Classic Bread Stuffing Recipe
This stuffing recipe is the classic bread kind, with butter-cooked celery and onion, fresh sage and thyme, and a golden top baked at 350°F.
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This stuffing recipe is the plain, buttery, sage-forward kind that belongs next to a turkey, and it’s the one people go quiet over. Dry bread cubes, a pound of celery and onion softened in butter, fresh herbs, broth, and two eggs to hold it all together. It bakes covered so the middle turns soft and custardy, then uncovered so the top goes golden.
Dry bread is the one thing you can’t fudge. Fresh bread turns to paste the second the broth hits it, and no amount of oven time will bring it back. Day-old bread cubes left out overnight work, and so does a bag of store-bought unseasoned stuffing cubes. If you’re starting with a soft loaf, cube it and dry it in a 250°F oven for 40-45 minutes the day before.
The other thing worth watching is how much broth goes in. You want every cube damp all the way through with nothing pooling in the bottom of the bowl. Three cups gets you there for 12 cups of bread, and if your bread is especially dry you might use another half cup.
Why You’ll Love This Stuffing Recipe
- Soft middle, crisp golden top. Thirty minutes under foil steams the center, then twenty-five uncovered browns the surface into ragged edges people pick off the pan.
- Real herbs, not a seasoning packet. Fresh sage, thyme, and parsley taste green and bright instead of dusty.
- You can build it a day early. Assemble the whole pan, cover it, refrigerate, and bake it the next day while the turkey rests.
- One 9×13 feeds ten. A loaf of bread and two bunches of herbs make a side dish big enough for the whole table.
Stuffing Ingredients
Fresh sage makes a real difference here, and it’s the herb people actually taste in stuffing. Two tablespoons chopped is not a typo. Dried sage is much stronger and a little bitter, so if that’s what you have, use 2 teaspoons and no more.
- 12 cups dry bread cubes (about 1 lb, cut into 3/4-inch pieces)
- 3/4 cup butter (12 tbsp), divided
- 2 medium yellow onions, diced (about 2 cups)
- 4 ribs celery, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh sage, chopped (or 2 tsp dried)
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Recipe Variations
- Brown 1 pound of bulk Italian sausage in the skillet first, cook the onion and celery in the drippings, and cut the sautéing butter back to 4 tablespoons. Cook the sausage to an internal temperature of 160°F before it goes in with the bread.
- Swap 6 cups of the bread cubes for the same amount of dry crumbled cornbread. Cornbread drinks up more liquid, so start with 3 1/2 cups of broth.
- Stir in 1 cup of dried cranberries and 1 cup of toasted chopped pecans with the parsley for a sweeter, crunchier pan.
How to Make Stuffing
- Heat the oven and prep the pan: Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9×13 baking dish. Put the dry bread cubes in your largest mixing bowl.
- Cook the celery and onion: Melt 8 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring now and then, until they’re soft and translucent with no crunch left.
- Add the garlic and herbs: Stir in the garlic, sage, and thyme and cook 1 minute more, until you can smell the sage. Scrape the whole skillet, butter and all, over the bread cubes.
- Toss with the seasoning: Add the parsley, salt, and pepper and toss with your hands or two big spoons until the vegetables are spread through the bread.
- Add the broth and eggs: Whisk the chicken broth and beaten eggs together, then pour it over the bread in three additions, folding gently after each one. Stop when every cube is damp through and nothing is pooling at the bottom. Let it sit 5 minutes so the bread drinks it in.
- Bake covered: Spread the mixture in the buttered dish without packing it down. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and dot them over the top. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Bake uncovered: Pull the foil off and bake 20-25 minutes more, until the top is deep golden with crisp edges and the center reads 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Rest and serve: Let it stand 10 minutes before serving so the center firms up enough to scoop cleanly.
Recipe FAQs
Can I Make This Stuffing Recipe Ahead of Time?
Yes. Assemble it right through the butter-dotting step, cover, and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Bake it straight from the fridge and add about 10 minutes to the covered time, then check that the center hits 165°F.
What’s the Difference Between Stuffing and Dressing?
Where it cooked. Stuffing goes inside the bird, dressing bakes in a dish. Almost everything sold and served as stuffing today is technically dressing, including this one, and the words get used interchangeably.
Do I Really Have to Dry the Bread First?
Yes. Soft bread collapses into paste when the broth hits it. Cube the loaf and leave it uncovered overnight, or dry the cubes in a 250°F oven for 40-45 minutes until they’re crisp and rattle in the bowl.
Can I Cook This Inside the Turkey?
You can, but it has to reach 165°F in the center of the stuffing, not just in the bird. Stuffing packed inside a turkey slows the whole roast down and often means overcooked breast meat by the time the center is safe. Baking it in a dish is easier and safer.
How Much Stuffing Do I Need per Person?
Figure about 3/4 cup per person as a side. This 9×13 makes roughly 10 servings, so double it if you’re feeding 20 or you want leftovers, which most people do.
Cooking Tips
- Fold, don’t stir. Stuffing gets gluey when the cubes break down, so use a rubber spatula and turn the mixture over itself instead of beating it around the bowl.
- Season the vegetables while they cook, not just at the end. Salt drawn into soft onion and celery tastes different from salt sprinkled over dry bread.
- If the top browns before the center is hot, tent the foil back over it loosely and keep baking. The 165°F reading matters more than the clock does.
Storage and Freezing
To store: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. The top softens overnight, which is normal.
To freeze: Stuffing freezes well for up to 3 months, baked or unbaked. Wrap the pan in plastic and then foil, and thaw overnight in the fridge before baking or reheating.
To reheat: Cover with foil and warm at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, until the center reaches 165°F. Uncover for the last 5 minutes to bring the top back. A splash of broth helps if it dried out.
How to Serve Stuffing
Stuffing belongs next to roast turkey with gravy poured over it, and it holds its own beside roast chicken or a pork loin any other time of year. Mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce are the standard neighbors on the plate, and our Green Bean Casserole rounds out the table. If you want the same flavors as a full meal on a regular weeknight, our Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing turns them into dinner.
Loved This Recipe?
Stuffing made from scratch takes about an hour and twenty minutes and is the dish people ask for the recipe to, every single year.
Leave a star rating in the comments below, it helps other people find this recipe. Made it? Tag @allwellfed on Instagram, I love seeing this one in other people’s kitchens.
Classic Bread Stuffing
Ingredients
- 12 cups dry bread cubes about 1 lb, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
- 3/4 cup butter 12 tbsp, divided
- 2 medium yellow onions diced, about 2 cups
- 4 ribs celery diced, about 1 1/2 cups
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tbsp fresh sage chopped, or 2 tsp dried
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 large eggs beaten
Instructions
- Heat the oven and prep the pan: Heat the oven to 350°F and butter a 9×13 baking dish. Put the dry bread cubes in your largest mixing bowl.
- Cook the celery and onion: Melt 8 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and celery and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring now and then, until they’re soft and translucent with no crunch left.
- Add the garlic and herbs: Stir in the garlic, sage, and thyme and cook 1 minute more, until you can smell the sage. Scrape the whole skillet, butter and all, over the bread cubes.
- Toss with the seasoning: Add the parsley, salt, and pepper and toss with your hands or two big spoons until the vegetables are spread through the bread.
- Add the broth and eggs: Whisk the chicken broth and beaten eggs together, then pour it over the bread in three additions, folding gently after each one. Stop when every cube is damp through and nothing is pooling at the bottom. Let it sit 5 minutes so the bread drinks it in.
- Bake covered: Spread the mixture in the buttered dish without packing it down. Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and dot them over the top. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Bake uncovered: Pull the foil off and bake 20-25 minutes more, until the top is deep golden with crisp edges and the center reads 165°F on an instant-read thermometer.
- Rest and serve: Let it stand 10 minutes before serving so the center firms up enough to scoop cleanly.
Notes
If you made this, leave a star rating down in the comments. It takes about ten seconds, and it’s how other cooks decide whether a recipe is worth trying.
