Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe
I recently asked on Facebook what your favorite Thanksgiving side dish is. Mine, hands down, is stuffing. In fact, I usually fill myself up on stuffing, mashed potatoes and rolls and eat just a tad bit of turkey. You know, for tradition’s sake. I think I may have a carbs problem. Which is not exactly an earth-shattering revolution. I have loved just about every variety of stuffing I have ever tried. Regular bread stuffing. Cornbread stuffing. Sausage stuffing. Even Stove Top for crying out loud. If it’s stuffing, there’s a 99.9% chance that I will gobble it up. But there is a soft spot in my heart for a regular, classic bread stuffing. And amazingly, my family doesn’t have a standard recipe. It seems that someone just randomly makes some each year. So I decided I needed to find a basic, awesome recipe to make year after year. And this is the winner.
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There is, of course, two schools of thought in terms of stuffing: in the bird, or baked separately outside of the bird. We are definitely an outside-of-the-bird stuffing family. I love how crisp it gets on top when it’s baked in the oven, and you don’t have to worry about anything funky going on inside that turkey. Maybe it’s just me, but it makes me skeeve a little bit ;-) Which side of the fence do you fall on?
One year ago: Chocolate-Pistachio Biscotti
Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) butter, (1 cup )
- 1 cup (160 g) chopped onion
- ½ cup (67.5 g) pine nuts
- 6 to 8 cups (540 to 720 g) fresh bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup (50 g) chopped scallion
- ½ cup (30 g) chopped fresh parsley leaves
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- 2. Place the butter in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. When melted, add the onion and cook,stirring, until it softens, about 5 minutes. Add the nuts and cook, stirring almost constantly, until they begin to brown, about 3 minutes.
- 3. Add the bread crumbs and the sage and toss to mix. Turn the heat down to low. Add the salt, pepper, and scallion. Toss again; taste and adjust the seasoning. Add the parsley and stir. Turn off the heat. (At this point, you can refrigerate the stuffing in a covered container, for up to a day before proceeding.)
- 4. Place the stuffing in a casserole dish (3 quart or 9x13-inch) and bake for about 45 minutes, or until crisp and heated through.
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Just wondering if I should press the stuffing in the casserole dish when I place it in or should I leave it loose? I made this before inside the turkey and it was absolutely fabulous thank you so much.
I make the dressing the way my mother-in-law made hers and my family just thinks it is the absolute best. My boys want their wives to learn how I do it as I am getting up in years. Tear up bread (any kind), add onions and giblets (but cook them first so they are easier to cut up, Can also add a little hamburger or sausage, moisten with chicken broth, salt and pepper, and eggs. squish it all together until mixed, then fry it a little before stuffing it in the bird (If more is needed, I put some in foil and seal it and lay it beside the bird) Pour a little broth over the bird after I rubbed it all over with butter and salt it including the cavaty. I will never use sage in my dressing, it ruins the taste. Seems to always turn out just right when the bird is done and it is still moist.
Can this be cooked in a crock pot? I work in an ER and we are doing a Thanksgiving dinner and I wanted to bring a stuffing. I’ve made this before I didn’t know if I could refrigerate overnight and then just put it in the crockpot in the morning instead of cooking it in the oven? Thanks!
Hi Stephanie, I’m not sure at all about the slow cooker; I’ve never made stuffing in one before. I imagine that it SHOULD work, I just can’t say for sure from experience.
I am trying to make this right now; there is no mention of broth, water, egg or any other liquid. These seems to be too dry. Any suggestions?
What do you mean by “fresh bread crumbs” in this recipe? Do you food process fresh french bread? Thanks…
Yes, fresh as in, not packaged stuffing mix. You can stale bread yourself and make the bread crumbs. Alternatively, some grocery store bakeries will put out bags of their own bread crumbs from leftover bread this time of year (or you could ask them for it).
I love experimenting with stuffing. This one looks and sounds absolutely delicious!
I am definitely an out-of-the-bird type. Our family has no stuffing recipe except for a mashed potato stuffing but only my mom makes it and she doesn’t give out the recipe, not even to her children. I have tried to make it but it didn’t come out tasting anything like hers. What she does I have no ideal. This year I made Sara Moulton’s Basic Rustic Stuffing from the Good Morning America website. I added chantarelles mushrooms. It was very plain. Your recipe looks better.