The Best Traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing — 🧡😋 Nothing frilly or trendy in this recipe. It’s a classic, easy, homemade stuffing that everyone loves!! Simple ingredients with stellar results! It’ll be your new go-to recipe!!
Table of Contents
A Classic Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe
People love serving this traditional stuffing at Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and I even receive emails at other times during the year from people who make it and no matter the season — it’s always a hit!
My family are stuffing fanatics for classic and traditional stuffings. No pears, dried fruit and nuts, wild mushrooms, or even bacon or sausage need apply.
Think: old-fashioned stuffing made with day-old bread, onions, celery, butter, and herbs.
The stuffing is lightly crusted and golden on top, soft underneath, full of rich buttery flavor, and well-seasoned from the herbs.
As the stuffing bakes, my house smells exactly like Thanksgiving and like all the Thanksgivings I remember at my mom’s and grandma’s houses growing up smelled. Warm, cozy, comforting, and happy. This is the BEST stuffing recipe ever!
Homemade Stuffing Ingredients
Like I’ve already mentioned, this easy Thanksgiving stuffing recipe calls for simple, straightforward ingredients. Classic, but delicious!
- Onions
- Celery
- Fresh herbs (parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme)
- Butter
- Broth – I use reduced sodium chicken broth, but vegetable broth works too.
- Bread
- Eggs
- Salt and pepper – season to taste
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make the Best Stuffing
This classic Thanksgiving stuffing is easy and straightforward to make, even if you’ve never made homemade stuffing before.
Here’s a quick overview of the recipe:
- Melt the butter in a skillet, then sauté the onion and celery until softened.
- In a large bowl, stir together the dried bread cubes, sautéed vegetables, fresh herbs, and broth.
- Add the eggs last, mixed in with a little broth for easier distribution.
- Turn the stuffing into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish and dot the top with butter. Bake until done.
Time Saving Tip
To save time day of, bake and dry out the bread the night before and leave uncovered on the counter until the morning you’re ready to make the traditional stuffing.
Recipe FAQs
Technically this is a dressing recipe because it’s not stuffed inside the bird, but in my family we still call it stuffing rather than dressing. Our age old mis-naming tradition.
I used a loaf (baguette) of day-old white French bread from my grocery store’s bakery that I cubed, dried in the oven for 45 minutes, and allowed it to sit out overnight.
To save time on the big day, I dry it out the night before but you can do it that morning if time permits. You want to begin with really dry bread because otherwise it’ll turn to mush.
I’ve never pre-made or pre-assembled this classic stuffing recipe, but I think it’d be fine to assemble the night before and bake the day after. Check the stuffing just before baking it. If the bread seems dry at all, drizzle a little extra broth over top. You do NOT want to end up with dry stuffing!
Yes, this classic stuffing recipe tells you to cover the stuffing with foil and bake it for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 40 minutes.
If you need to keep the homemade stuffing warm before serving it, loosely cover it with foil and stick it in a 200ºF oven.
Stuffing is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat gently as desired.
Yes! Once baked, let the Thanksgiving stuffing cool completely before storing in a freezer bag. You can reheat the stuffing from frozen in a 350F oven (don’t let it thaw first, otherwise the bread will turn to mush).
This is our go to recipe for Thanksgiving stuffing. It’s a hit every year. I’ve made it with homemade bread cubes, store bought bakery bread cubes, and packaged Oroweat/Pepperidge Farm bread cubes. They all come out great. — Jody
What to Serve with Homemade Stuffing
Recipe Video Tutorial
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Traditional Homemade Thanksgiving Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, divided
- 1 pound day-old white French bread, diced into 1/2-inch cubes and dried
- 1 extra-large, about 2 1/2 cups sweet Vidalia or yellow onion, diced small
- 1 ½ cups celery, diced small
- ⅔ cup Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely minced
- ¼ cup fresh sage leaves, finely minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, sticks discarded, finely minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, sticks discarded, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 2 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250F. Place cubed bread on a baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until dried out, about 45 minutes. You must begin with very dry bread or it’ll turn to mush. Tip – To save time on the day of, bake and dry out the bread the night before and leave uncovered on the counter until the morning you’re ready to make the stuffing.
- When you’re ready to make the stuffing, transfer bread to a very large bowl; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9×13-inch pan or 3-quart baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.
- To a large skillet, add 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter and heat over medium-high heat to melt.
- Add the onions, celery, and cook until vegetables have softened and are just beginning to lightly brown, about 10 minutes. Stir frequently. Transfer vegetables to bowl with bread.
- Add the parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, 1 1/4 cups chicken broth, and toss well to combine; set aside. Note about salt – the saltiness level of low-sodium chicken broth varies, and so do personal preferences, so salt to taste.
- To a small bowl, add the remaining 1 1/4 cups chicken broth, 2 eggs, and whisk to combine. Pour mixture over bread and toss well to combine. Turn mixture out into prepared baking dish.
- Dice the remaining 1/4 cup (half of 1 stick) butter into 8 to 10 pieces and evenly dot the butter over the top of the stuffing.
- Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 40 to 45 minutes, or until top is as lightly golden browned as desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Easy Stuffing Recipes:
All of my Thanksgiving recipes!
Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing — This sausage stuffing is super easy to make since the slow cooker does all the hard work for you! There’s no sauteing or browning required at all and you can FREE UP YOUR OVEN!!
Homemade Stovetop Stuffing — With this easy homemade stuffing recipe, you’ll never need a box of the store-bought stuff again!
Cornbread Stuffing — 🧡💛🙌 Fast and easy homemade cornbread is transformed into a family favorite cornbread stuffing side dish with the addition of celery, onions, garlic, broth, and a bouquet of fresh herbs!
Pull-Apart Stuffing Ring — You’ll never guess the secret ingredient that not only makes this stuffing ring FAST and EASY, but also creates PERFECT texture! The stuffing is soft and tender, buttery and moist, not at all soggy, and seasoned to perfection with sage, thyme, rosemary, and parsley!
Originally published November 5, 2018 and republished with updated text November 20, 2020.
Many of you are talking about how much you enjoy stuffing, that’s great, but has anyone actually tried this stuffing, and if so, can you review how it came out. Thanks
Is there anything I can use in place of the egg? Thanks!
Please read the comment directly above yours.
We love stuffing, but our family is trying to eat only sprouted breads. Do you think i could cube up a loaf of my sprouted sliced sandwich bread? The cubes would be smaller and require less baking time, I’m sure. just wondering if you’ve ever tried that route? It would take less time than baking a sprouted loaf only to cube it.
I think that sprouted bread would be sort of soggy and strange. Stuffing that we all know and love is made with white crusty type of French breads or similar; I worry that sprouted will not give you the texture or flavor you’re used to.
How do you think this would work with flax eggs if we have n egg allergy to work with?
Hmmm I don’t know. I’d be more inclined to just omit them all-together (cannot speak at all to the success or not that way)…or make this one, no eggs! https://www.averiecooks.com/slow-cooker-sausage-stuffing/
Could you leave out the celery in this dish? We have a celery allergy over here, but this looks delish! Would you add in apples or something instead?
You could omit it pretty easily I’m sure and apples sound like a great replacer if you want to try that.
Mine is still soggy.. how do I get it to the right texture? I followed the recipe exactly as it is written
Bake longer, use less liquid, use bread that’s drier/more stale…hard to say since there are quite a few variables at play. Thanks for trying the recipe.
Hi there! I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and everyone LOVED it– thank you so much for sharing it! I was wondering if this could possibly be made a day ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until it’s time to bake it. And if so, would you recommend letting it sit out on the counter for 30 minutes or so before baking? Thank you!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
I haven’t tried assembling it ahead of time and storing the fridge. Refrigerating bread can sometimes leave it soggy and odd so that’s my only hesitation but if you were willing to take a gamble on it, i.e. not preparing this for the fanciest of holiday parties and company, and just making it for something more casual, I say go for it. LMK how it works!
Have you ever tried this in a crock pot? I want to try this recipe, but I’m out of oven space for Thanksgiving! Most crock pot recipes say cook for 3-4 hours on low, so do you think your recipe could work like that? I know it wouldn’t get *as* golden brown on top :/
I haven’t tried it in a crockpot and if you do so, do it the day before just in case it doesn’t work out! If it does work out, great. Just reheat it all on the day-of, but leave yourself an option at least. LMK how it goes!
Can you use dried herbs instead of fresh?
I haven’t tried it with dried although it will probably be fine. Although many times the amounts of dried vs. fresh herbs vary in recipes, usually using less of dried, but I can’t comment for sure because I’ve only made it with fresh.
Your photography on this stuffing is absolutely killing it, Averie!
Thank you so much! :)
This is absolutely gorgeous!! I love stuffing, and we call it that too. :)
My family has never, ever called stuffing dressing, even though it is dressing, but we just always call it stuffing…lol
I’m with you. I like the traditional Thanksgiving foods–I only get them once a year so it’s not like I get bored with them. And dressing/stuffing (we get both on T-day) is my absolute favorite part of the meal. We could dispense with all the other food, just eat that, and I’d be one happy camper.
I only get them once a year so it’s not like I get bored with them. = So true! It’s like trying to tweak with grandma’s beloved holiday cookie recipe, and since they’re such a RARE treat, enjoy the tried-and-true!
Yum! I love stuffing! It’s always my favorite part of the meal!
Paige
https://thehappyflammily.com
I never loved dressing/stuffing/whatever until a few years ago, and I am totally fine with Stove top. I like the herb bag and I add celery and *maybe* some mushrooms, but I don’t like or need or want all that fancy stuff. The stuffing itself should shine alone, or you’re trying to hard and failing.
But, I clearly am in the minority opinion there.
Is there really anything like a good traditional stuffing?! This looks so good girl, I’d prefer to have it in my hands right now just for some quick taste testing! SOOOO DELICIOUS!
I have always preferred stuffing from a pan rather than from the inside of a turkey because I love the golden brown top. I can almost smell this and it looks wonderful…you just can’t go wrong with real butter and fresh herbs!
The scent while this baked was just pure comfort, Thanksgiving, and all things good. The golden brown top is where it’s at!