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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The Best (chef’s kiss) stuffing recipe! Thanks so much! I’ll used 1 1/2 bags of Pepperidge Farm stuffing, package of Jones regular sausage and 2 cups of beef broth. I ran out of celery and used granulated onion powder. Added a little chopped Granny Smith apples and dried cranberries for a little sweet to the savory. Many compliments and will be a staple at my Thanksgivings to come.
Hi! Do i used salted or unsalted butter for this recipe?
I am not one to comment if I change recipe but I can’t help myself. The tips and ingredients in this recipe are absolutely wonderful! I made it as is except some of my family prefer stove top (I know seriously right). So I used two boxes of ST chicken and 6 cups herb bread cubes pepperridge farm. didn’t use fresh herbs because was concerned about the seasoning in the ST. Did add poultry seasoning to the butter and veggies. I just now put the dressings in the slow cooker and it already tastes awesome. The tip to completely cool the veggie mixture and how to judge the addition of chicken broth are spot on. Thank you so much for taking the time to write up your steps. Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m so glad you loved it Diane, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Best recipe ever!!! Made it last few years! Making it again but doubling recipe in a larger crockpot. If I double it how long should I cook it for?!?
Thanks in advance!
Also trying your crockpot Mac and cheese this year too!
Hi Devin, You will likely need to add about an hour or so to the cooking time. I would suggest allowing extra time as it can be kept on warm if it’s ready early. You will want to ensure your crockpot is at a maximum ¾ full for proper cooking, if you have extra you could either bake it as a casserole or stuff the turkey. My family absolutely loves the mac and cheese recipe, I hope yours does too! Happy Thanksgiving!
I made this last year, and it was delicious! I want to make it again this year, but my headcount has more than doubled. If I double the recipe, will it take double the cook time? I have a 7 qt crockpot. Will that be too much food for 1 crockpot? Will the middle cook all the way? Should I borrow a crockpot from a friend and cook in 2 batches?
If using one slow cooker, you will want to ensure your crockpot is at a maximum ¾ full for proper cooking, if you have extra you could either bake it as a casserole or stuff the turkey. Or as you suggested, two slow cookers will work. You can check the size with the dry bread cubes to get a general idea, they’ll take up a bit less space once they’re moistened.
I bought all the ingredients to make this for Thanksgiving. I’m excited! I found sliced brown bread at the store, but not sure it’s what was intended. I have pumpernickel. Is that what it’s supposed to be or should I have gone with wheat?
Hi Rachel, you’ll want to use wheat bread, like sandwich bread.
When you say dried brown bread do you mean BROWN bread? Like what comes from a can?
You’ll want to use wheat bread, like sandwich bread.
I am looking for a slow cooker recipe to cook a 8lb bone in turkey breast with stuffing. Would I be able to add the whole bone in turkey breast to this recipe?!?
I have not tried adding a turkey breast to this stuffing recipe. An 8lb turkey breast would likely need around 6 to 7 hours while this stuffing needs closer to 4 hours so I would be concerned about the cooking time. If you have an oven (or even toaster oven) the stuffing can be cooked separately, please let me know if you need any help with this!
Can I do this recipe with pre seasoned bread crumbs? I was going to do this box one…but then saw this! Or should I get just plain bread crumbs?
I haven’t tried it with pre-seasoned but it should work just fine. You’ll want to reduce the salt/seasonings added to the recipe. I would suggest mixing it all together without the egg, tasting it, and then seasoning – once it’s seasoned to your liking, you can then stir in the egg.
About how long does it take for the onion/celery mixture to cool? And do you take it out of the pan and put it in a bowl to help it cool faster?
Hi Kelly, the onion/celery mixture needs to be cooled completely so I would say about an hour. You can put it in a bowl in the fridge to help it cool, or do these steps of the recipe ahead of time. Hope that helps!
What are the directions for baking this stuffing in the oven ?
You can find our oven baked stuffing here.
For the stuffing recipe can you substitute corn bread for half of the bread? Thanks
You sure can!
Well..there goes a 50 year tradition of “stuffing the bird” !!! EXCELLENT recipe.
Did not add eggs..salt, pepper and summer savory only.
Used homemade frozen bread cubes..set out on sheet tray for about 30 minutes to thaw a bit(thanks for Holly’s tip)
Cooked leftovers freeze well.
Oh no But I am so glad you loved this recipe!
Excellent recipe! I added dried cranberries and substituted summer savoury and some fresh thyme for the spices/herbs. I’m going to try adding some bacon next time as well since our family recipe calls for it :) Perfect cooking instructions – stuffing was the first thing gone!
flavour was great, it was a little fluffy, next time I will push it down a bit into the slow cooker.
When do you add in the eggs? There is no mention of them in the instructions.
The eggs are added in step 3.
I have dried homemade frozen bread cubes.
Should I thaw before adding to recipe?
many thanks
You can leave them on the counter in a single layer for about 30 minutes before preparing the recipe.
Holly I did up way to much for seven people,can I freeze leftovers with the eggs in ?
Leftovers can be frozen.
If your stuffing is a little bit too moist, try placing a dish towel or paper towels draped across the top before you place the lid. That will ensure that the condensation doesn’t drip onto the top of the stuffing.
I just want to confirm that the dressing can be prepared the day before, including the eggs, stored uncooked in the fridge and cooked the next day.
Thanks.
Yes, this can be prepared ahead, including the eggs, and stored in the fridge.
Can you share why this recipe uses eggs where your non-crock pot recipe does not? Just trying to figure out which one to make and would love to know the difference.
You can either add an egg or skip the egg in either of the recipes. Eggs help bind the stuffing a little bit.