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.
The key to this recipe is the fresh herbs. I’ve made this for two Thanksgivings now, and it’s been a hit both times. I triple the batch but only do the herbs x 1.5 + a tad extra sage. I’ll use this recipe from now on. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us Averie.
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 orowheat/pepperidge farm bread cubes. They all come out great.
i truly cannot express how much my family LOVES this stuffing recipe. i made this for thanksgiving in 2020 i believe and my partner was obsessed. we make our own smoked turkey stock for gravy, and i did use that rather then chicken stock but holy moly!!! this is a fan favorite in our house, and i happily share it with any person i know looking for a reliable and delicious stuffing recipe!!
i truly cannot express how much my family LOVES this stuffing recipe. i made this for thanksgiving in 2020 i believe and my partner was obsessed. we make our own smoked turkey stock for gravy, and i did use that rather then chicken stock but holy moly!!! this is a fan favorite in our house, and i happily share it with any person i know looking for a reliable and delicious stuffing recipe!!
I am so glad this is a family favorite recipe and that you share it and it’s a fan favorite! I am so pleased to hear that! Thank you for sharing!
This is perfectly moist and perfectly seasoned!!
Could the stuffing be prepared ahead of time, and either refrigerated or frozen and then baked the day off?
I never have made it in advance. You certainly don’t need to freeze it if you’re only storing it for a day or two in the fridge. You can assemble it and then bake it off the day you’re wanting to…however note that anytime you refrigerate bread, the texture will change so just be aware of that. I have never done this personally so I can’t speak to the exact results.
just want follow- up! I did freeze and decided to use less broth so it wouldn’t be soggy. I was told it was the best stuffing they’ve evere had by multiple family members ! thanks again!
That’s awesome! I am so glad it worked out for you to freeze/with less broth and that your family said it was the best stuffing they’ve ever had! That’s quite the praise and great to hear!
Would it be okay to finish this in a slow cooker, or at least keep it warm in a slow cooker?
The issue is that if you transfer it from a casserole dish into a slow cooker basin, frankly it’s going to get mutilated and not look very pretty. I mean…it’s fine, as long as you don’t care how it looks.
In terms of taste, you will not get the more oven-toasted, more crisped bread on top. Slow cookers make things softer, ovens make them crisper. So there’s that to consider. If you put it in a slow cooker, close the lid to keep it warm, the condensation will create a steamed (soggy) effect to anything that was first oven-baked.
If you want a slow cooker stuffing, make this one https://www.averiecooks.com/slow-cooker-sausage-stuffing/
My grocery store didn’t have French bread:( Would an Italian loaf work ok??
The firmer the better. I don’t know if the Italian is soft in your store, but you want a nice crusty loaf. Not soft and squishy.
Find something with those characteristics for the best results. Best of luck!
First time using crusty dutch oven bread instead of normal sandwich bread; definitely a good move. Due to poor planning on my end, I didn’t have enough fresh herbs, particularly sage. This was still delicious, but I can imagine it will be mind-blowing next time when I add the appropriate quantities.
First time using crusty dutch oven bread instead of normal sandwich bread; definitely a good move. Due to poor planning on my end, I didn’t have enough fresh herbs, particularly sage. This was still delicious, but I can imagine it will be mind-blowing next time when I add the appropriate quantities.
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that it turned out great with your crusty Dutch oven bread and as you said, next time with fresh herbs 100% of the way it will be even better!
Hello! Please can you tell me how many baguettes go into this recipe? Hard to know what a pound is when you don’t have a scale.
Thank you!!
Most larger bakery baguettes sold in the US are 1 pound. Read the labeling on the packaging or ask someone at the grocery store to weigh it for you or use a scale in the produce department.
Has anybody tried making this with veggie broth/stock instead of chicken? Trying to be mindful of a vegetarian guest but also want to make sure this will still be a great tasting stuffing.
You will be fine. Just use a high-quality broth and it will be just fine.
I’ve been tasked with Stuffing for Friendsgiving this year – a daunting task! I am trying to figure out how I will bring it and maintain it’s yumminess… any recommendations?
Should I bake this in the morning and then reheat in the oven when I get there? Or can i bake it the night before? I’ve also seen others are pre-mixing ingredients the night before in the refrigerator then baking day of but this sounds risky… Any tips are appreciated!!!
Should I bake this in the morning and then reheat in the oven when I get there? Or can i bake it the night before? <--- I would do either. But the fresher the better IMO so that means making in the morning and just keeping it at room temp with foil on it, and popping in your friend's oven to reheat would be my course of action. LMK how it goes!
This looks so good! Those garnishes are so pretty during the winter months!
This looks so good! Those garnishes are so pretty during the winter months!
This looks so good! Those garnishes are so pretty during the winter months!