Traditional Stuffing Recipe

Name: Traditional Stuffing Recipe
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 10
Ingredients: 3/4 cup butter; 2 large celery stalks, chopped; 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup); 9 cups soft bread cubes (15 slices); 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground sage; 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Ingredients:8
Servings:10

By Betty Crocker Kitchens(Opens in a new tab)Updated 07/24/2024

Traditional Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients:8
Servings:10

When it comes to Thanksgiving sides, our turkey stuffing is always on the must-make list. Whether you call it stuffing or dressing, this traditional stuffing recipe is a crowd-pleasing classic for holiday gatherings, boasting the perfect blend of herbs, pillowy soft bread, butter, and fresh veggies. Our favorite part? It takes just 15 minutes of prep time and a few easy steps to bake mouthwatering, aromatic homemade stuffing.

This might just be our best stuffing recipe for busy home cooks with more than a few mouths to feed! Whether you’re serving it up alongside a juicy turkey or adding leftovers to a sandwich, it never disappoints.

Homemade Stuffing Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this traditional stuffing recipe.

Celery and Onion: Celery and onion are classic veggie choices for turkey stuffing. These ingredients enhance the savory flavor and add texture to balance out the softness of the bread cubes.

Bread Cubes: You may as well call this bread stuffing, because tasty bread cubes are truly the star! For an evenly baked homemade dressing, make sure your cubes are uniform in size and shape. For fans of putting food “waste” to good use, try designating a large resealable freezer bag as your bread “pantry” leading up to your Thanksgiving meal. Add pieces of leftover bakery bread that’s just starting to dry out, or the small end pieces of your favorite sliced bread loaves. Store these offcuts in the freezer until you’re ready to make stuffing, then let them thaw and tear or coarsely chop the bread into chunks.

Butter: Cooking the fresh veggies in salted butter ensures the best flavor while bringing much-needed moisture that binds your stuffing together.

Herbs and Spices: Sage, thyme, salt, and pepper create the traditional yet bold and vibrant flavor you know and love from homemade stuffing recipes, but feel free to experiment and (even liberally) add some of your favorite herbs.

Chicken or Vegetable Broth (Optional): If you’re a fan of super moist bread stuffing that really clumps together well, try out these optional tips! Make the stuffing just before you bake it so the bread stays moist. After mixing up the rest of your stuffing ingredients, gently toss with chicken or vegetable broth (between a few tablespoons and 1/4 cup) to soften up the bread even more.

The Best Bread for Stuffing

Not sure what kind of bread to use in this homemade stuffing recipe? You’ve got plenty of options! Many types of artisan-style bread will work, from sourdough and rye to whole-grain and garlicky herb. Check out your grocery store or local bakery to see what’s in stock. For the best bread stuffing, make sure to pick a loaf with a soft yet sturdy texture—you want the bread cubes to hold their shape instead of crumbling or becoming mushy.

Sourdough: We love using sourdough for this stuffing recipe. Sourdough cubes are sturdy enough to hold their shape yet absorbent enough to hold a ton of flavor. Just try not to pick a loaf with a super thick crunchy crust—this may distract from the overall texture of your final dish.

Italian Bread: Bakery-style Italian bread is another one we’d recommend using. You want something perfectly sturdy with a tight crumb rather than a light, airy loaf—and this one takes the cake!

French Bread: A relatively soft-textured loaf with a thin, crisp crust, this option is one of our favorites for a moist and flavorful bread stuffing.

Sandwich Bread: We wouldn’t recommend using sandwich bread for this homemade stuffing recipe—the softness causes the bread cubes to crumble when tossed with the other ingredients. It can also result in a pudding-like texture when baked into stuffing. Save this one for sandwiches!

Leftover Bread: Like mentioned above, saving bread scraps and opting for a mixed bread base is always a great choice. You’ll put good use to some food that may have otherwise been tossed, and you’ll give the dressing a unique mixture custom to your already-enjoyed bread preferences.

Flavorful Spices for Turkey Stuffing

Classic turkey stuffing or bread stuffing is known for its well-seasoned, delicious taste and fragrant smell. This easy stuffing recipe uses a simple blend of savory herbs and spices to really bring the flavor.

Thyme: Fresh or dried, this aromatic herb delivers a distinct smell and a strong yet balanced blend of herbal flavors. It tastes slightly minty and a little bit peppery, but it also has some sweet and floral notes. Thyme is often used to elevate soups, meats, and vegetables—and you’ll find this earthy seasoning in most stuffing recipes!

Sage: With a pungent aroma and a strong musky, minty taste, sage brings a vibrant flavor to classic Thanksgiving stuffing recipes. Sage is well-known and loved as a bold addition to many homestyle dishes. This easy stuffing recipe uses ground, dried sage, which has a slightly stronger flavor than fresh sage leaves.

Salt and Pepper: We’d never skip salt and pepper when making stuffing—it perfectly rounds out the flavor of this classic savory dish.

Parsley: If you’d like, try adding some chopped fresh Italian parsley to your stuffing. This ingredient brings an extra pop of color and a fresh note that balances out the earthy flavors of thyme and sage.

How to Make Stuffing

Homemade stuffing recipes aren’t always quick and easy to follow—but this easy stuffing recipe is! Here’s a quick rundown of how to make stuffing in 4 simple steps. Once you’ve got this summary down, read on for the full step-by-step instructions.

Grease Baking Dish

Ready to make this bread stuffing? Grab your casserole dish and grease it up. Make sure your ingredients are all available and prepped to get started.

Melt Butter and Cook Veggies

Time to get those family-favorite stuffing flavors going! Pull out your Dutch oven and add the butter to melt over medium-high heat. This recipe calls for normal salted butter, but you're welcome to brown it for a fun and easy flavor variation. Next, you'll want to add the chopped celery and onion and let them cook in your freshly melted butter until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove the Dutch oven from heat.

Toss Ingredients

Next, you’ll add the bread cubes, thyme, sage, salt and pepper to the celery mixture. Toss it all together with a spoon until the bread cubes are evenly coated. Keep a gentle touch as you mix—we don’t want the bread cubes to lose their shape!

Bake

Add the stuffing to your casserole dish and cover it with foil (or an oven-safe lid). Set it in the oven to bake—your whole kitchen is bound to start smelling heavenly! After 30 minutes, remove the foil or lid and then let the stuffing bake for another 15 minutes. However you serve it up, this perfectly moist, aromatic bread stuffing is all ready to please a crowd.

What to Serve with Stuffing

You’ll always find turkey stuffing on the Thanksgiving table—and thanks to this easy stuffing recipe, it’s never been simpler to make. Cooking up a full Thanksgiving spread? Here are some of our favorite mains and sides to serve with this tasty dish.

Turkey: A succulent and tender-to-the-bone turkey is a must-make for Thanksgiving—and we’ve got some recipes you’ll definitely want to try this year. Our Brined Whole Turkey is a family-favorite main that always brings the flavor!

Mashed Potatoes: Don’t forget the spuds—creamy, savory mashed potatoes make a classic side dish at holiday gatherings of all kinds. Check out our Thanksgiving recipes to find one that suits your taste!

Roasted Vegetables: From garlicky green beans to honey-glazed roasted carrots, you’ve got plenty of veggie options to choose from. We’re big fans of roasting veggies for family-style meals—it’s a super quick and easy way to bring out the flavor.

More About This Recipe

Whether you call it dressing or stuffing, this is the quintessential side dish that always shows up on the Thanksgiving table. Frankly we love the leftovers as much as we do eating it on turkey day! Check out the delicious stuffing and dressing recipes to fit every taste and menu. And if you find yourself with amazing leftovers, use these recipes and tips to turn them into yummy new meals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bringing this dish to someone else’s Thanksgiving gathering? This stuffing recipe can be assembled just before you head out, then baked at your destination (if the host has extra room in their oven). Prepare and cover your stuffing as directed, but skip the baking step for now. Place your stuffing in a cooler with some cool packs to keep it fresh until you get there—then bake your stuffing as directed in the last step.

If you’re going somewhere that’s only a ½ hour away or less and eating when you get there, you can also bake your stuffing at home, cover it and wrap it in towels. When you arrive, just remove the towels and the cover and dig in!

Want to assemble your stuffing up to a day ahead to save time on Thanksgiving Day? Just prepare it according to the recipe instructions, then transfer it to your baking dish and cover it tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Refrigerate your unbaked stuffing for up to 24 hours. When you’re ready to bake it, remove your stuffing from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes while your oven heats. Bake the stuffing as directed in the last step of this homemade stuffing recipe, and it’s all ready to eat!

We wouldn’t recommend adding any extra fruits or vegetables to this particular stuffing recipe—this might throw off the seasoning level or moisture content of the dish. But, if you want to switch it up, we’ve got plenty of other stuffing and dressing recipes to try!

Cranberry Stuffing: Dried cranberries make a delightfully fruity addition to stuffings and dressings, and our Cranberry Stuffing is a fan-favorite recipe you’re sure to love.

Apple Raisin Dressing: Our Apple Raisin Dressing has a cornbread base, with apples and raisins added in for a fun twist on the traditional Thanksgiving flavors. The sweet-savory combo is hard to beat!

Slow-Cooker Turkey and Dressing Sandwiches: Making sandwiches is one of our favorite ways to jazz up leftover stuffing and other Thanksgiving extras. Our Slow-Cooker Turkey and Dressing Sandwiches require just 10 minutes of prep time for a flavorful, satisfying handheld meal the whole family will enjoy. Sometimes stuffing tastes even better the second time around!

If you end up with any extra stuffing, here’s how to safely store and reheat your leftovers.

Storage Instructions: For food safety, make sure to refrigerate any leftover homemade stuffing within 2 hours of cooking. Transfer the leftover stuffing to an airtight container or resealable plastic bag. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.

Reheating Instructions: When you’re ready to reheat your leftovers, heat your oven to 350°F, remove the stuffing from the fridge and transfer it to an oven-safe dish. If your leftover stuffing seems a little dry, feel free to moisten it with a little extra broth or melted butter before reheating it. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake your stuffing for 20 to 30 minutes or until hot throughout (165°F). However you serve it up, this stuffing is sure to taste just as good as the day you made it!

Some call it stuffing, some call it dressing—these are basically just two different names for the same dish. Some say the difference between the two is that stuffing is cooked inside the cavity of a turkey, while dressing gets cooked on its own, but many disagree. While it’s true that stuffing is often stuffed inside poultry, for food safety reasons it’s best to cook it on its own. When made correctly, stuffing is flavorful and moist enough to be cooked alone in a baking dish anyway—no turkey needed!

Whatever you call it, this seasoned side is always perfectly tasty. Stuffing (or dressing) usually starts with bread cubes, but it can also be made with a rice base. Once you’ve added your herbs, seasonings and vegetables and baked it to perfection, you’ve got a satiating, flavor-packed side dish that’s well-loved at holiday gatherings!

Planning to cook both stuffing and a turkey this Thanksgiving? For optimal food safety and even doneness, the USDA recommends baking bread stuffing separately from turkey. If you decide to stuff a turkey anyway, make sure you have an accurate food thermometer handy—you’ll use this to check the center of the stuffing inside the turkey and ensure it reaches a safe minimum temperature of 165°F. Roasting a home-stuffed turkey is riskier than roasting one that isn’t stuffed. Even if the turkey has reached the safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F, the stuffing may not have. Bacteria can survive in stuffing that hasn’t reached this minimum temp, which can result in foodborne illness. So, proceed with caution when stuffing!