Classic Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe (2024)

Enjoy this classic and easy Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe alongside your roasted turkey! Filled with seasoned bread, onions, celery and mushrooms, this stuffing is the perfect addition to your holiday dinner table!

Love it or leave it, stuffing is one of those classic Thanksgiving side dishes that show up year after year on the dinner table.

Are you like me and think Thanksgiving is not complete without a helping of perfectly seasoned, crispy-on-the-top stuffing? If so, then you’ve come to the right place! This stuffing is quick to prepare and is always a crowd pleaser!

How To Make Thanksgiving Stuffing:

• Start by melting some butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Sauté some onion, celery, mushrooms and garlic until they’re nice and tender (about 5 minutes).
• Pour the vegetable mixer into a large bowl filled with crusty bread cubes and add in a little chicken broth, beaten eggs and all the seasonings.
• Pour mixture into a greased baking dish and bake until golden brown on top!

Ingredients For The Best Stuffing Recipe:

• Dry Bread Cubes – I love the holidays because you can pick up a bag of pre-dried bread cubes at just about any grocery store. If you can’t find any, you can easily make your own! (check out the notes section of the recipe on how to do this).
• Butter – lots of butter gives this classic stuffing a rich flavor.
• White Onion
• Garlic
• Celery – You can leave this out if you’re not a fan, but it does give the stuffing a great texture.
• Mushrooms – you can use white button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms. Not a fan of mushrooms? Leave them out and swap in some shredded carrots!
• Chicken Stock or Broth – start out with just 1 cup, but you can increase it if you prefer a more moist stuffing.
• Eggs – used to bind it all together.
• Poultry Seasoning – one of my favorite blends of herbs and spices!
• Dried Thyme – you can swap in rosemary instead of thyme, or use a mixture of both!
• Salt and Pepper – season to taste!

What’s the Difference Between Stuffing and Dressing?

Here’s where the nation is divided on this classic dish… Do you call it Stuffing or Dressing? And what is the difference?

Technically, stuffing is what would traditionally go INSIDE the turkey’s cavity, hence… stuffing the bird. While dressing would be served on the side. Please don’t put stuffing inside your turkey. It makes cooking the turkey take extra long and then the stuffing is all soggy and just meh.

Over the years the “stuffing” has morphed into a side dish that’s typically prepared outside the bird in a casserole dish with a lovely golden brown, crispy top.

Make Ahead Instructions:

You can prep this Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe the day before and finish baking on the big day!

• Prepare the stuffing as stated in the instructions below, up until the baking.
• Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge up to 24 hours in advance.
• Take the turkey out of the oven and let it rest under foil, then pop this stuffing in the oven and cook as described in the instructions below.

Tips for Success and Variations:

• Make sure your bread is nice and stale to start so you don’t end up with a mushy stuffing.
• Use just enough chicken broth to moisten the bread, again, too much moisture can cause for a mushy stuffing.
• Use an instant read thermometer to check the temperature of the stuffing to know if it’s fully cooked. Look for a temp of 165 degrees F in the center.
• Try adding in 1 lb. of ground cooked sausage to the stuffing mixture to bulk it up.
• Swap out the celery for diced apple to give it a little punch of flavor in each bite!

More Stuffing Recipes To Try:

• Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffing
• Brussels Sprouts Stuffing
• Chicken and Stuffing Skillet

This simple stuffing makes just enough to feed 8 to 10 people as a side dish. Perfect for making it’s annual appearance at the Thanksgiving table.

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