Our Favorite Buttery Herb Stuffing.
This is the best stuffing recipe ever!
Seriously, it’s our favorite stuffing and the only one I make now. The edges are golden and crunchy, the inside is soft. It’s wildly flavorful and buttery and filled with herbs and most importantly, a delicious neutral flavor that truly goes with any meal.
Stuffing is by FAR my favorite side dish. In fact, Thanksgiving is alllll about the side dishes for me. Each one gets better than the last. And yes, technically this would be considered dressing since I’m serving it outside the bird.
However!
You can use this to stuff the bird if you wish. I’ve done it both ways, because we have a few family members who loved stuffing from inside the turkey.
I also think it’s a fairly regional thing? No one here calls stuffing “dressing” – really ever! It’s always stuffing, and that’s what I grew up with.
But that’s neither here nor there. I wanted to share my favorite best stuffing recipe with you today because we’re all about the classics this year. I want my Thanksgiving plate to taste like it did all those wonderful, comforting cozy years ago.
P.S. yes this is one of very few recipes you will find where I use celery. I still loathe it, but find it an important building block of flavor in stuffing!
My mom has always made delicious stuffing. It’s completely traditional and classic because as I’ve said every year, my family absolutely loses it if there is an unconventional dish on the table. I mean, remember the one year I tried to bring butternut squash lasagna?
Did not go over well.
But really, my mom’s stuffing is so good. This recipe is a modern twist on hers – very similar ingredients, but more fresh herbs. Also, still lots of butter. LOTS. It’s worth it! It’s Thanksgiving, and butter gives you that toasty, rich flavor with the crispy crunchy edges.
This recipe feeds about eight people, but I’ll be the first to tell you that in my house, stuffing always goes first. It’s one thing that people usually take seconds of, and it’s the one dish they also want to take home for leftovers! So because of that, I never mind making a lot.
If you’re scaling down your celebration this year, I’m happy to tell you that this recipe can be cut in half easily! And if you’re feeling more people, you can easily double this too. Honestly, I always double this for the reasons above. I liiiiive for stuffing.
If you have leftover stuffing…
I suggest using it for a breakfast hash skillet with eggs. I’ve also successfully thrown it in a waffle maker to create a stuffing waffle. Now that is incredible.
You can use it on a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, stuff in inside of bell peppers or simply freeze it to bring it our on a chilly night in winter. It’s the best dinner time treat!
Now I know that I’m all about the classic stuffing this year. But if you’re craving more variety, I have quite the selection to choose from. Last year I showed you how to make this but grilled the bread, which adds a really great twist.
I’ve also done slow cooker stuffing before too, in case you don’t want to really bother with it!
And, this double bread stuffing recipe that so many of you use every year and love!
Which stuffing is your favorite to make?!
Best Stuffing Recipe!
Our Favorite Buttery Herb Stuffing
Ingredients
- 18 to 24 ounces bread cubes, (1.5 loaves of bread, or about 12 to 14 cups) preferably toasted or stale
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3 cups diced sweet onion, roughly 2 large onions
- 2 cups diced celery
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- kosher salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 2 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
- 2 large eggs
- a mixture of fresh herbs for sprinkling
Instructions
- Note about the bread cubes! You have options here. Stale or toasty bread works best. The first option is that you can cut 1 ½ pounds of bread into cubes, place it in a large baking dish, loosely tent with foil and let it sit overnight. You can also cut the cubes and put them in oven, toasting them at 350 degrees F until they are like croutons, about 15 minutes or so. Finally, you can buy the toasted bread cubes in bags from the store. It’s your choice! You can also choose the size of your cubes. They can be small or larger for a more rustic stuffing.
- My mom has always used a mixture of stale and fresh bread. Also, I like to use different kinds of bread (usually two), like a sourdough and italian, and mix the cubes. It provides great texture.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a 9x13 baking dish (you can also use a larger baking dish or a larger foil roasting pan too!) with melted butter, olive oil or spray with nonstick spray. Place the bread in a large mixing bowl (this may be easier for you to stir!) or the baking dish that you will bake it in. You can also separate this into two baking dishes if it's easier.
- Heat the butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the onion, celery and garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper - at least ½ to 1 teaspoon each. Cook until the onions and celery soften, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the sage, parsley and rosemary. Cook for another minute. Stir in 1 cup of stock.
- Pour the onion celery mixture over the bread crumbs and toss well to coat.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the remaining 1 ½ cups stock and 2 eggs.
- Pour that mixture into the bread cubes and stir and fold the bread cubes until thoroughly combined. Bake the stuffing for 45 to 50 minutes, until the internal temperature registers 160 degrees F. If the stuffing is getting too browned, you can tent it with foil.
- I have successfully made this a day ahead of time and reheated it - it’s just as good! emove the pan from the fridge 60 minutes before reheating it. You can also use this mixture to stuff the bird if you wish!
- To serve 4: Cut this recipe in half exactly and bake it in an 8x8 or 9x9 inch dish. I bake for the same amount of time.
- To serve 12 to 18: Double this recipe exactly. Bake in a large baking dish, like a 10x15 roasting pan, or baking in two 9x13 baking dishes. I bake for roughly the same amount of time, or about 15 minutes longer.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Look at that buttery golden crunch!
1,343 Comments on “Our Favorite Buttery Herb Stuffing.”
Can I make this in advance, freeze it and then bake it?
Good Question. ????
Can I use minced garlic in a jar instead of cloves?
Thank you!
A general rule of thumb is that 1/2 teaspoon of jarred minced garlic equals about 1 clove of fresh garlic. Keep in mind that jarred garlic may have a slightly different flavor profile, as it’s often preserved with oil or vinegar, but it will still work great in most recipes. Sphynx Cat For Sale Just adjust the quantity to your taste preference. Let me know if you need any further details!
I made this last year and I was amazing. I used minced in a jar.
First time making stuffing from scratch!
I have will homemade turkey stock, is it best to use that or stick with chicken flavour?
Thank you!
It won’t affect the final result either way :-)
I’m confused about the use of breadcrumbs and breadcubes? I don’t see breadcrumbs on the recipe list!? Looks so tasty..please help!
If that little typo confused you, maybe stay out of the kitchen?
Thanks for that super unhelpful and unnecessary comment. Maybe go fuck yourself? Have a great day!
if I make it the day before how do I reheat it? is it the same temp as when I cook it and time? sorry I never done this before.
Perhaps your handle should be Captain Obnoxious instead of Captain Obvious. The comment section should be a safe space to clarify instructions without being mocked. If you can’t be nice or offer helpful advice, maybe stay out of the comment section.
Aww, it seems as though you’re probably hurting from someone else not treating you respectfully. It’s the only reason we might bully someone else. It’s important to treat others the way you wish to be treated. And good for you Tessa for trying to figure out the recipe! We’ve all needed help learning something new, including you, Captain Obvious ;)
LOL
really snarky comment – was it really necessary? any way – happy thanksgiving…
LOL This is probably like the 50th message board that they trolled today to add a snarky comment to make themselves feel superior. Not original, been done before. Get a life man – I feel sad for you. However, I am sure you will get off on the comments posted back as that is really the intention. Thumbs up WINNER. way to go.
Recipe is awesome btw! Thank you for posting.
Bread cubes is bread cut or torn into cubes bigger and or smaller pieces. Bread crumbs are very fine. Think crumbs as the coating some might use like for chicken Parmesan or fried zucchini. I hope that will help
Bread crumbs are just that, usually you can buy them…but don’t use them in a stuffing recipe. Cut up your bread into cubes, like half inch squares.
someone is a little touchy 🤣 damn girl.
psycho not even aware kids can see this. throwing the f word around like she got hit with a fine for asking the difference between a crumb and a cube. ridiculous
So here I am, making Thanksgiving dinner with my kids as they take turns reading OUT LOUD through the comments looking to see what others are using for herbs, my 8 year old comes across “helpful stranger” AKA Tessa “go fk yourself.” it’s obvious some jerk got under your skin, but is it really necessary to go that far on a recipe page? next time you want to cuss someone out, try doing this just in case kids might be reading… “d*mb b*tch”. hope this helps. thanks!
I TRYED THIS RECIPE LAST YEAR AND IT WAS A FAMILY FAVORITE. THANK YOU! THIS YEAR I’M COOKING FOR 30 BIG STUFFERS AND I HAVE NO IDEAS HOW MUCH OF EACH HERB TO BUY TO EQUIL THE AMOUNT NEEDED FOR EACH FRESH HERB CHOPPED/DICED. CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THAT.
Triple the recipe, so 9 tablespoons of each herb.
For simpler measuring portions, that’s about 1/2 cup each.
So good! This has been my go-to stuffing recipe for two years now. This year, I might try assembling it the night before and baking it the next day. I will report back on how it goes!
That sounds risky to me. If you mix it all together without baking it soon, the bread will turn into mush. You could totally get the bread cubes in the pan, keeping them out of the fridge, so they don’t get moist. Then get the veggies prepped and in the fridge so that you can more easily finish it off in the morning. Or like they mention in the post you can prepare it completely and then refrigerate it, to warm back up the next day.
Hannah it will be just fine! I pre-make this the night before every year and then throw it in the oven Thanksgiving Day and everything comes out wonderfully! just be sure not to stir it up too much and just toss it together and cover it up with tin foil and throw it in your refrigerator. remove the tin foil about 10 minutes before pulling it out of the oven to get that nice crisp on the top and it will be wonderful! Good luck to you
made it for 30 people and tripled the recipe – people were begging to take home leftovers! Sorry everyone had thirds-nothing left! awesome! I used ciabatta and sourdough -half stale half toasted .
Question – what has been you favorite bread to make this stuffing with? I see you wrote you typically use two types – sourdough and Italian. Are you buying baguettes? Unsliced loaves? How big do you cut the cubes?
Many thanks for your time and help! My SIL made this last year and we loved it!
My daughter has now asked me to make it for her work Thanksgiving. Wanting to make sure I purchase correctly. :-)
I use Rustic Oven Tuscan loaf from the bread section. It’s dryer and slices clean.
how do you reheat it
Tightly cover with foil, low oven. 250. Add chicken stock if needed.
Is there anything I can use in place of the butter for sautéing the veggies, ie olive oil, or will it lose its overall flavor? My daughter cannot have any dairy products and she has not found a butter substitute that she likes.
I use olive oil butter for everything. Tastes great, I fry with it, bake with it.
Natural Grocers non dairy butter is delicious.
Can I freeze this uncooked then defrost and cook on Thanksgiving?
excited to try this! is it okay to use dried herbs instead of fresh?
I made this today with dried herbs and it turned out great! Just use a little less, 1.5-2 tablespoons instead of 3!
Not only is this great stuffing, but it is amazing in meatballs. I doubled the recipe to have leftover to add to meatloaf mix and froze the meatballs for supereasy weeknight dinners.
That is a tremendous idea Rachel!
can I prepare the nite bfore, and bake the day of??
I wouldn’t because of the eggs. But I do cut up the veggies, the bread the day before.
I’ve made other stuffing recipes were I prepared ahead & just added the eggs the day I cooked. It’s been fine.
How big of a turkey will this recipe stuff.
I wouldn’t stuff. Just bake in a pan. Top with a little gravy when serving .
Absolutely fabulous!!!!!!! This is now my go-to stuffing recipe for all time. I followed the recipe exactly except I topped it with fresh grated parmesan. So good!
I used a bag of pre-made breadcrumbs from HEB and it was perfect. Thank you for sharing!
Most of my recipes bake at 325F for Thanksgiving, would it work at that temp? Maybe add a little more time?
Ugly
You really shouldn’t talk about yourself that way.
That’s not very nice. Just don’t make it! My family LOVES it 😊. :-)
Troll somewhere else, Karen!! (P.S. This is the best stuffing recipe!! Just made it today!! I make it at least once every year! <3 )
how long and at what temperature should we reheat at/ for if making the day before?
have you ever made it with corn bread instead?
I was wondering the same thing! Hopefully someone has tried it and will know!
I am thinking of making this for Thanksgiving. Have you ever tried adding apples and cranberries? I’m curious how it would taste!
Would it be ok to use dried herbs?
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This looks AMAZING.. I am going to make it a day ahead. Someone else asked this in the comments but I didn’t see a response. After it is removed from fridge- what temp and how long to reheat? TYIA!
You can prepare this and just throw it in your fridge covered in tin foil and then cook it Thanksgiving Day per directions. I’ve been doing this every year and it comes out fabulous! just be sure to remove the tin foil 10 to 15 minutes before it’s done in your oven to get that nice crisp on the top. good luck And happy Thanksgiving!
Excited to try the recipe this Thanksgiving. So many great reviews. I see all the fresh herbs. Has anyone ever added fresh thyme? Don’t want to ruin it if it’s not suggested.
I don’t have an after-the-fact answer because am making it first time this week – with all the 5-star reviews I’m confident enough! – but am chiming in because I did put fresh thyme and fresh bay leaf into the veg broth I made to use for it. The only change to the main recipe I’m planning is to add a little chestnut prior to baking 🤞🏽
I add both fresh oregano and fresh thyme and it turns out wonderfully. I just add whatever I have leftover from prepping for other dishes, but I’ve added up to 3 tablespoons of each (not decreasing the original herbs) and it was wonderful!
When this dish is made a day ahead of time and put in the fridge overnight I understand I need to pull it out one hour before reheating it. How long am I meant to reheat it after that hour of it sitting at room temp? What temperature should I set the oven to, still 350? Thanks!
Can you add meat to this recipe?
How much butter can I cut out before I should worry? A cup seems like a lot to me.
My granddaughter and I made this, we added giblets and Tyme. Was very nice. Kids do read and cook F bomb isn’t cool.
I made this for the first time a few years ago and now it’s a staple for all holiday meals. Seriously, I think my family would revolt if this dish wasn’t on the table. Over time I’ve started adding additional varieties of fresh herbs (oregano and thyme) just because I usually have extra from preparing other dishes. I always make a double batch. One batch gets made in the 9×13 for the holiday meal, the other batch I bake in large silicone muffin trays. I then place the whole thing in the freezer, then pop out the “stuffins” to store in freezer ziplocks for easy small side dishes. You do lose some of the crispiness, but I found lightly pan frying them brings back to its original greatness!
What kind of bread do you use?
Can this be modified to a slow cooker recipe? and if so, how?
I have made this in the past and it is hands down the best stuffing.
Do I use regular chicken stock or unsalted?
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What does a “large” baking dish mean. Can you provide a size / volume – # liters?
Many thanks
Received an error message that this question was already asked, but I cannot find it amongst the 1,191 comments. So I would greatly appreciate your answering again: What does a “large” baking dish mean? Can you provide a size / volume – # liters?
Many thanks
Hi, I am so intrigued by your other brown butter stuffing recipe, but my household is already a fan of this more traditional style. Have you or anyone else on this thread ever try using brown butter in a recipe like this? I’d like to, but I’m worried that it may not go. It seems like brown butter stuffings are usually made with cornbread…any reason why it couldn’t be made with sourdough and ciabatta like with this recipe?
what about adding mushrooms? also you said your mother used a mix of stale and fresh bread but didn’t say if you do this as well…
How long do you think to bake these in a muffin tin instead of a dish?
Great
Is it really 3 Tablespoons of each herb or teaspoons. Seems like a lot of herbs? Thank you in advance
Best stuffing ever. My family absolutely love it.
I want to add linguica and pork! Should I pre cook the meat since the cooking time is almost an hour?
can u make this a day ahead but not bake it until the next day?
I wouldn’t. Would likely get too soggy! Id pre-bake and reheat as recipe states :)
Can you add apples to this recipe? My husband is obsessed with apples
in stuffing so I was just wondering.
can I make this in crock pot?
How do we use this recipe to stuff a turkey?
I’d like to make this today for Thanksgiving tomorrow. You mentioned that it’s just as good reheated, and I know to take it out of the fridge an hour before, but do you have any suggestions as to the temperature and time needed to reheat it?
Can I replace the butter with Crisco for a vegan guest?