How To Make the Very Best Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe

Here is how to make the very best Thanksgiving stuffing, the one dish you can always count on to complement your Thanksgiving meal! This recipe takes a little bit of time from start to finish, but trust us, it’s worth the wait! What we love about this stuffing recipe is that you can keep it simple with store-bought ingredients or make everything from scratch — from the toasted bread to the chicken broth. The texture of the toasted bread and the creaminess of the mixture makes this particular stuffing dish stand out. Below, we’ll walk you through how to make this stuffing step-by-step. Enjoy!

What even is stuffing?

Stuffing is a simple seasoned bread mixture of onion or scallion and various herbs. Traditionally, it is stuffed inside the turkey, but more and more people prefer to bake it in a separate dish and serve as a side dish. The first step of making stuffing is simply sautéing celery and onion in butter. Then you combine those sautéed aromatics with dried bread cubes, chicken broth, and beaten eggs and toss until moist before transferring to the oven.

What kind of bread is Best to Make Stuffing?

There are no fixed rules to make Thanksgiving stuffing, you can use any bread you like. A rustic or sourdough boule or baguette will work pretty well, but it’s more of a matter of taste.

To make the Thanksgiving stuffing: Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C). Divide bread between 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Bake, tossing occasionally, until bread starts to brown in spots and dry out, 40–45 minutes. In the meantime, chop celery, apple, and scallion and mince garlic finely.

In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter and add celery, scallions, and garlic and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add apple and wine, increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is almost evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 1/2 cup of broth to the pot with veggies, parsley, Italian seasoning, and sage.

Add bread and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper. Let sit 10 minutes, then add remaining 1/2 cup broth and toss, adding more broth if needed – the mixture shouldn’t be soggy. Add the eggs and mix to combine. Transfer the stuffing to a greased baking dish and dot with remaining diced butter. Bake the Thanksgiving stuffing casserole covered with foil for 20 – 30 minutes, then remove foil and bake for another 20 – 30 minutes.

Ingredients List For The Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe

• 8 cups of diced bread (if you use stale bread, you can skip step 1)
• 1 1/4 stick unsalted butter, divided
• 4 celery stalks, chopped
• 8 scallions, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 apples, diced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• Fresh sage leaves
• 2 cups (or more) low-sodium chicken broth
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 large eggs, beaten

Full Directions

1. To make the classic Thanksgiving stuffing: Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C). Divide bread between 2 large rimmed baking sheets. Bake, tossing occasionally, until it starts to brown in spots and dry out, 40–45 minutes.

2. In the meantime, chop celery, apple, and scallion and mince garlic finely. Then, in a large pot over medium heat, melt butter and add celery, scallions, garlic and cook, stirring often, until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add apple and wine, increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is almost evaporated, about 5 minutes.

3. Increase oven temperature to 400°F (200°C) and butter a large baking dish.

4. To the pot with veggies, add parsley, Italian seasoning, sage and 1 1/2 cup of broth. Add toasted bread and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper. Let sit 10 minutes, then add remaining 1/2 cup broth and toss, adding more broth if needed – the mixture shouldn’t be soggy. Add the eggs and mix to combine. Transfer the stuffing to the prepared baking dish and dot with remaining diced butter.

5. Cover the stuffing with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and crisp, 20 to 30 minutes more.

6. Remove from oven and serve topped with fresh thyme and sage. Enjoy!

How and how long to store the stuffing leftovers

Thanksgiving stuffing leftovers can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month.