Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing

My mother's old fashioned thanksgiving dressing recipe is our family's favorite side dish! We have always said that Ida had the best stuffing recipe. It was an old fashioned bread dressing made with celery, onions, sage, butter and bread. The only seasoning was salt and pepper. Simple, and delicous.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Keyword dressing, old fashioned dressing, stuffing

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 249kcal

Author Bruce and Dina Miller

Equipment

Sharp knife
Cutting board
Pans
Baking Dish
large mixing bowl
Spatula

Ingredients

1 loaf bread day old, torn into pieces
2 sticks salted butter use plant based butter for vegan version
2 cups yellow onions chopped
2 cups celery chopped
32 ounce chicken stock use vegatable stock for vegan version
2 tablespoons Fresh Sage If you use dried sage, use 2 teaspoons
1 teaspoon Salt
10 grinds black pepper
Non stick spray

Instructions

If using store bought white or wheat soft bread, tear apart night before and let sit out
1 loaf bread
Melt butter slowly in a large pan
2 sticks salted butter
While butter is slowly melting chop onion and celery.
2 cups yellow onions, 2 cups celery
Add in onion, and let cook at a low to medium heat for 5 minutes (slowly sweat, do not brown)
2 cups yellow onions
Add in chopped celery, and let sweat another 10 minutes or so-does not need to completely cook, as it will finish in the oven.
2 cups celery
Add chopped fresh sage, and salt and pepper to taste. Taste and add more sage if needed. You can use a combination of fresh and dried sage.
2 tablespoons Fresh Sage, 1 teaspoon Salt
Pull mixture off of heat, and allow to cool slightly, but still warm.
At this point, if you are ready to bake the stuffing, pre-heat your oven to 350 F. If cooking turkey at 325 F, you can use the same temprature, you will just need to cook a bit longer.
Pour this warm mixture over the cubed or torn bread in a large bowl, or turkey pan.
Pour about half of the chicken broth over, and continue to mix gently (do not over mix)
32 ounce chicken stock
Continue to add the amount of broth until the stuffing is no longer dry, but not too sloppy. You are looking for it to still hold it's shape, but be moist.
If you find that you made the mixture too wet, just add in some torn up bread, this will save it!
Spray 2 baking pans with non-stick spray, or for easy clean up, spray foil or parchment and put into pans, and divide stuffing between the pans. Cover with foil that is slightly tented up so as not to stick to the dressing.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350 F or 40 minutes at 325 F with foil on. Remove foil, and allow stuffing to get crunchy on the top by baking another 10-15 minutes.
Serve with gravy over the top.

Video

Notes

We have used store bought cheap bread for years in this recipe and it turns out so good. And recently we have used the home made bread that Bruce makes. If you are using sourdough, do not let it dry out. Cut the cubes and use right away. Yep, I learned the hard way last Thanksgiving. I seriously thought the dried out sourdough was never gonna soften. It did, and tasted wonderful, but it added time into the already busy day.

After all the wonderful types of bread that Bruce has been making may have ended up sitting in our fridge at the end of the week, we thought we would use them for this!

We used one loaf of home made Brioche, and a half of a loaf of soft Artisan bread. This stuffing turned out so fluffy, and had a nice depth of taste using 2 breads. We know that many people love to add things like sausage, or mushrooms, or other add ins. We have never changed our recipe. It is what I grew up loving, and we still love it. Simple and delicious.

We always think of Grandma Ida when we have Thanksgiving stuffing. My mom is missed. We will pass this recipe down generation after generation. No changes needed.

We love you, Ida.

Nutrition