It’s not Thanksgiving without a good homemade stuffing recipe! Whether you make it inside the bird or out, it’s a classic. Add some Italian sausage, celery, onions and sourdough bread for what will be sure to become your new go-to side dish.
I’ve always loved stuffing – it’s truly what makes a holiday meal, along with corn pudding, green been casserole and pineapple casserole.
I always believed that the only way to make true Thanksgiving stuffing was to actually stuff it inside a turkey. If it didn’t cook in all the yummy turkey juice then it wasn’t the real deal. All other stuffings or dressings I had tried were dry and didn’t have much flavor.
However, I’ve had a change of heart and this is now my favorite stuffing recipe. Both the texture and flavor comibne in what I consider to be the BEST Thanksgiving stuffing.
Is it “stuffing” or “dressing”
I’ve lived most of my life in the South but my parents are not from the South. We ate “stuffing” growing up which consisted of bread, celery, onion, butter and egg along with some seasonings which then you stuffed inside a turkey. Anything that wasn’t inside the turkey was “dressing” and something other people ate. So this recipe is actually “dressing” and not “stuffing”, according to how I grew up.
However, I’ve learned that what you call this side dish depends more on where you are from then whether it’s cooked inside or outside the turkey. Southerner’s call it “dressing” where the rest of the country, me included, call it “stuffing”.
Why you’ll love this homemade stuffing recipe
- The perfect stuffing recipe has flavor from onions and celery along with sage. It’s like a savory bread pudding. But with all the other soft food you typically see at Thanksgiving, like corn pudding and mashed potatoes, it’s nice to have something with a little crunch. I also appreciate that this stuffing recipe uses sourdough bread, which when baked, is crunchy on the top but soft and moist inside.
- You can assemble the stuffing ahead of time and bake it right before dinner. If your stuffing is inside the turkey, you have to remove it when you remove the turkey to keep from getting salmonella and then if you’re not eating right away, it can get cold. This version stays hot and crispy.
- The Italian sausage adds so much flavor to the traditional stuffing ingredients.
- You can make this any time of year, not just when you’re cooking a turkey.
What you’ll need
- Sourdough bread – you can also use a loaf of French or Italian bread or whatever you like in the bakery section of the grocery. It needs to be dried out so that it can soak up the custard mixture. You will need a 1 lb loaf.
- Pecans – toasted pecans add a nice crunch
- Italian Sausage – this adds so much flavor
- Onions and celery – for that classic stuffing taste
- White wine and chicken stock – you can use all chicken stock if you prefer
- Bay leaves and sage – it’s not Thanksgiving without these herbs
- Pantry staples – butter, eggs and olive oil
How do you make stuffing
Step 1
Combine dry bread pieces with toasted pecans.
Step 2:
Cook the Italian sausage and when browned add it to the bread.
Step 3
In the same skillet, sauté onions, celery and sage and add to the bread mixture. Add some white wine to the skillet and cook down and then add butter until melted. Pour over your bread mixture.
Step 4
Whisk together eggs and chicken stock and pour that over the bread mixture. Season and transfer to a large baking dish and top with butter.
Step 5
Bake for 30 minutes covered at 350º, then increase the temperature to 450º and remove the cover so that the top can get golden and crisp
Pro tip: If you forget to use day old bread and your loaf is fresh, cut it into cubes and place in the oven at 250º for a few minutes.
I hope this side makes your Thanksgiving feast even more special.
FAQs and tips
Can you freeze leftover stuffing?
Stuffing freezes great. Just let it thaw and then reheat in the oven, the top will even stay crispy after it’s been frozen. You can serve it with Lemon Garlic Chicken, or if you are crunched for time, have some with a rotisserie chicken.
What kind of bread should you use for stuffing?
I like to use sourdough bread for that distinct flavor but if that’s not your favorite, then go with a French loaf from the bakery section. Regular sandwich bread will get a little mushy. I generally cut it into cubes and let it sit out all day. Dried bread will absorb more of the liquid and flavor.
Is stuffing better with or without eggs?
Eggs help bind the ingredients together in stuffing. If you don’t use eggs, you should use another binding ingredient.
What can you do with stuffing leftovers?
You can freeze the leftovers and re-heat in the oven. It’s great with any chicken dish if you run out of turkey.
More Thanksgiving SIDE dishes
Corn Pudding Recipe
Green Bean Casserole from Scratch
Broccoli Cheese Casserole
FAQs
Turkey stuffing was popularized in the early days of Thanksgiving, as it is written in many 16th-century Boston area documents. Stuffing most often uses dried bread, herbs, and vegetables that are reconstituted with liquid, stuffed into the turkey cavity, and baked until it is firm and finished cooking.
Is it better to make stuffing with fresh or dry bread? ›
Any attempts to make stuffing with soft, fresh baked bread will result in a bread soup with a soggy texture. Follow this tip: Stale, dried-out bread makes the best stuffing.
Is stuffing better with or without eggs? ›
Eggs add richness to the stuffing, and makes it cohere better. I'd use two eggs per pound of bread.
What is the best kind of bread to use for stuffing? ›
Breads such as sour dough, French bread or Italian loaves are for the best bread for stuffing. Their soft-but-sturdy interiors are the perfect texture for stuffing. The pieces retain their shape without crumbling.
What is stuffing mix made of? ›
In a large bowl or large plastic food storage bag, combine breadcrumbs with dried parsley, minced onion, celery flakes, thyme, pepper, sage, and marjoram. To prepare stuffing, bring 1 1/4 cups of water or chicken broth and 3 tablespoons of butter to a boil.
What is proper stuffing? ›
In staffing, the right person is recruited for the right jobs, therefore it leads to maximum productivity and higher performance. It helps in promoting the optimum utilization of human resource through various aspects. Job satisfaction and morale of the workers increases through the recruitment of the right person.
How long do you let bread dry for stuffing? ›
If you don't want to take up space in the oven, you can always leave the bread out on the counter to dry. A day or two before you assemble your stuffing, cut the bread into cubes. Then, lay the cubes onto sheet pans and let them dry out at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours.
How do you keep stuffing moist when cooking? ›
Typically, baking the stuffing inside the bird helps keep the mixture moist. “I prefer stuffing (in the bird) to dressing (outside of the bird) because all those delicious drippings that come off the turkey gets absorbed right into the stuffing,” Bamford says.
Do you cook stuffing before you stuff? ›
Give stuffing a head start by heating it up before placing inside the turkey. Like the turkey, stuffing needs to reach the 165 degree mark. If the bird is done before the stuffing, remove stuffing from the cavities and continue to cook in a baking dish.
Is it better to make stuffing the day before? ›
The short answer to whether you can making stuffing ahead of time is yes. "Making stuffing ahead saves time, allows stove and oven space for other things, and making it ahead gives time for the flavor to fully develop," Chef David Tiner, Director at Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge, tells Southern Living.
Some common egg substitutes include:
- Mashed banana. Mashed banana can act as a binding agent when baking or making pancake batter. ...
- Applesauce. Applesauce can also act as a binding agent. ...
- Fruit puree. ...
- Avocado. ...
- Gelatin. ...
- Xanthan gum. ...
- Vegetable oil and baking powder. ...
- Margarine.
Here are a few suggestions.
- Old tights or socks. Nylons work great, but woolly ones will do too. ...
- Worn out t-shirts or jumpers. Again, these should be clean. ...
- Tissues or tissue paper. ...
- Newspaper. ...
- Plastic bags. ...
- Packing materials. ...
- Toy stuffing from another toy. ...
- The filling from a pillow.
It's okay if the bread gets slightly toasted—that caramelization is just going to add a little more toasty flavor to your stuffing.
Why shouldn't you use stale bread for stuffing? ›
"If you're using stale bread and adding liquid, there will be nowhere for the liquid to go," says Seixas. "It's like when you're trying to cram more people into a fully booked flight. There's no space for extra moisture to fill." As a result, your stuffing will have a soggy texture.
Do you cover your dressing when baking? ›
Bake the Dressing
Cover the dish with foil and bake on the center rack of a preheated oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. Next, remove the foil and 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees until the top it a bit golden and crispy. Be sure not to over bake the cornbread dressing or it will dry out.
What was stuffing originally made of? ›
The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (a cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other organ meat.
What does stuffing contain? ›
Stuffing consists of a mixture of savoury ingredients such as breadcrumbs, herbs, fruit, nuts, sausagemeat and onion which are bound together with egg or liquid to form a semi-solid mixture. It is usually cooked with roast meat such as chicken, pork or lamb and is served as an accompaniment to the sliced, cooked meat.
What is the difference between Thanksgiving dressing and stuffing? ›
"Stuffing is cooked in the cavity of the turkey, so the juices soak into the ingredients, making it more flavorful. Dressing gets cooked on its own and needs extra liquid to make it flavorful." So stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked outside the bird, usually in a casserole dish.
What is stuffing made of Thanksgiving? ›
The BEST traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe is easy to make dried bread cubes, sausage, diced vegetables, and chicken broth. It's a great side dish to make ahead of time and it definitely tastes best homemade! Pair this easy homemade stuffing with our popular turkey recipe, homemade rolls, and Thanksgiving pie.
