Ingredients
Preparation
20 minutes 3 hours The only prep you’ll need to do is dry out the torn loaf of bread in a low oven and sauté diced onions and celery in melted butter. Toss it all together with beaten eggs, store-bought chicken stock (or vegetable broth for vegetarian stuffing), and a quartet of herbs, including fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, and slide it into the oven. Want to simplify this classic stuffing recipe even further? Go ahead and substitute dried herbs for the fresh ones, we won’t tell. For truly crispy stuffing, it’s important to oven-dry the bread cubes rather than letting them simply go stale on the counter. (But that doesn’t mean you can’t use stale bread!) Stale bread isn’t actually dry, it’s just hard, and it won’t absorb stock at the same rate—so go ahead and give it a spin in the oven, too, if that’s the kind of bread you’re using. Finally, traditional stuffing is baked inside the bird on Thanksgiving; baking this version in a casserole dish technically makes it dressing, but it’s your Thanksgiving dinner, so call it whatever you want. Feel free to bake this homemade stuffing recipe ahead of time, refrigerate after letting it cool down, then reheat the stuffing at 350°F just until warmed through while the turkey rests.
Step 2
Meanwhile, melt ¾ cup butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add onions and celery. Stir often until just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add to bowl with bread; stir in herbs, salt, and pepper. Drizzle in 1¼ cups broth and toss gently. Let cool.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk 1¼ cups broth and eggs in a small bowl. Add to bread mixture; fold gently until thoroughly combined. Transfer to prepared dish, cover with foil, and bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of dressing registers 160°F, about 40 minutes. Do Ahead: Dressing can be made one day ahead up to this point. Uncover the dressing, let cool, then cover again and chill. The next day, proceed with the final bake as described below.
Step 4
Uncover dressing and continue to bake until set and top is golden brown and crisp, 40–45 minutes longer (if chilled, add 10–15 minutes for a total time of 1 hour 30 minutes–1 hour 40 minutes). Editor’s note: This recipe was originally printed in the November 2012 issue of ‘Bon Appétit’ as “Simple Is Best Dressing” and first appeared online in October 2012. Head this way for more of our best Thanksgiving side dish recipes →
