I love the Thanksgiving holiday because of how the house smells when you are cooking. Every piece of the meal brings in its own delicious smells and always each dish always seems to bring a different member of my family walking through the kitchen as it’s being prepared. One dish, however that gets everyone’s attention is the butter and herb stuffing. It just “smells like Thanksgiving.
This dish doesn’t require fancy ingredients. Sometimes I have used left over whole grain breads that I have had around the house, but most of the time I just cube up slice white bread. (the same kind that the kids use for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches)
If you are unable to find poultry seasoning, just use roughly the same volume of ground sage, ground rosemary, and thyme, and marjoram if you have it. I usually only have the first 3 on hand and it still turns out great!
Another tip is to have more bread cubes on hand in case you get carried away with seasoning or with the chicken stock. There really isn’t a right or wrong way to make stuffing…It’s a dish loaded with love and everyone makes it’s their own unique way!
Butter and Herb Stuffing
10 cups cubed, dried bread.
6 tablespoons butter, salted
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups celery, small dice (including some of the celery leaves)
1 large onion, small dice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (2 gloves fresh minced)
1 1/2 tablespoons poultry seasoning (or more to taste after mixing)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
2 cups chicken stock
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375.
Place the dried bread cubes in a large bowl and set aside. Prepare a 9×9 baking dish and set aside
In a large saute pan, melt the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add celery, onion, garlic powder, and poultry seasoning. Cook the vegetables until they are tender and onions are translucent about 5-10 minutes. Pour the vegetable mixture over the cubed bread. Season with fresh parsley, salt, and pepper. Gradually add in the chicken stock, while gently stirring with your hands or a wooden spoon. Let the mixture rest for 5 minutes. Stir again and check for any dry bread crumbs. Add a little more chicken stock if needed. (you want the bread crumbs moist, but not too mushy). Check seasonings and add more poultry seasoning, herbs, or salt and pepper as desired. Pour the stuffing mixture into the baking dish.
Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm.
MAKE AHEAD TIP – This recipe can be made up to the point of baking up to 2 days before serving. Most of the time I make this early in the morning the day that I am serving it and store it in the refrigerator until I am ready to bake. I usually let my turkey rest, covered in foil, for at least 30 minutes before serving and that allows plenty of time to bake side dishes in the oven.
