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. (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!
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 yellow 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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I made this recipe last night and it was great. however, I hated the fact that I had to use TWO whole sticks of butter. My go-to dressing recipe only calls for 1 stick of butter and that seems decadent enough. Is there a reason it calls for two sticks?
Thanks for your great recipe. Your blog is great.
Thanks! -Katy
I have the same question!
We use two as it makes a pretty big batch of stuffing. You can certainly reduce it a bit if you’d like but may need to add a little bit of extra broth in place.
If you make this ahead and refrigerate, do you wait to add the bread the morning of Thanksgiving? Seems like it will start off really soggy if it’s been soaked overnight. Has anyone made this the night before?
Tracy- did you end up making this overnight?
If i wanted to double this recipe, would cooking times increase. Can I skip the high and cook on low an extra hour?
I have to make it gluten free for my family. Will it work?
Yes, the cooking time would increase. You can cook it on low and add additional time. Once cooked through you can leave it on warm.
If making ahead of time and don’t have time the next day for 3-4 hours of cooking, would it be okay to cook the day ahead and reheat the next day?
Yes it can be reheated the next day (or cooked in the oven the next day if you prefer).
Hi do u scramble the eggs first or throw them in whole?
The eggs go into the mixture raw.
Can this Stuffing be made the day before?
Just curious – what kind of brown bread do you use?
Wheat, any will be fine!
Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving. Looking forward to trying this recipe.
Can you use the The dried stuffing bags from Pepperidge Farms
For your recipe for homemade Poultry Seasoning can these spices be combined from FRESH plants or do they need to be dried first? I grow fresh herbs/spices & would now like to try the formulas with the fresh. TY
When you say brown bread, are you talking about whole wheat bread? Also, are you using grocery store precut bread? For instance, but, not necessarily this brand, wonder white and wonder wheat?
My whole life (and that’s a long time) my Mom and then I made stuffing using Kellogg’s Croutons. Several year ago they decided to stop making it, ruining our Thanksgivings. This looks really good! Jas anyone tried it and think it tastes anything like stuffing made with Kellogg’s Croutons? I would really appreciate any responses.
We feel the same way about the Kellogg’s! My mom is very upset they quit making it. I now use Mrs. Cubbison’s from Costco. It’s not exact, but pretty close.
Great idea. This will free up oven space on Thanksgiving Day! This is almost identical to my mom’s tried and true stuffing recipe although I do add a can of whole cranberry sauce and some cooked and crumbled sweet Italian sausage. Thanks
I’ve done this, whatever doesn’t fit in the turkey. Just don’t pack it in. My
sister-in-law did that 1 year – it didn’t ever cook
I just tried it yesterday. YUM!!!!, will be using it again and again.
I’m so glad you loved it Judy!
I love crock pot stuffing! I’ve never tried using eggs, but now I’m definitely going to!
It adds such a nice texture to this stuffing recipe!
Holly, I ran out of my tried and true poultry seasoning and can’ find one I really like now. I’m not a big fan of sage though I know it needs some in the stuffing. What brand of poultry seasoning do you use? Thanks! :)
Hi Vickie, I most often make my own. You can find my homemade poultry seasoning here and you can most certainly adjust the amount of sage to your liking!
why are eggs needed in cp stuffing? Just curious. Would like to try this.
thanks.
It binds is just a little bit so it’s not quite so crumbly. It doesn’t make it sticky or eggy though. :)
Why do you add eggs? Mom always did. She used cornbread with the bread crumbs. I always leave out the eggs and don’t notice a problem. ??
Thanks for this recipe. I’ll definitely try it.
It binds is just a little bit so it’s not quite so crumbly. It doesn’t make it sticky or eggy though. :) You could certainly leave them out if you prefer but I love the consistency it gives.
I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. My mother in law who is the traditional dressing cooker said it was the best she’s eaten in years! I could hug you just for that one comment!
Both my in laws wondered if we could have oyster dressing (my fave) next time. Have you ever added oysters to this recipe? If so, would I just add them or do they need special prep?
Ah, what a wonderful compliment from your mother! I haven’t tried this with oysters so I can’t say for sure but I do think it would work.
This recipe looks great and I’d like to make it but I have a question about the bread. I know it calls for 6 cups each of white and brown bread but how many slices or loaves would you say equals that? When I make my stuffing, I dry the bread slices and then break it into pieces the next morning, once the slices are dried, but I’ve never measured how many cups say a 20 oz. loaf of white bread makes. I know I could do as you do and cut them into cubes and then dry them but I thought I’d ask if you could give me a ballpark idea. I imagine this may sound silly but it’s kind of a tradition doing it my way Thanksgiving morning.
It was about ½ loaf of each bread, if you have a little more or less it will still work just fine as you’ll add just enough broth to moisten it.
If using store bought bread cubes do you still need 12 cups? I think that’s like 5-6 bags of the stuff I saw at the store!
You will want to measure out 12 cups of bread cubes if they’re fairly large cubes (the size of bigger croutons). If they’re smaller or crumbly you could reduce it by a little bit. You can see the approximate size of the cubes I used in the video just above the recipe. Hope that helps.
Hi Holly, I have not made this recipe, I am a southern girl and we always use cornbread as the main ingredient. I also add, crackers, toasted bread, and left over biscuits. One secret that my mom taught me was to put all your dry ingredients in a food processor and process until they are a coarse meal. You might try it this way sometime. I will definitely try using my slow cooker. Thanks, I enjoy your recipes.
Cornbread would be delicious too, I’ll have to try your way with more crumbs… I’ve never met a stuffing I didn’t love! Thank you for sharing!