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.
I made this recipe exactly as described – it tastes outstanding!! Such flavor! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad it was outstanding for you!
I made this recipe exactly as described – it tastes outstanding!! Such flavor! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Going to try my brussel sprouts your way. Kids love them and I like trying new ways of preparing them. Your method sounds fantastic
Ok great!
I am trying this recipe for thanksgiving. This is my problem. Do I triple this recipe for 25 lb turkey for 19 people?
Gosh it’s really hard to say but yes is my gut feeling. If there’s anyway you could trial a single batch before hand just to give yourself an idea, I highly recommend that since you don’t want surprises on the big day!
Iโve used this recipe for a few years now, and it may be my favorite part of my Thanksgiving meal. Iโm making my shopping list this morning, and I canโt wait to make this again! Like you, I love a very simple โdressingโ too (we use the stuffing misnomer as well). This recipe is perfect…simple, delicious, and easy to make.
Thanks for the five star review and Iโm glad that you’ve made this stuffing for a few years now and that it’s possibly your favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal! How wonderful to hear!
Iโve used this recipe for a few years now, and it may be my favorite part of my Thanksgiving meal. Iโm making my shopping list this morning, and I canโt wait to make this again! Like you, I love a very simple โdressingโ too (we use the stuffing misnomer as well). This recipe is perfect…simple, delicious, and easy to make.
Has anyone tried this in a crock pot? I will be cooking a Turkey as well so my oven will be full.
I also prepare the celery and onions cooked with real butter ahead of time and freeze. This is a great time saver during the holiday season. I do use two types of Pepperidge farms dressing mixes. Cornbread and herb seasoned as well as well dried out toast. I use poultry seasoning instead of sage as it is not so strong. I do use some canned broth but add a health dose of turkey stock from the actual cooked turkey. I prepare a day ahead and add turkey stock on the day I cook dressing.
Could you stuff this into the turkey rather than bake it? Or at least a portion of it?
I never have so I really cannot say how it will go. It definitely would be much softer with less texture than if you bake it on its own since it won’t be exposed to the oven air while baking. Not sure how it will taste.
You can read through the comments to see if others have tried this; I seem to remember yes, some people have done it.
These ingredients are my own favorites for stuffing and casserole dressing.I. have learned over 45 years of making dressing,that flavorful bread,broken into pieces while fresh,toasted in a slow oven until dry makes the tastiest version .I prepare the bread ahead,freeze it in bags,and cook onions ,celery,and herbs with butter,and add chicken broth and refrigerate overnight or freeze it.On the special day,warming the celery and onion broth,and adding some fresh herbs and freshly ground pepper, before mixing in the toasted bread saves time in the kitchen and also saves time cleaning up the preparation utensils, leaving more time for other cooks to participate in the kitchen preparation fun of other side dishes!
This recipe sounds great thank you! Wondering how many people this serves? I will have 12 for dinner and like to have left overs!
I would say make a double batch if you want leftovers. I mean it depends if people take a dainty serving or if they really dig in. I would say from 6 to 10 depending on appetites, maybe 12 if you have dainty eaters with stuffing. I think you’d need a double batch even if you weren’t wanting leftovers.
I made this last year and everyone loved it! Making it again this year. 10 Stars!!!
Tried this recipe Thanksgiving, it was a big success! The family loved it. Thanks for sharing.
Glad it was a big success!
Amazing recipe. This one is a keeper for sure. Thanks for sharing.
Glad it’s a keeper for you!
Absolutely the best stuffing recipe we’ve ever tried. It was so popular at Thanksgiving this year that my daughter requested it again for Christmas dinner. And she’s never been that crazy about stuffing before. Easy and simple and perfect flavor. Thanks!
Thanks for the five star review and Iโm glad itโs the best stuffing youโve ever tried and that your daughter loves it as well!
Absolutely the best stuffing recipe we’ve ever tried. It was so popular at Thanksgiving this year that my daughter requested it again for Christmas dinner. And she’s never been that crazy about stuffing before. Easy and simple and perfect flavor. Thanks!