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An easy Bread Stuffing made with all the classic flavors like onion, celery, and sage. Baked outside the bird but still buttery and moist, this recipe tastes just like Mom used to make!
It’s always a toss up between mashed potatoes and stuffing – which should I eat more of? The answer is usually both, but only if the recipes are perfect. If you love rich, savory stuffing with a soft chew and crispy edges, this is the classic stuffing recipe you’re looking for!
There are no walnuts, pears, or gorgonzola in this homemade stuffing recipe. There are no jalapeños nor bacon. I keep it classic with onions, celery, butter, eggs for that custardy texture, and all the Thanksgiving herbs like sage, thyme, and parsley. The best stuffing recipe is traditional, like your mom’s or grandma’s maybe, and I hope you love it as much a I do.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Chicken broth: I keep jars of homemade chicken broth in the freezer (it’s a delicious by-product of poaching a chicken), but store-bought low-sodium chicken broth is also good. Or use turkey broth if you have that.
- Herbs: Fresh herbs taste the best in this stuffing, but dried herbs work too. I rarely find fresh marjoram and almost always substitute dried. Or, customize your turkey stuffing with spices like rosemary and poultry seasoning.
- French bread: Use any sturdy bread such as Italian, challah, or sourdough bread. Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with butter. In large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter until foaming. Add onion and celery and sauté until softened, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk eggs in large bowl. Stir in chicken stock, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- To the skillet, add parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with eggs and mix well. Add bread cubes to the mixture and toss to combine.
- Transfer to prepared casserole dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe makes about 10 cups, enough for 10 side-dish servings of about 1 cup each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Make Ahead Stuffing: After you’ve assembled the stuffing, refrigerate it up to 1 day in advance. See my full Make-Ahead Thanksgiving menu for more ways to cook in advance including a Make Ahead Roasted Turkey, Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (that won’t get watery in the freezer), and Make Ahead Pumpkin Pie.
- Freezer: For best results, assemble and freeze the bread stuffing uncooked. Then thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as directed in the recipe.
- To go: Prepare this Classic Bread Stuffing in the oven-safe insert of a 9×13-inch crockpot and then tote it with you to your holiday gathering. Bonus, you won’t have to ask your host to keep it warm!
- Crockpot stuffing: Save your oven space and make bread stuffing in your slow cooker. You’ll still have soft, chewy bread cubes with plenty of crispy edges without using your oven.
- Gluten-free stuffing: transforms gluten-free bread into a side dish worth making. You’d never know the difference when you tuck into this glorious gluten-free bread stuffing.
- Small batch: My Bread Stuffing for Two is the same delicious, buttery stuffing with all your favorite flavors, but scaled down to a smaller quantity for small gatherings. See my full Thanksgiving for Two Menu which includes a pair of roasted Cornish Hens with Stuffing and two Mini Pumpkin Pies for dessert.
- Sausage stuffing: My homemade Cornbread Dressing is made with plenty of sausage for a spicy kick.
- Vegan stuffing: Filled with wild mushrooms, leeks, fresh kale, and all the classic Thanksgiving herbs you love, this Vegan Stuffing recipe has bread cubes that are soft and chewy on the inside with browned, crispy edges outside. The entire recipe is 100% vegan and delicious.
- More Thanksgiving recipes: Round out your menu with the Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, grandma’s best Homemade Crescent Rolls, and plenty of the Best Pumpkin Pie for dessert.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best bread for stuffing is a sturdy loaf with a tight crumb. Bakery French bread, Italian bread, Challah, and Sourdough are all good choices. When you cut up a 1-pound loaf into cubes, it should fit in an even layer on a single half-size rimmed baking sheet. If you need 2 sheet trays to fit your pound of bread cubes, the bread is too soft an airy. It won’t make good stuffing and you’ll wind up with a dish full of mush, no matter how well you dry it out.
Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
Yes! I’ve tested this homemade stuffing recipe in a 9-inch by 13-inch aluminum foil pan.
For food safety reasons, and for a more evenly cooked bird, most modern recipes don’t encourage stuffing a turkey. If you decide to stuff your turkey, combine wet and dry stuffing components just before placing them in the cavity, ensuring any raw meat, poultry, or seafood used in the stuffing is fully cooked beforehand. Do not stuff a bird with cooked stuffing. Use a large spoon or your hands to loosely stuff the body and neck cavities (do not pack it tightly because the stuffing expands while it cooks). Truss the main cavity with trussing pins to keep the stuffing inside. The stuffing must register 165 degrees on an internal thermometer to be safe to eat. For more information, see the USDA website. Stuffing a chicken or Cornish hens is also discouraged.
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Classic Bread Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) plus more for buttering dish
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4 celery ribs halved lengthwise and chopped
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups chicken broth (see note 1)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley minced (see note 2)
- 1 teaspoon fresh sage minced, or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme minced, or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon fresh marjoram minced, or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 loaf French bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes and dried overnight on counter (about 1 pound, see note 3)
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with butter.
- In large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter until foaming. Add onion and celery and sauté until translucent, about 7 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in large bowl. Stir in broth, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- To skillet, add parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with eggs and mix well. Add bread cubes and toss to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Chicken broth: I keep jars of homemade chicken broth in the freezer (it’s a delicious by-product of poaching a chicken), but store-bought is also good. Or use turkey broth if you have that.
- Herbs: Fresh herbs taste the best in this stuffing, but dried work too. I rarely find fresh marjoram and almost always substitute dried.
- French bread: Use any sturdy bread such as Italian, challah, or sourdough bread. Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
- Yield: This Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe makes about 10 cups, enough for 10 side-dish servings of about 1 cup each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Excellent stuffing!
Thank you, Terri! I’m happy you loved it! – Meggan
My great grandmother, grandmother, and mother made this recipe and now I make it. But we add 2 cans of mushroom soup, and fresh mushrooms sauted with the celery and onion. And we also used 2 to 3 loaves of French bread dried.