Best Stuffing Recipe – A Beautiful Mess

This is my all-time favorite stuffing recipe. It’s a classic with pretty basic ingredients and it’s chock full of fresh herbs which not only give this recipe tons of flavor, it makes your whole kitchen smell like Thanksgiving or Christmas too.

This homemade stuffing recipe is one of my favorite side dishes, alongside mashed potatoes. It may be a regional thing but I know some people call this dressing. However, I’ve always called it stuffing as you can also use this recipe to stuff a turkey with. Whatever you call it, this is essentially a savory bread pudding and I am here for it!

Related: Need more side dishes? Try our Green Bean Casserole, Broccoli Casserole, Corn Casserole, the Best Baked Macaroni and Cheese, or Jello Salad. And if you have leftover herbs from this recipe, try this Thanksgiving Stove Simmer.

Ingredients

• Bread – stale bread is great! Any kind: sourdough bread, Italian, cornbread, white sandwich, etc.
• Butter
• Shallots
• Garlic
• Celery
• Sage
• Parsley
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Chicken broth or stock
• Eggs
• Salt and black pepper

How to make stuffing casserole

Cube the bread the night before into bread cubes. I like to leave it in a bag, loosely sealed, so it dries out some. It doesn’t have to be completely dry or stale, but fresh soft bread isn’t as good for this recipe.

Chop up the shallots and celery. Mince the garlic. Chop up the fresh herbs.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat until melted. Then stir in the shallots, garlic and celery. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Then stir in most of the fresh herbs, reserving around 1/3 of them to top the stuffing with before baking.

Stir together the chicken stock and eggs until well combined.

In a large bowl, or two if needed, add the breadcrumbs, cooked shallot mixture, and the chicken stock mixture. Stir until everything is well coated and combined. Season well with salt and pepper.

Butter a 9×13 baking dish, or coat in nonstick cooking spray. Add the stuffing mixture to the pan. Top with the remaining herbs. Cover in aluminum foil.

Bake in the oven at 350°F (177°C) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake for another 25-28 minutes. The total bake time will be 45-48 minutes. The stuffing should look golden brown along the edges when done.

Tips & Substitutions

• You can substitute the shallots for a yellow onion or white onion if needed.
• Another great addition to this classic stuffing recipe is some cooked sausage. YUM!
• I like to buy the day-old bread that’s on sale at the grocery store for this, if I don’t have leftover bread to use. Also, you can save random bits in a bag in the freezer leading up to making this recipe.
• If you want to make this ahead, simply follow this recipe until the point of baking. Instead, store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake.
• You can use this recipe to stuff a Thanksgiving turkey, but keep in mind depending on the size of bird this may make too much stuffing to all fit inside the cavity. You may have enough to cook this stuffing in an 8×8 size pan in addition to stuffing the turkey. But, again, it depends on the size of bird you are preparing.
• Use the leftovers in other recipes like a Thanksgiving sandwich, burger or wrap.

Serving Suggestions

To me, this is a Thanksgiving stuffing recipe and that’s usually when I make this each year. That being said, here are some main course recipes that would be delicious alongside this.