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A good breading stuffing recipe is the cornerstone of any holiday meeting, and this version has all the savory flavors and the perfect buttery, crispy texture that you know and love.
As a classically-trained chef, I have taken all the guesswork out of this classic side dish. I have all the best tips, tricks, and shortcuts to help you get your stuffing prepped and in the oven fast.
This recipe is extremely versatile, too! I’ve tested it in a slow cooker, in an air fryer, with gluten-free bread, in a half-batch size, and I’ve made it in advance. This is the only recipe you need, no matter how you want to make it.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
- Chicken broth: I keep jars of homemade chicken broth in the freezer (it’s a delicious by-product of poaching a chicken), but store-bought low-sodium chicken broth is also good. Or use turkey broth if you have that.
- Herbs: Fresh herbs taste the best in this stuffing, but dried herbs work too. I rarely find fresh marjoram and almost always substitute dried. Or, customize your turkey stuffing with spices like rosemary and poultry seasoning.
- French bread: Use any sturdy bread such as Italian, challah, or sourdough bread. Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
How to make Stuffing
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with butter. In large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter until foaming. Add onion and celery and sauté until softened, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk eggs in large bowl. Stir in chicken stock, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- To the skillet, add parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with eggs and mix well. Add bread cubes to the mixture and toss to combine.
- Transfer to prepared casserole dish. Cover tightly with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Stuffing Recipe Tips
- Yield: This Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe makes about 10 cups, enough for 10 side-dish servings of about 1 cup each.
- Make Ahead Stuffing: After you’ve assembled the stuffing, refrigerate it up to 1 day in advance. See my full Make-Ahead Thanksgiving menu for more ways to cook in advance including a Make Ahead Roasted Turkey, Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (that won’t get watery in the freezer), and Make Ahead Pumpkin Pie.
- To go: Prepare this Classic Bread Stuffing in the oven-safe insert of a 9×13-inch crockpot and then tote it with you to your holiday gathering. Bonus, you won’t have to ask your host to keep it warm!
- Crockpot stuffing: Save your oven space and make bread stuffing in your slow cooker. You’ll still have soft, chewy bread cubes with plenty of crispy edges without using your oven.
- Gluten-free stuffing: transforms gluten-free bread into a side dish worth making. You’d never know the difference when you tuck into this glorious gluten-free bread stuffing.
- Small batch: My Bread Stuffing for Two is the same delicious, buttery stuffing with all your favorite flavors, but scaled down to a smaller quantity for small gatherings. See my full Thanksgiving for Two Menu which includes a pair of roasted Cornish Hens with Stuffing and two Mini Pumpkin Pies for dessert.
How to serve Homemade Stuffing
Serve homemade stuffing with your favorite roasts like turkey, chicken, and ham. It’s also delicious with Cornish hens! The best thing about this recipe is, you don’t need bird drippings to make a delicious stuffing.
Round out your menu with roasted vegetables, your favorite holiday casseroles, and plenty of soft dinner rolls.
Storing Homemade Stuffing
Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing this Turkey Stuffing Recipe
For best results, assemble and freeze the bread stuffing uncooked. Then thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as directed in the recipe.
Homemade Stuffing Recipe FAQs
The best bread for stuffing is a sturdy loaf with a tight crumb. Bakery French bread, Italian bread, Challah, and Sourdough are all good choices. When you cut up a 1-pound loaf into cubes, it should fit in an even layer on a single half-size rimmed baking sheet. If you need 2 sheet trays to fit your pound of bread cubes, the bread is too soft an airy. It won’t make good stuffing and you’ll wind up with a dish full of mush, no matter how well you dry it out.
Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
Yes! I’ve tested this homemade stuffing recipe in a 9-inch by 13-inch aluminum foil pan.
For food safety reasons, and for a more evenly cooked bird, most modern recipes don’t encourage stuffing a turkey. If you decide to stuff your turkey, combine wet and dry stuffing components just before placing them in the cavity, ensuring any raw meat, poultry, or seafood used in the stuffing is fully cooked beforehand. Do not stuff a bird with cooked stuffing. Use a large spoon or your hands to loosely stuff the body and neck cavities (do not pack it tightly because the stuffing expands while it cooks). Truss the main cavity with trussing pins to keep the stuffing inside. The stuffing must register 165 degrees on an internal thermometer to be safe to eat. For more information, see the USDA website. Stuffing a chicken or Cornish hens is also discouraged.
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Classic Bread Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick) plus more for buttering dish
- 1 large onion peeled and chopped
- 4 celery ribs halved lengthwise and chopped
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups chicken broth (see note 1)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley (see note 2)
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh sage or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 loaf French bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes and dried overnight on counter (about 1 pound, see note 3)
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish with butter.
- In large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter until foaming. Add onion and celery and sauté until translucent, about 7 to 8 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk eggs in large bowl. Stir in broth, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- To skillet, add parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with eggs and mix well. Add bread cubes and toss to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 15 to 20 minutes longer.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Chicken broth: I keep jars of homemade chicken broth in the freezer (it’s a delicious by-product of poaching a chicken), but store-bought is also good. Or use turkey broth if you have that.
- Herbs: Fresh herbs taste the best in this stuffing, but dried work too. I rarely find fresh marjoram and almost always substitute dried.
- French bread: Use any sturdy bread such as Italian, challah, or sourdough bread. Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
- Yield: This Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe makes about 10 cups, enough for 10 side-dish servings of about 1 cup each.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
I followed the recipe exactly and it came out like a bread omelette. I think 2 eggs would have been enough. Not sure we’re going to love this for Christmas dinner ๐ตโ๐ซ
I’m so sorry Coco, it definitely should not be omelette-like. I’m not sure what went wrong with your batch. Sorry again. – Meggan
I made this yesterday with homemade white bread and it was delicious!!! I added about 4 T. of butter pats on top before baking which just added to the deliciousness ๐
Yum! That sounds delicious, Peggy! – Meggan
Do you have any suggestions for making this gluten free? Do you think it would work using GF rolls or breads? I once tried using my own traditional sausage stuffing recipe but with gluten free bread — it was not edible! Your’s sounds like it could work. Thoughts?
Hi Kate, this recipe works well with gluten-free bread… so much so that I wrote a separate post for it. ๐
Here’s the link: https://www.culinaryhill.com/gluten-free-stuffing/
I hope you love it! – Meggan
Iโve never added eggs to my stuffing before. What is the purpose of this
Hi Patricia, the eggs act as a binder and add moisture. Adding eggs help the stuffing hold together in chunks rather than being crumbly. Thanks! – Meggan
I am interested in trying this in the crockpot. Can you please tell me what temp and time to cook? Do I need to make any changes to the recipe?
Hi Raegan, this recipe is great in a slow cooker! You will still cook the vegetables in a skillet, and then toss with the egg mixture and bread cubes, but then transfer the stuffing to a slow cooker coated with butter or nonstick spray, cover and cook on HIGH for for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to LOW and cook for 4 to 5 hours. Keep warm until serving time. I have a separate post about it, including a recipe that you can print: https://www.culinaryhill.com/crockpot-stuffing/
Take care and please let me know if you have any more questions! – Meggan
Excellent stuffing!
Thank you, Terri! I’m happy you loved it! – Meggan
My great grandmother, grandmother, and mother made this recipe and now I make it. But we add 2 cans of mushroom soup, and fresh mushrooms sauted with the celery and onion. And we also used 2 to 3 loaves of French bread dried.