The Traditional Thanksgiving Classic Stuffing recipe that the whole family loves. A deliciously easy stuffing made with simple ingredients and incredible flavor. A tried and true family favorite.
The BEST Classic Stuffing Recipe
This is the Classic Stuffing Recipe that’s served on our Thanksgiving table year after year. It has a soft, moist, buttery inside with deliciously chewy bits and a golden, crunchy top.
While I love trying new flavors and variations, Thanksgiving is all about tradition at our house.
This Classic Stuffing is simply flavored with veggies, (such as onion, celery, and carrot), a rich broth, and classic stuffing seasonings (sage, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary).
Dressing vs. Stuffing
Technically, dressing is cooked in a baking dish in the oven, and stuffing is cooked inside the turkey. Many people use the terms interchangeably, calling dressing stuffing.
Classic Stuffing Recipe with a secret ingredient
What sets this stuffing apart from the others? Milk.
Milk, combined with the eggs, makes the stuffing extra rich and gives it a wonderfully moist texture on the inside – along the lines of a savory bread pudding.
I learned this trick in the Amish Country. I grew up near the Amish Country in Holmes County, Ohio where they’re notorious for their family-style, home cooked meals. Always my favorite dish on the table was the stuffing – so moist and rich.
One of our favorite restaurants there, Der Dutchman, published a cookbook of their family and restaurant recipes. In it was the recipe for their dressing. It’s been our go-to Thanksgiving recipe ever since.
Two ways that Amish Country dressing differs from traditional dressing is the addition of carrot and potatoes to the vegetables, and the addition of milk. I think that carrot is the perfect addition to the usual onion and celery. I sometimes make it with the potato, and other times without. I’ve left it out of this recipe.
Ingredients for Classic Stuffing
- Bread – cut into 1-inch cubes and dried. I use country bread for the best chewy texture.
- Butter – for amazing buttery flavor and moistness. It also helps the bottom and top get crunchy.
- Onion, celery, carrot – sautéed veggies for a fragrant, savory flavor.
- Poultry seasoning – for that Classic Stuffing flavor with sage, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary. Use premade or click here to make your own.
- Broth – a good broth is essential to a delicious stuffing as it permeates every cube of bread. Use a good quality, rich broth – chicken, turkey, or even vegetable for a vegetarian version. I add bouillon to my broth for an extra boost of flavor.
- Eggs – act as a binder
- Milk – my secret ingredient. It combines with the eggs for a rich, moist stuffing
How to make the dried bread cubes for Classic Stuffing
Cut or hand tear your bread into 1-inch pieces. Allow it to set out to dry for a day or two. Alternatively, dry the bread cubes out in a 250° F oven for about 30 minutes until dry, but not browning.
How to make Classic Stuffing
Classic Stuffing is easy to prepare with just a few steps.
Prepare the veggies
I like to finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery in a food processor. The fine pieces cook quickly and meld into the stuffing without any big chunks. This makes a more uniformly flavored and textured stuffing.
Chop them into bigger pieces if you prefer, but be sure to sauté them long enough so that they are tender.
Sauté the veggies and herbs
Saute the veggies in butter until very soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the poultry seasoning.
Prepare the liquids
Whisk the eggs, then whisk in the milk and broth.
Combine the sautéed veggies, liquids, and dried bread cubes
Combine the sautéed veggies, liquids, and dried bread cubes gently so as not to break up the bread cubes. Let rest until all of the liquid is absorbed, then pour into a generously buttered 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
How to bake Classic Stuffing/Dressing
If you’re baking the dressing in a baking dish, cover with foil and bake in the middle or upper middle of a 350° F for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and brush with an additional 2 tablespoons of butter and return to the oven until golden brown and crunchy, about another 30 minutes. You should see signs of the side edges browning as well.
To bake the stuffing inside the bird
Stuffing cooked in the bird is incredibly moist and flavorful, naturally basted with drippings from baking. Always stuff cooled stuffing into the turkey and use a food or meat thermometer to be sure the internal temperature in the middle of the stuffing hits 165°F.
How to keep Classic Stuffing warm
My trick to keeping dishes warm is to cover them with foil, then wrap them in a blanket. Well wrapped, this keeps the food warm for about 2 hours.
Make ahead for easy holiday entertaining
The components of this stuffing can be prepared in advance for a hassle free holiday.
- The bread crumbs can be cut and dried well in advance. As long as they are dried, they can keep for a few weeks.
- The vegetables can be sautéed several days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- The eggs, milk, and broth can be combined several days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- On the day of the dinner, combine all of the ingredients and bake.
Traditional Thanksgiving Classic Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs (680g) country bread cubed and dried (See Note 1)
- ½ cup (113g) plus 2 tablespoons (28g) butter divided
- 1 onion
- 1 carrot stick
- 2 celery sticks
- 2 tablespoons poultry seasoning
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper or to taste
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups (454g) milk
- 2 cups (454g) rich chicken broth (See Note 2)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F with the rack in the middle or upper middle. Generously butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.
- Chop the onion, celery, and carrot fine in a food processor. Sauté in butter until very soft but not browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add poultry seasoning, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Turn off heat and let cool slightly before mixing with the eggs.
- Whisk together eggs, milk, and chicken broth in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl or large baking pan, combine bread cubes, sautéed vegetables, and milk mixture. Gently toss together with your hands or a spoon until combined. Don’t overmix and take care not to break up the bread cubes.
- Let the mixture stand for a few minutes until the bread has absorbed the liquid, then pour into prepared baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the foil, brush the top of the dressing with melted butter, and return to oven.
- Bake until the top is a toasty, golden brown and getting crisp. For an extra crispy top, put under the broiler for a minute or two.
- Remove from oven and serve warm.
Notes
Enjoy, friends!
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Nice, me like very much 🙂
Thanks so much!
The stuffing always reminds me of bread pudding…love your classic stuffing recipe, Kelly.
Yes, me too. They are very similar. Thanks so much, Angie!
Ah you have helped this Aussie figure it out – dressing is baked separately in a dish! That’s not a term we use. Anyway I could gobble up a big plateful of your dressing – I can just imagaine the flavours!
We call it dressing, but many people call it stuffing, even though it’s technically not stuffed in the turkey. Whatever you like to call it, it’s delicious! Thanks so much, Marcellina!
This is marvelous. And also no cans involved!!! I should really make this some year. I always go a little crazy doing my own thing, adding a little of this and that, and when my family loves what I made, I can’t duplicate it! That’s one good thing about having a blog. Now I can right things down.
Mimi, I used to do that all the time! No dish was ever exactly the same! I started writing little notes down so I could duplicate it. It feels so time consuming paying attention to amounts and measurements when I usually just like to wing it! Thanks so much!
I did not grow up eating stuffing – (I know I had a deprived childhood!) chock it up to being recent immigrants but my grandmother could never wrap her head around the concept! But my children have tried it over the years and now request it – so I started making it a couple of years ago! My recipe is very similar and it also uses milk! I LOVE your make ahead tips and will definitely be using them – I am a “one woman show this year” so I need all the help I can get!
Nancy, I’m still dreaming about your savory bread pudding! I just can’t get it out of my head! I see quite a few similarities between stuffing/dressing and bread pudding. I’m surprised more stuffing recipes don’t call for milk. I’ve been a one woman show for so many years now. Doing what you can in advance really saves the day! Thanks so much!
Stuffing is my favorite Thanksgiving side dish, Kelly. This looks so good – I’d be having a double portion! Love the tip about using milk as well.
Mine too, Geraldine! It’s not quite as pretty as stuffing with big chunks of celery and herbs, but it’s my favorite way of eating it. All the flavors in every bite and no picking out the veggies! Thanks so much!
Ok, I love my Mom’s food, but her stuffing has NOTHING on this! Hah! This looks fantastic Kelly. Thank goodness for the make-ahead part, I find it so overwhelming trying to do a million things at once during a big holiday meal!
I make as much as I can ahead of time. I want to enjoy the holiday, too! Thanks so much, Katherine!
Perfect and so detailed … agree to Katherine: so good to make ahead although we stuff turkey for Christmas but still, so many things to do in one day 🙂 🙂 Thank you !
Davorka, I try to do as much ahead as possible. I want to enjoy the holiday, too!
Davorka, I try to do as much ahead as possible. I want to enjoy the holiday, too! Thanks so much!
Hi Kelly – I also grew up near the Amish, but in Pennsylvania not Ohio. Our family stuffing (yes, I still stuff it into the bird) is almost identical to yours in terms of the ingredient list, but one addition is the use of raisins. Have you ever heard of that? It’s quite tasty! Happy Thanksgiving!
David, I haven’t heard of it, but I’m sure I would love the addition of raisins for the sweet and savory combination! Thanks so much and Happy Thanksgiving!
Interesting! I like the trick with the milk here, Kelly. I often add milk (or milk powder) to my homemade bread recipes, but I’ve never thought about it using it in a stuffing recipe. It makes perfect sense! Now I just need to adapt my southern cornbread dressing to use the milk like this one. Mmmm…I can’t wait for Thanksgiving this year!
David, are you a milk powder user, too?! I’m crazy about that stuff! I love being able to make the milk as concentrated as I like. I even used it in this recipe. I’m so looking forward to Thanksgiving. All the wonderful recipes online are making me so hungry! Thanks so much!
Kelly, this looks SO classic and delicious!! Full of delicious spices…I love the crunchy topping but the moist inside. Stuffing is one of my favorite dishes at Thanksgiving! YUM! Amazing photos, also!
Haylie, I have to giggle when I look at the pictures. It’s not so stunning without the chunks of vegetables and fresh herbs strewn about, but this is the way we love it. If I cut the vegetables in chunks, you’ll find them left on the plate after all the stuffing is gone! 🙂 Thanks so much!
Well, you definitely have me rethinking my stuffing for next year. This is like a savory bread pudding! I think I’m in love. 🙂 ~Valentina
It has a wonderful texture and it’s so rich and moist. Thanks so much, Valentina!
Have not tried this exact recipe but it is very similar to what my mom always made. She added brown butter to the mix at the end and then we fry it in butter, turning it over once with a large spatula and then bake it. So delish! I had to comment when I saw you grew up in Holmes County. I was raised in Walnut Creek….live in Canton…winter in FL. Der Dutchman parking lot is where my home used to be. I visit Der Dutchman in Sarasota FL. Cheers!!
Frying it in butter sounds AMAZING!! So happy to meet you, Lynnette! I had my wedding dinner at Der Dutchman. Such a small world!