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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Hi!
I need to decrease the servings. Does it cook for the same amount of time?
Thank you!
This would depend on how large your slow cooker is and how much you are decreasing the recipe. You’ll want to ensure the stuffing is heated through in the middle and if it’s a really thin layer, it could dry out along the edges. Keep an eye on it and if it’s cooked through you can turn the slow cooker to warm.
How do you think this would work out with gluten free bread? Do you think two days overnight would be OK?
I’ve never made the recipe with gluten free bread Allison. Let us know if you try it!
Really looking forward to trying this for Thanksgiving! I have one question, though. My M-I-L and husband insist on giblet stuffing, which I don’t mind. If I were to make this crockpot style, would I boil the giblets prior and then use the broth from them in lieu of the broth called for in the recipe, and add the chopped cooked giblets? Would adding the cooked giblets necessitate changing cook time?
If the giblets are fully cooked, the cook time should remain the same. You could boil them in the broth adding extra flavor to both the broth and the giblets.
This recipe is amazing. Made it last year and it was a hit. I was asked to make it again. Thank you for sharing this.
It says “fresh herbs to taste”. I would like to try adding fresh herbs but I have no idea now much to add. Any recommendations? I’m looking forward to trying this recipe!
Hi Emily, I would add about a tablespoon or slightly less of each spice. You will want to start with less and add more as you think it needs it, remember the flavors will be less pungent when fully cooked.
Any changes necessary if I were to add a pound of sausage?
As long as the sausage is pre-cooked, you can proceed with the recipe as written.
I would like to take a little bit and add to the inside of Turkey and then slow cook the rest. How will this affect the time it takes to cook with a small amount missing?
If it’s a small amount, the cook time should remain the same. It is not recommended to add egg to stuffing cooked inside a bird so you might like to take some out before adding the egg or use pasteurized eggs.
I plan to try this for Thanksgiving. Can you make it with the white bread & cornbread instead of the wheat bread? Also could you sub cream of celery soup instead of the actual celery? Sounds yummy. Thanks!!
I think cornbread would work just fine. I haven’t tried this with “cream of” soup so I can’t say for sure how it would change the flavor and consistency.
If refrigerating overnight do you need to add more broth or change anything?
You may need to add a little bit of extra cook time if it is chilly from the fridge but aside from that it should be just fine made ahead.
This was soooo good!! Thank you for the recipe. Finally, I have a stuffing that actually works and tastes great!
Hi Holly,
I wanted to do a recipe using homemade stuffing with chicken breast in the crockpot.. my question is using your stuffing recipe, could I put the chicken breast on top of the stuffing and cook it for the time it says for your stuffing, and would I need to add any extra broth while cooking it?
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure but it does sound delicious!! You’ll want to ensure the chicken (and the stuffing) reach 165°F. I don’t think you’d need extra broth as the chicken would release juices too. Let us know how it goes!
Trust all the great reviews—this is AMAZING stuffing! My mom used to make extra stuffing in the oven and it was always dry. I had my own Thanksgiving last year and found this recipe and it was a huge hit with everyone! And so easy without taking up valuable oven space. Thank you so much!
I’ve never heard of eggs in stuffing. Can I leave them out?
You can leave them out in this recipe.
I will never stuff a bird again! This recipe rocked. The only thing I did differently was to add broth a bit at a time, stirring the stuffing and adding every hour or so. Delicious!
I am never making stuffing any other way! Made this tonight for Canadian Thanksgiving. It was so easy and the you had equal soft and crunchy bits. New way = Best Way
Great recipe. I’ve used a few time now and it always goes over well. Adding some chopped mushrooms to the onions and celery adds a bit more depth and umami. After you’ve cooked the onions and celery, don’t clean out the pan until you’ve used it to cook yourself some scrambled eggs. You deserve a good breakfast if you’re going to be making dinner all day!
this looks amazing! Do you have an opinion of the best white and wheat bread to use? My entire family is picky about stuffing so i just want to make sure.
Thank you!
I most often use a store brand sandwich bread. I haven’t found that brand makes too much of a difference. I hope your family loves it as much as mine does!
Amazing! I will never go back to stuffing in a casserole dish in the oven! I did add a little extra poultry season to suit our taste, and it was done sooner then the recipe stated, however this stuffing was moist and flavourful. Thank you!
I was unsure of doing this in the crockpot but I am telling you this was amazing and loved by everyone. I will never do mine in the oven again. I did do mine on high the entire time and stirred every hour to get some crunchy bits in there Like I like it. I highly recommend doing this. It’s amazing.
My family likes it moist but crunchy on the edges. Did yours turn out like cooking it on high and stirring each hour? My crockpot gets pretty hot on high and I don’t want it to dry out.
I love this recipe and now it gets requested for most dinners I do for family.
This year, I was thinking of adding Cranberries. Should I cook them with the onions and celery? Or add them “raw” to the mixture the day before? Thoughts??
If adding fresh cranberries, we usually add them raw which helps them hold their shape better. If you’d like them softer, you can cook them the last few minutes with the onions/celery mixture.
I received numerous compliments on this stuffing. I followed the recipe and it came out perfectly. I am a fan of crockpot recipes as they allow me to use my stove/oven for other things. This will be my go to for stuffing. It was a hit.