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.
Hi, I am a New Zealander trying this for the first time. Could I make this the day before and reheat on the day? Should I complete the whole recipe and then refridgerate? Or stop after the first 40 mins and then bake for the last 40 minutes without the tinfoil on the day? Thanks!! Amy
I have only made the recipe as written and deviating and trying different things and cooking methods isn’t something I can comment on because I haven’t done it that way. Good luck with your experimentation!
We will have to make the Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie!!! Yum. Everything you made looks so wonderful. Thank you for sharing:)
I just made this for our Canadian Thanksgiving. It was a lot more work than my usual recipe but I was excited from the photo. Unfortunately it was quite dry and even with gravy it just didn’t soften up enough. I followed the recipe to the letter. Next time I might just leave the bread out to dry rather than baking prior.
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m sorry it didn’t live up to your expectations. Bread can vary so much in it’s texture, dryness, climates vary, ovens vary, etc. and it sounds like given your variables that leaving the bread out rather than baking it would have been sufficient.
I made this yesterday for Thanksgiving. My local grocery had already dried and portioned a full pound of their own French bread, and sealed it in a bag so I bought that instead of buying baguettes and drying them myself. It saved a lot of time!
This was my first time making stuffing and it was SO easy. Prepping fresh herbs took the longest, but even that wasn’t bad. I had to use a 3.5 qt dish instead of 3 qts but it actually fit perfectly. This stuffing was a crowd pleaser, and was even opted for over my boyfriend’s grandmother’s stuffing (and she is notoriously the best cook in the family) so this was a huge achievement! I just finished my leftovers and it was as good, if not better than yesterday :) I’ll be making this again for Christmas…and maybe just throughout the year as a regular side dish!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
And wow, to win over the bf’s grandma’s stuffing…that’s awesome :)
Recipe looks fabulous! I’m about to prepare it for our Thanksgiving meal today. I don’t see an oven temp for the actual baking part, just the temp for drying out the bread. Going to guess and hope I don’t dry it out! Maybe I missed it somewhere?
Happy Thanksgiving all!
step 3 in directions
enjoy!
When doing the spices do you measure before they’re finely chopped or measure after they’re finely chopped?
After is preferred.
Thank you so much!
No problem, enjoy!
I made this stuffing last year and it was a hit! I am making it again this year and can see this becoming a tradition for me. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad it’s a new annual tradition for you!
I was just wondering… is says to mix the herbs with half of chicken broth and set aside… but then it doesn’t say what to do with it. I’m guessing you add it to the bread when you add the other half of the chicken broth mixture? Just wanted to make sure
Yes
Do you think I could cut this recipe in half? We are having a very small Thanksgiving this year and 8-10 servings is just way too much for us.
Yes
What would the measurement of the spices be if i used dry instead of fresh?
THANKS!
Not sure because I haven’t tried.
I have three cats. Leaving things uncovered on the counter never goes over very well! LOL
Haha! Well you could always dry it out in a low oven then.
I can’t wait to try this! Have you tried this with vegetable broth instead of chicken?
Yes, works fine
Hi Averie! It will be my first time to make stuffing and I’m following your recipe. Do you mind telling me how do I dry in the oven the bread? At what temperature should it be “dryinging” out in the oven to remove all the moisture in the bread? Thanks in advance!
Low oven temp maybe 200-250F or so, for as long as you need til it’s dry. Enjoy!
I want to make this and get it right – by French bread do you mean baguette? If not, what would this loaf look like? I need a visual! Lol!
Either in loaf form or baguette form, doesn’t matter because you’re going to cut it up.
I’m thinking of making this for Thanksgiving this year. Please advise when you say dried out bread. I will be baking bread day before. Do I dice up bread and leave it to dry out prior to baking, or just leave loaf out for 24 hours, then dice.? How many French bread loaves do you use?
Thanks in advance.
Dice and leave it out to dry. You need it stale/dry on all sides, not just on the outside of a loaf. Also I highly suggest using a loaf of storebought crusty French bread or baguette. The texture is perfect for stuffing. You don’t want something too soft (like many homemade bread) because the stuffing will turn to mush.
Could I replace the dried french bread with croutons instead? I’m hosting thanksgiving for the first time ever and am trying to cut corners where I can. Thank you!
The issue with that would be that they’re already seasoned and salted, so it’s hard to know what seasonings to skip or reduce, and how much to reduce the salt by. It’s a good idea in theory but you’d have to be confident with the reductions/omissions, knowing what and where to do so.