This Easy Stuffing Recipe is a favorite for every holiday dinner. With simple ingredients and thousands of 5-star reviews-it’s perfect every time!
Celery and onions are tossed with bread, broth, and herbs and baked until golden. It’s the best stuffing recipe with a buttery-sage flavor and crisp edges!
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Ingredient Notes for Stuffing
I love mashed potatoes, but homemade stuffing is the thanksgiving side dish I look forward every year.
- Bread – Any dry bread works for stuffing, I usually mix white and wheat bread. Tear them into cubes and let it dry on the counter so it can absorb the broth. Store bought dried bread cubes can also be used. If they’re seasoned, I add less salt but I do still add the herbs.
- Celery/Onions – These are the base of the flavor in this stuffing. Cook them in butter until tender.
- Seasoning – Poultry Seasoning adds that classic turkey stuffing flavor with a blend of sage, thyme, and rosemary. You can replace poultry seasoning with ground sage if needed.
- Broth – Chicken or turkey broth adds moisture. The amount needed will vary based on the type of bread used and how dry it is. See the recipe notes for more details.
- Additions – Dubbed the best stuffing recipe, this recipe lends itself well to add ins like shredded carrots, raisins, dried cranberries, or cooked sausage.
Bread for Stuffing
Bread is the base of the stuffing and the key is making sure it’s very dry before adding broth. This allows it to soak up the broth (and flavor) without becoming soggy.
If possible, buy the bread at least a few days early, cut it into cubes, and let it dry on the counter. Any kind of bread will do – including sourdough or half cornbread.
If using purchased dried bread cubes, they may need a little extra broth.
The Best Golden Crunchy Edges
I bake stuffing in a casserole dish for the crunchy edges and buttery soft center (which would technically make it dressing). You can also cook it in a Crock Pot. Cooking it separately ensures both the turkey and the stuffing cook evenly and reach safe temperatures without overcooking.
Stuffing a Turkey You can use this stuffing to stuff a turkey. Ensure that the stuffing has cooled in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.
Stuff the turkey just before roasting so it doesn’t sit at an unsafe temperature for too long. If stuffing a turkey, the center of the stuffing should reach 165°F as the drippings from the bird enter the stuffing.
Stuffing can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge in a casserole dish. Prepare the stuffing without baking and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Before baking, remove it from the fridge for at least 30 minutes. You may need to add 5 to 10 minutes to the baking time.
Everyone loves turkey dinner leftovers so I always make extra! Turkey stuffing can be frozen for up to 4 months. To reheat, thaw in the fridge overnight or in the microwave. Bake in a casserole dish for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through.
Ingredients
- 2 small yellow onions diced
- 4 ribs celery diced
- ⅔ cup butter
- 1 ½ teaspoons poultry seasoning or ½ teaspoon ground sage
- black pepper to taste
- salt to taste
- 12 cups dry bread cubes
- 2 to 4 cups chicken broth see notes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh herbs any combination of sage, thyme, or rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dry herbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and poultry seasoning (and rosemary if using). Reduce the temperature to medium low and cook until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly.
- In a large bowl, combine the bread cubes, onion mixture, parsley and fresh herbs.
- Pour 1 cup of broth overtop and toss the cubes. Add the remaining broth, a little bit at a time until cubes are moist (but not soggy) and gently toss. You may not need all of the broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Place the bread mixture in a baking dish, dot with additional butter if desired, and cover.
- Bake 35 minutes, uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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Hi Holly. This recipe looks great! I’m going to make it in the morning. I read through the comments and am laughing at how many times you answer the same questions over and over again. You are so patient. Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family to Sarah, hope you love the recipe!
This looks great, I can’t wait to try it tomorrow. One question, if we are studying the bird, do we need to bake it as well? Or just cool it and stuff it ?
Thank you
The stuffing doesn’t need to baked if you’re stuffing the bird, just prepare as directed and cool before stuffing. Depending on the size of the turkey you might have extras, they can go in a dish and be baked.
Question and it might be a dumb one! When you say 1 Tbsp of sage thyme and Rosemary is that 1 Tbsp of each or combined?
1 tablespoon combined Laura. Parsley is another great addition!
Can i just use dried herbs along with the poultry season? How much dried would you use?
Sure you can! I use ⅓ of dried in place of fresh (so 1 teaspoon total).
Hi! First time making this, what do you mean by dot with butter?
And also it says cook for 35 minutes then uncover? So when we put it in the oven it should have a lid?
To dot with butter I take little small bits of butter and scatter them over the top. It helps with browning and of course butter tastes great!
This is covered in step 5, if your dish doesn’t have a lid, you can use foil.
Holly, you hit this one out of the park. This is a real classic stuffing and your directions are
terrific. There is only one problem with this recipe—if you ever serve it to anyone you will
be making it for the rest of your life. Now I am the one who has to make the stuffing
every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thank you!
LOL, thank you so much James, glad you loved it!! :)
Lol, boy you got that right.
Trying this for the first time! Might be a silly question.. I am preparing tonight. Do I bake it tonight? Or wait till tomorrow to bake?
I would suggest baking it tomorrow, it will be just fine if you cover it and refrigerate it over night. You may need to add a few minutes extra cook time if it’s cold from the fridge.
Thank you!!
How many loaves is about 12 cups?
It will vary a bit based on what type of bread you choose but on average 13-16 slices.
Hi Holly, I used this recipe last year for Christmas. It was amazing and my now in-laws loved it so much I want to make it for tomorrow. However I won’t be baking it in a casserole dish this time. From my understanding, I can cook it all on the stove top, keep it prepped in the fridge overnight and then stuff my bird? First time cooking a turkey as well. I feel like I am losing my mind.
Thanks!
Yes, as long as the stuffing is chilled it can be placed in the bird. You want to loosely stuff the cavity, (don’t pack it in). You will likely have extra stuffing so it can go into a smaller casserole dish to cook.
Cooking a turkey for the first time can definitely be stressful, there is lots to do to prep! If there is anything else we can help with, please let us know! Hope everything works out great for you tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving!
First time I made stuffing and I really liked the directions to melt all the butter at once (time saver) with onion and celery but I added a couple of garlic as well with the butter melt
I love it it is a great recipe, easy to follow, good instructions thank you so much.
❤️
By taste it’s gonna be great…I’m serving tomorrow so put in fridge unbaked & bake tomorrow? Or bake today & reheat tomorrow?
You can just put it in the casserole dish and refrigerate before baking. If it is chilled from the fridge, it might need a few minutes of extra cook time. Enjoy Bonita!
I saw now you answered this already today I have tried several of your recipes & always yummy!
❤️
I was looking for a simple stuffing without sweets and meats. Thank you.
You’re welcome! Enjoy Charlotte!
96 ounces of bread cubes? That seems like a lot…. plus, I’ll be putting it in the bird. How much of this would fit inside of a 15 pounds bird? Also, how many servings is this? Thank you so much!
Yes Sam, the recipe is correct. I would suggest measuring the bread cubes using a measuring cup to measure 12 cups (96 fluid ounces, not by weight). This makes 12 servings. Stuffing that doesn’t fit in the bird can be placed into a greased casserole dish and baked per the recipe. Enjoy!
Hello! Am I reading this right – we should use 12 cups of bread crumbs?
Bread cubes, not bread crumbs. They’re a larger size.
Ah!it smells delicious but my celery/ butter/ onions made the bread wet, and now the stock did too. I’m so scared it’s too soggy? Any tricks??
It will soak up the liquid. If the bread is too moist you can toss in a bit more bread.
Hi,
I’d like to make this 24 hours ahead but I m worried that my dry bread will get soggy in the casserole dish if its sitting in the frig. 24 hours before cooking.
Will that happen or will it be ok?
Thanks!
Cindy
It will be ok, be sure to cover it tightly.
Hi Holly! What size dish should we bake this in? And it says to “uncover,” does that mean we cover while baking?
This can go into any kind of casserole dish, I use a 9×13 pan dish.
It is covered in step 5. In step 6 it is baked 35 minutes, uncovered and baked an additional 10 minutes.
How many cups of celery would this be?
thanks ahead of time
4 stalks of celery is approximately 1 ½ to 2 cups of chopped celery. Enjoy Jenny!
I made stuffing from your recipe it’s in fridge now and smells so good