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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 just the recipe you’re looking for!
There are no walnuts, pears, or gorgonzola. 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. It’s 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 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: You can also use brioche, challah, or Italian 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 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 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: After you’ve assembled the stuffing, refrigerate it up to 1 day in advance. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Keep stuffing tightly covered with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 10 to 20 minutes longer.
- Small batch: Stuffing for two is perfect for a couple.
- Stuffing a turkey, chicken, or hen: 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, make sure the stuffing is warm when it goes in so it has a head start in cooking (either because you just finished making it, or because you made it in advance and reheated it). 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.
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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: You can also use brioche, challah, or Italian 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.
- Make ahead: After you’ve assembled the stuffing, refrigerate it up to 1 day in advance. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Keep stuffing tightly covered with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 10 to 20 minutes longer.
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.
Can you make stuffing and freeze it for 2 weeks.
Hi Joan, yes! You can freeze the baked stuffing for up to 1 month. Store in an airtight container and reheat in a 325-degree oven, covered, for 30 minutes or until it reaches 165 degrees (the baking time really depends on the amount of stuffing, whether it’s just leftovers or you made the whole thing in advance). – Meggan
This recipe sounds soo good! I’m making today.
Please cud you tell me roughly how many cups of bread are in this recipe. I like to use all different types of bread: Dark rye, raisin, multi grain, white, etc. and need a guideline as to how much, by cup.
I would like to add in some turkey gravy to this. Maybe 1 cup gravy and 1 cup chicken broth? Please let me know what you think.
Thank you.
Heather
Hi Heather, it’s 10 cups loosely packed bread cubes or 8 cups of firmly packed (as in smashing them down) cubes. Hope this helps! – Meggan
Just saw this recipe. Want to make for christmas.
I have sage, marjoram, but no thyme.
I do have Poultry with Thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper, nutmeg. Is it better if I just go by thyme?
Hi Karen, I prefer thyme but a seasoning with rosemary sounds great also! – Meggan
This is now my “go to” recipe for stuffing. Delicious, easy to make and very convenient. Family loved it at Thanksgiving. I make the whole recipe even for the two of us. That way I have leftovers.
Thank you Brenda, I’m so glad you all enjoyed! – Meggan
My turkey will be roasting at 325. Any chance this dish could be cooked at 325? If I wait to cook at 400 for 50 minutes the turkey will be cold! Suggestions please
Hi Cindy, yes. It can be cooked at 325 degrees, but it likely will take longer. I would recommend putting it in about 20 minutes before the turkey is done, and once the turkey is pulled from the oven and resting, the oven temperature could be turned up. – Meggan
Is there any place in this recipe where dish could be frozen and then baked a couple days or more later?
Hi Diane, here’s a link to a make-ahead version of this recipe: https://www.culinaryhill.com/make-ahead-stuffing/ Hope this helps! – Meggan
This stuffing was AMAZING! We’re making it again because there weren’t any leftovers. Thanks Meggan!