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.
Can you use Pepperidge Farm herb classic bagged stuffing? If so, how much.
I haven’t tried that so not sure if it would work – my guess is no and to follow the recipe and ingredients that I outlined.
Can you use curly parsley instead? It’s the only fresh parsley at my grocery store
Yes
This is by far the most delicious stuffing I have ever had. Officially a family tradition now. Thank you so much!!!!!!!
Thanks for the five star review and I am glad it’s officially a family tradition now and the most delicious you’ve ever had!
This is by far the most delicious stuffing I have ever had. Officially a family tradition now. Thank you so much!!!!!!!
Can you use dry herbs? And would the amounts be the same?
Usually you need less of dried herbs than you do of trash. I personally would recommend fresh herbs for this recipe, and I really can’t give you the amounts that you would use if you switch over to dry since I’ve never done it personally.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but plan to for Thanksgiving this year. Just wanted to chime in that my experience has been that, generally, if you are using dried herbs in a recipe calling for fresh herbs, you divide the amount by 3. So 1 tsp of dried herbs could be used in place of 1 Tbsp of fresh. Hope that helps future review readers. :-)
Do you know how many cups of stale bread cubes? Most other recipes I’ve seen say something like 16. I forgot to make sure I had a pound of bread before I cubed it and dried it out 🙈
This sounds delish and I want to make it for Christmas dinner. Can I make this the day before? And how would I reheat it? Would I need to add anymore liquid to it?
Thank you so much!
I have never made it in advance but my guess would be to just reheat it with foil over the top in a very low oven, probably wouldn’t add more liquid, but I haven’t done it this way so can’t say for sure.
My family agreed (5 daughters and various spouses!) this was the best stuffing ever. Thank you!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad that 5 daughters and spouses all agreed that this was the best stuffing ever!
My family agreed (5 daughters and various spouses!) this was the best stuffing ever. Thank you!!
Absolutely delicious! It was a hit this Thanksgiving. I’ll be making this dish years to come and not just for Thanksgiving dinners. Thank you! :)
Glad it was a big hit and that you’ll be making it for years to come, and not just at Thanksgiving!
I’m so happy I found this classic stuffing recipe! It reminds me of my grandmother’s, just the best! I will surely be using this one every year from now on. I ended up throwing some mushrooms in at the last minute, but followed the rest of the recipe. Perfect! Thanks!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it reminds you of your grandmother’s!
I’m so happy I found this classic stuffing recipe! It reminds me of my grandmother’s, just the best! I will surely be using this one every year from now on. I ended up throwing some mushrooms in at the last minute, but followed the rest of the recipe. Perfect! Thanks!
Made fantastic stuffing. Best Ever! And guess what any leftovers makes fantastic stuffing waffles!!
I love that you are making stuffing waffles with the leftovers!
I added a pound of cooked Italian sausage & raisins to this recipe and it turned out great! This is our new Thanksgiving stuffing, thanks so much!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad this is your new Thanksgiving stuffing!
I added a pound of cooked Italian sausage & raisins to this recipe and it turned out great! This is our new Thanksgiving stuffing, thanks so much!
Made this for Thanksgiving dinner tonight and it was a HUGE hit. Probably the best thing we had. Thank you so much!
Excellent!
Thanks!
I have been using your recipes for years & have yet to make something that hasn’t turned out exactly like I wanted it to. That said, I’m also super comfortable in the kitchen & love that your recipes always lend themselves well to whatever substitutions I make, whether it be due to what I have on hand or to address an allergy. I just pulled a pan of this stuffing out of the oven & can HAPPILY say that it worked perfectly with GF bread. I used 2 loafs of Udi’s Whole Grain bread, the double pack sold at Costco. I toasted each slice in my toaster & then toasted it again in the oven at 350 after I cubed the bread to make sure that it was nice & crusty. I’m the odd person who’s allergic to chicken so I used an organic beef broth & all fresh herbs. I could not be happier with how it turned out & hope that my GF experience helps someone else out who might not want to brave the recipe. I’ll be making this regularly throughout the year! Thanks for another winner Averie!
So glad to hear this worked well with GF bread and thanks for sharing that. Thanks for the glowing compliments about my recipes and for trying many of them it sounds like. I appreciate hearing that!