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Nothing tastes better with a turkey or chicken dinner than stuffing. It has that rich, buttery, and herby flavor that makes people want more.
Our Great Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe is a great side dish on Thanksgiving, but some people, including our family, consider it the best part of the dinner. The flavor of the butter and the herbs makes a dish that everyone talks about, even before Thanksgiving. How much are you making this year? Will there be enough for leftovers? Questions asked before the big day. The answer is always "of course"!
Most other side dishes, such as green beans, creamed lima beans, mashed potatoes, candied carrots, and corn chowder, are always on our list of sides, but without the stuffing, the meal would be incomplete. It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without our homemade stuffing.
I call this stuffing, but it is also known as dressing, depending on how it is prepared. We still put some of the stuffing mix into the bird, making it stuffing. Some family members like the old traditional way. Mostly, we put the majority of the mix into a casserole dish and cook it separately from the bird. Hence, it is called dressing. It is moist and soft in the center, with a slightly crispy top.
We make our stuffing in two steps. first, we make the croutons that we use for the stuffing. You can let your bread sit out for a few days to get stale or, Two, Bake the croutons in the oven.
Ingredients:
- Bread- we used white bread, but you can use any kind of bread that you want.
- Dried Thyme-one of the four herbs used in this recipe to enhance the flavor of the stuffing.
- Sage- another herb used in the stuffing.
- Marjoram- another herb used in this stuffing.
- Dried Rosemary- another flavor used in the stuffing.
- Salt-This is another way to enhance the flavors.
- Onions- a signature for stuffing, it gives a great flavor when cooked in melted butter.
- Celery- The other signature ingredient in stuffing that gives it that certain flavor when cooked in melted butter.
- Chicken broth- Gives the stuffing more moisture and chicken flavor.
- Butter- This gives the stuffing that great buttery flavor.
Making the bread cubes:
Could you gather all your ingredients to make the bread cube seasoning? They are great Thanksgiving and fall herbs that make these bread cubes delicious. Just mix them all together. Set aside.
It's time to make the bread cubes. You can leave your bread sitting out for about 2 days to get stale before cutting them, or you can cut the bread slices into 1//2 inch cubes.
Once you have your bread cubes cut into pieces we put them onto two sheet pans and spray them with water. Not a lot, but just enough to allow the herbs to stick to the bread cubes. We use a spray bottle filled with water or you can drizzle some water from a spoon over the cubes.
Take your seasoning and sprinkle all over the croutons. If you have some left over you can add that to the stuffing mixture when you add the celery and onions.
Bake them in a 300-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or till they are crunchy. You can switch pans in the oven halfway through. When finished, mix them a little bit and put them into a large bowl
Making the stuffing
Cut the celery and onions.
In a saucepan melt the butter, then add the celery and onions and cook just until soft.
This is optional. Some people dislike the chunks of celery or onions in their Thanksgiving stuffing, so we add the butter mixture to a blender to ensure the vegetables are all finely ground.
Pour the butter mixture over the bread. Remember, you don't have to blend the butter mix if you don't want to. You can pour the butter mixture over the bread cubes without blending. Then mix everything.
Add the chicken stock to the bread cube mixture and mix till everything is combined. Put it into a casserole dish and bake. Our great Thanksgiving stuffing recipe bakes at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until the stuffing is browned and has a little crust on top.
Stuffing
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 to 40 minutes
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 10 to 12 servings 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- Bread cubes, 21 ounces, or a whole loaf of white bread
- 4 teaspoons of dried Sage
- 4 teaspoons of dried Thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon of dried Rosemary leaves
- ¾ teaspoon of dried Marjoram
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons of butter, melted
- ⅔ cup onions, chopped
- 3 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2 cups of chicken broth
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the Sage, Thyme leaves, Rosemary leaves, and Marjoram. Set aside.
- Cut the bread into ½ inch cubes and put them onto two sheet pans. Sprinkle or spray a little water on the bread cubes and sprinkle the herb mix evenly over them. Shake some salt over the top of the bread cubes.
- Put the bread into a 325-degree oven for 20 minutes, switching pans halfway through.
- While the bread cubes are in the oven, chop up the onions and slice the celery.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the celery and onions. Cook till slightly tender. You can put this into a blender or a Cuisinart now if you prefer smaller pieces of onion or celery.
- Pour the onion and celery mixture over the bread cubes and mix.
- Pour the chicken broth over the bread cubes and mix till combined.
- Put the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
- Cook at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes.
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