Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement.
My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner has always been the stuffing and that is because of this delicious traditional, classic bread stuffing recipe that has been passed down through the generations in my family. It is so simple and easy to make and so yummy! I’ve never been a fan of boxed stuffing or stuffing with fancy ingredients added in. Give me a simple, classic, basic bread stuffing and my taste buds are thrilled!
I remember the first time I made homemade stuffing on my own in college. I called my mom and had her give me the recipe over the phone. This is one of those classic family recipes she knows by heart and never had it written down. It was a pretty funny conversation with her trying to explain over the phone instead of in person what “a little of this and a little of that” should be in the recipe.
For the sake of sharing our family’s traditional classic bread stuffing recipe with you all, I made sure I have defined quantities written out in the recipe so you can replicate this deliciousness in your own kitchen!
This recipe uses bread cubes, which years ago I would buy from the bakery section in the grocery store. Then I realized that I was spending more money on a pre-cut loaf of bread so I shifted to buying a loaf of bread and chopping it into cubes myself. Then eventually I started consistently making homemade bread instead of buying it at the store. This allowed me to switch to making homemade stuffing with homemade bread. Now talk about delicious!! Here’s my favorite bread recipe that I make when baking bread to cube for our traditional bread stuffing.
Jump to:
My Family’s Traditional Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe
Step 1: Thinly slice the celery, dice the onion and finely chop the parsley. This can all be done quickly and easily in a food processor.
Step 2: Put the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the celery, onion and parsley.Stir in the beaten eggs.
Step 3: Heat the milk and butter until the butter is melted but do not boil it. Stir until mixed.
Step 4: Pour the liquid over the bread mixture and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Step 5: Place the stuffing mixture in a large baking dish, cover it and bake at 350 degrees about one hour or until the stuffing is golden brown on top. Check the stuffing several times while baking and add a little water to keep it moist if needed.
Since our family has a tradition of baking our Thanksgiving dinner outdoors and off-grid, I always bake my stuffing outside in a dutch oven. If you want to give it a try, here’s our post on how to bake outdoors in a dutch oven.
Traditional Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe
Annie Bernauer
A delicious, classic recipe for basic bread stuffing passed down through generations in my family.
Thinly slice the celery, dice the onion and finely chop the parsley. This can all be done quickly and easily in a food processor.
Put the bread cubes in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the celery, onion and parsley. Stir in the beaten eggs.
Heat the milk and butter until the butter is melted but do not boil it. Stir until mixed.
Pour the liquid over the bread mixture and mix well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the stuffing mixture in a large baking dish, cover it and bake at 350 degrees about one hour or until the stuffing is golden brown on top. Check the stuffing several times while baking and add a little water to keep it moist if needed.
Keyword stuffing
Montana Homesteader Newsletter
Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter and getthe latest updates onour modern day homesteading adventures!
About Annie Bernauer
Annie Bernauer is a certified Master Gardener and Master Naturalist. She enjoys writing about her family's adventures in modern day homesteading in Montana and helping others to learn these skills.
More Homesteading Inspiration
Grilled Asparagus Recipe
How to eat seasonally and locally
How to Roast Pumpkin and Winter Squash Seeds
How to make and Preserve Garden Fresh Salsa
The Best Easy to Make Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe
Pennsylvania Dutch Amish Chicken Corn Soup with Rivels recipe
Kohlrabi Soup Recipe
Easy No Cook Homemade Yogurt
Apple Stuffed Wild Roast Duck with Elderberry Sauce
The most important ingredient of stuffing may be the binder, which keeps all the other elements in place. For a fluffy texture, use eggs. Stock is the most-used binder. Less conventional possibilities include fruit juice (such as apple or orange) and alcohol (wine or liqueur).
So how far back can we find stuffing used in cooking? Some time between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, a chef by the name of Apicius created a cookbook entitled, “Apicius de re Coquinaria.” In its pages are recipes for stuffed chicken, rabbit, pig, and even dormouse.
Typically, baking the stuffing inside the bird helps keep the mixture moist. “I prefer stuffing (in the bird) to dressing (outside of the bird) because all those delicious drippings that come off the turkey gets absorbed right into the stuffing,” Bamford says.
This highly-seasoned dish usually starts with bread cubes, but it could also be rice or wild rice. Herbs, seasonings and vegetables are added. Originally, this mixture was stuffed inside poultry, however, for food safety reasons, it's best to cook it separately.
Fully cook raw meat, poultry, or seafood ingredients before adding to stuffing. Combine the ingredients and place them in your bird immediately before cooking. Don't stuff whole poultry with cooked stuffing. In addition to the turkey, the stuffing's center needs to reach 165 F.
Absolutely. Most Thanksgiving stuffing recipes can be made at least partially in advance since: A) They're easily assembled a day or two ahead of Thanksgiving Day; and B) They're often baked using a two-step process (once covered with foil to cook through, then uncovered to achieve a crispy top).
We start by cubing our bread—for traditional recipes, we favor a simple white sandwich-style loaf—then toast it in the oven at a low 275°F for about 45 minutes, tossing it every now and then to help it dry evenly.
You can use any kind; store-bought white bread works well and would probably be my #1 suggestion for stuffing. You could also try using cut up dinner rolls, sourdough bread (actually this would be my personal first pick), challah, or anything else you want to experiment with.
The stuffing should be moist but not wet. If there is a puddle of broth at the bottom of the bowl, you've added too much. Add more bread to soak up the excess moisture. If the mix is still dry and crumbly, add more liquid and toss gently until it starts to clump together.
Purportedly ancient Roman, or else Medieval, cooks developed engastration recipes, stuffing animals with other animals. An anonymous Andalusian cookbook from the 13th century includes a recipe for a ram stuffed with small birds.
But for the Thanksgiving side dish in the South, the term dressing was adopted in place of stuffing, which was viewed as a crude term, during the Victorian era. Although dressing and stuffing are interchangeable terms, the signature ingredient of this Thanksgiving side dish in the South is cornbread.
dry!" The reason for this is that stale or dry bread will hold up better after cooking and keep its texture even after adding your broth or liquid. If you use soft, fresh bread, you'll ultimately wind up with a soggy, mushy stuffing. So, how do you dry bread for stuffing? There are two ways to go about it.
"Stuffing is cooked in the cavity of the turkey, so the juices soak into the ingredients, making it more flavorful.Dressing gets cooked on its own and needs extra liquid to make it flavorful." So stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked outside the bird, usually in a casserole dish.
The BEST traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe is easy to make dried bread cubes, sausage, diced vegetables, and chicken broth. It's a great side dish to make ahead of time and it definitely tastes best homemade! Pair this easy homemade stuffing with our popular turkey recipe, homemade rolls, and Thanksgiving pie.
Thanksgiving Stuffing 2 Boxes Stovetop Stuffing 1 Stick Garlic & Herb Butter Diced Celery, Carrots and Onions 1 Tbsp minced Garlic 3 Cups Chicken Broth 1 Jar Turkey Gravy 4 slices of cornbread Prepare stove top stuffing according to box instructions but add in half of the garlic and herb butter Soften carrots, onions ...
The term dressing, per the History Channel, originated around the 1850s, when the Victorians deemed stuffing too crude for the dish to be named. This happened around the same time that the term “dark meat” began to refer to chicken legs and thighs.
Introduction: My name is Rueben Jacobs, I am a cooperative, beautiful, kind, comfortable, glamorous, open, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.