies like carrots and broccoli washed and sitting in the veggie steamer ready to go (and of course this Crock Pot stuffing)! When the turkey is ready, it comes out of the oven and literally the only thing I have to do is cook up the gravy while it rests.
I do have to make a confession… while I always make a ton of dishes for any turkey dinner including rolls, veggies, salads and all that other jazz that goes along with turkey the only thing I care about is the stuffing (and gravy). Truly, if I just had a big ol’ plate of stuffing, I’d be a happy camper (and I always ALWAYS take seconds of the stuffing).
The Best Bread for Stuffing
You can make delicious stuffing with ANY kind of bread from hot dog buns to leftover bagels or crusts of bread. To make perfect stuffing, you’ll need to ensure your bread cubes or crumbs are dry before beginning.
My personal favorite bread for stuffing is using half white sandwich bread and half brown sandwich bread and drying it myself. It gives the best texture and flavor allowing for the seasonings and celery/onion mixture flavor to really shine through.
My second choice is dried unseasoned bread cubes from the store. I prefer to add my own seasonings and control the sodium (and MSG). (I use a homemade poultry seasoning).
How to Dry Bread for Stuffing
There are two ways I dry bread for stuffing:
1. Make day old bread: Cut your bread into cubes and leave it on the counter uncovered at least 24 hours (stirring occasionally).
2. Dry Bread Crumbs in the oven: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Lay fresh bread cubes in a single layer and cook 25 minutes stirring half way or until dried. Ensure your bread doesn’t toast or brown.
An important note about adding the broth! You are going to add just enough broth to the cubes to moisten them. Depending on the type of bread you use your broth amount could vary by up to a cup or more! You want enough broth so that the cubes are moist but not mushy as the onions/celery and other add ins will also add a bit of moisture to the stuffing.
Cooks Tip: If you accidentally add too much liquid and your stuffing is too wet, don’t despair! Add in a couple of handfuls of dry bread cubes or store bought croutons. They’ll soak up any extra moisture creating the perfect consistency.
While I like a simple classic stuffing, if you’re more adventurous, you can most certainly add in whatever you’d like such as fresh or dried cranberries, fried mushrooms or even cooked sausage. Once you make this easy Crock Pot stuffing, it’ll definitely become your go to!
Crock Pot Stuffing
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning store bought or homemade
- 2 medium onions diced
- 2 cups sliced celery
- 6 cups dry white bread cubes *see note
- 6 cups dry brown bread cubes *see note
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs or to taste, thyme, sage, rosemary ,optional
- 3 cups chicken broth plus an additional 1 cup if needed
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Heat butter over medium heat until melted. Stir in poultry seasoning, black pepper and salt. Add celery & onions and cook until softened (do not brown). Cool completely.
- Place bread cubes in a large bowl. Add cooled celery and onion mixture, parsley and fresh herbs if using.
- Add chicken broth a little bit at a time just to moisten and gently stir. You may not need all of the broth (see note below). Stir in eggs.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight if making ahead of time.
- Grease a 5-6 qt slow cooker well. Place stuffing in the slow cooker and turn onto high for 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to low and cook an additional 3-4 hours or until hot and cooked through. If stuffing is done before your meal is ready it can remain on warm.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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great recipe, we use a garlic sourdough and it was phenomenal.
This dressing was absolutely the best! It was delicious, easy to make, and I will be making this every year!
This was my first time making stuffing. It came out delicious! Your recipes never fail me. Every recipe that I’ve made of yours is excellent. Thank you for helping me be a better cook, Holly!
So glad you loved it Dawn!
This stuffing recipe isfabulous. The stuffing was praised throughout the meal! I was cooking in an apartment and freeing up a burner by using the crockpot was so hekpful. I will definitely make this again.
The whole family loved our stuffing cooked in the slow cooker with this recipe after a few moderations. Celery was still crunchy and consistency was perfect . Thank you
Fantastic recipe! Used up sour dough croutons that I had in the freezer. Making it then refrigerate overnight, 3 hrs in slow cooker, genius!
This crock pot dressing is WONDERFUL! I will definitely make this again. Great flavor…as suggested, I bought Cheesecake Factory brown bread & it really adds to the yummy! I also agree with Holly….just give me a big plate of dressing & Im happy.
hands down the best stuffing…ever! I have made this at least the last 3 yrs. I do add in cooked sausage and the fresh herbs as well. it always gets compliments. my friend said she only eats her dad’s stuffing and that this was as good or better!
Is it dumb to add sausage, apples and pecans? Or is that just too much for stuffing? At what point would I add it?
Definitely not dumb, that sounds delicious! We have this sausage stuffing that is amazing too. I would cook the apples with the onion/celery mixture so they soften. I have never tried adding pecans but I would toast them lightly before adding them to the recipe and toss them in with the bread cubes. I hope that helps! I would love to hear how it turns out for you.
We have some dietary sensitivies, can the eggs be ommitted? Would anything else, like the chicken broth quantity need to be adjusted to compensate?
I’m excited to try this recipe, thank you for sharing!
You can omit them if you’d like Krysta.
So excited to taste this tomorrow!! Had to make a portion separately for a dairy-free diet (no white bread) and put it in a loaf pan since crockpot will have larger portion of recipe. Can I just cook that small loaf pan of stuffing in the oven?? Thanks!
You sure can!
If making ahead of time, what is best way to reheat? Back in the crockpot on warm?
This can be reheated on low in the slow cooker.
Sorry for such a basic question however I am not skilled in the kitchen. Do you scramble the eggs before mixing in or just crack the eggs into the mixture?
In step 3 we stir then into the stuffing mixture. You can just crack them into the stuffing mixture and stir them in or I like to use a fork to mix them slightly then add them to the stuffing mixture.
Thank you! Preparing now to be ready for the crock pot tomorrow.
I plan to cook in crockpot day before serving. I am curious how long it will take to reheat tomorrow. Thanks
I haven’t tried reaheating the entire recipe in a slow cooker so I can’t say for sure. If time allows you can also prepare it today and cook it according to the recipe instructions tomorrow. If it’s cold from the fridge, remove it 30 minutes before cooking and you might need to add a little bit of extra time.
Thank you for such quick response.
Hi there
My only concern is does this come out soft on the mushy side.
You mentioned in a comment you do get some brown bits? Does the whole top brown?
Thanks….I love your Tortilla soup and beer cheese dip.
Lorraine
The whole top doesn’t brown as the slow cooker is a moist heat but the edges to get nice and browned. It doesn’t come out mushy, you’ll want to make sure you add enough broth were it’s moist and not soggy—this can vary a little based on the type of bread you use. It’s one of our favorites!
Hi Holly….
I SO did not expect you to answer me on Thanksgiving morning, so I went ahead and started the dressing…I asked it what it would like to do…and it said “*Go in the crockpot!”….. yes I do consult my dishes at times…lol. In my 70’s I learned I can use all the advice I can get.
Anyways….your recipie is almost exactly the one we have used forever….it was my Mom’s go-to. We just never, ever thought of using the crockpot. Thank you!
Lorraine
(and I’ll follow your lead and do my bouron sweet potato casserole in my Nesco roasting pan…no stressing about timing!)
So glad you enjoyed it, Lorraine!
Oops, sorry, I see that someone before me asked the same question about doubling the recipe and the size of the slow cooker. Thanks!
If you double the recipe, will it still fit in a 6 quart crockpot?