Homemade Traditional Stuffing Recipe
Published November 20, 2023. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
For years, this traditional stuffing recipe with mushrooms and sausage has been served at my holiday dinner table. The flavors in this simple traditional side dish are incredible.
No matter which holiday we celebrate, we always look forward to mealtime. While the turkey or beef roast takes center stage, we are all about the side dishes. Check out my cream mashed potatoes or roasted root vegetables, if you want to up your side dish recipe game,
Stuffing
The procedure of stuffing protein meat has been going on for generations. In early recipes throughout the first century AD, you learn of people stuffing rabbits, chickens, pigs, and other accessible animals. Turkey stuffing was popularized in the early days of Thanksgiving, as it is written in many 16th-century Boston area documents.
Stuffing most often uses dried bread, herbs, and vegetables that are reconstituted with liquid, stuffed into the turkey cavity, and baked until it is firm and finished cooking. In addition, stuffing can also be cooked separately in a casserole dish in the oven, which would then be considered dressing. I like stuffing outside the turkey because the bird will cook much quicker without it.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Bread – Any fresh bread will work for this recipe. I like to use Sourdough.
- Butter – I always use unsalted butter in my cooking and baking to control the sodium content instead of a butter company.
- Sausage – Any pork sausage will work for this, such as loose bratwurst, Italian sausage, or plain pork sausage in this recipe.
- Onions – You can use a white, yellow, or sweet onion. In addition, you’ll need some fresh garlic cloves.
- Mushrooms – I prefer to use fresh cremini mushrooms. However, you can also use button, portabella, shiitake, or oyster mushrooms.
- Celery – a few ribs of celery stand out in this recipe.
- Herbs – I used a combination of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme. Substitute with dry poultry seasoning.
- Stock – Chicken stock is best to use. However, you can substitute it with vegetable stock, brodo, or water.
- Eggs – Large, chilled eggs or room temperature will work perfectly in this stuffing recipe.
How to Make a Homemade Stuffing Recipe
Cut fresh bread into cubes, place it on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper, and bake in the oven at 300°for about 25-30 minutes or until firm.
In the meantime, cook off some pork sausage until browned and cooked through, and then set aside.
Using the same pan, cook mushrooms and onions in melted butter until lightly browned, which takes about 10 minutes.
Next, add celery and garlic and cook until tender, about 4 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the cooked vegetables, sausage, and bread to a large bowl and add them together.
Next, mix fresh herbs, salt, pepper, and stock and mix until combined. The bread should be wet but not soggy and drenched.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, add them to the stuffing bowl, and mix until completely mixed in.
Transfer the mixture to a large 13×9 casserole dish, cover with foil, and bake at 350° for 25 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for 25 minutes, then garnish with parsley and serve.
Additional Ingredients to Add-In
While there are some basic ingredients for a traditional stuffing recipe, you can customize it to make it your own. I took the initiative to add sausage and mushrooms, but there are many other things you can add, including:
- Turkey Giblets
- Turkey Gravy
- Dried Cherries
- Fresh Cranberries
- Dried Cranberries
- Root Vegetables
- Oysters
- Apples
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this recipe up to 1 hour ahead of time; just keep it covered and warm at low temperatures in the oven until ready to serve.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of dressing to a casserole dish or pan, drizzle on ¼ to 1/3 cup of chicken stock, and cover with foil. Bake in the oven at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes or until warmed.
How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can cover and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
Chef Notes + Tips
- Use a bit of stock at a time, and you may need less or more when mixing it in.
- When mixing the stuffing, do so gently so that the bread or other ingredients do not break apart.
- You can substitute 1 for 1 fresh to dry herbs.
More Holiday Recipes
Video
Homemade Traditional Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 cups of cubed bread
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cut in half
- 1 pound loose pork sausage
- 2 peeled and small diced small yellow onions
- 2 cups sliced cremini mushrooms
- 3 medium diced celery stalks
- 3 finely minced garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 1 tablespoon each chopped fresh rosemary and thyme
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 3 whisked eggs
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°.
- Spread out the cubed bread on a cookie sheet tray lined with parchment paper and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until crisp and firm. Set aside.
- While the bread is baking add a ½ stick of butter to a large frying pan or rondeau over medium-high heat and cook the sausage until broken up, lightly browned, and cooked throughout.
- Remove the sausage from the pan or pot and add the remaining ½ stick of butter.
- Add in the onions and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned and then add in the mushrooms and cook for a further 8-10 minutes while occasionally stirring until lightly browned.
- Place in the celery and garlic and cook for 4 to 5 minutes or just until the celery is tender.
- Transfer the cooked vegetables, sausage, and baked cubed bread to a very large bowl.
- Next, add in the herbs, salt, pepper, and chicken stock and mix gently until combined. See note about chicken stock.
- Pour in the whisked eggs and then again gently mix until combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a 13×9 casserole dish and cover with foil.
- Bake at 350° for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
- Serve garnished with fresh chopped parsley.
Loved it. A new favorite. Finally made one of your excellent recipes. Enjoy your posts. Thanks Billy
Appreciate you giving it a try!
That’s alot like my own recipe, everyone loves it
Excellent!
Make it!!! This is by far the best stuffing recipe I have ever tasted. Packed with flavor! You rock Billy!!
Thank you kindly!
Can I put in in the turkey to cook?
You could
Fabulous loved your recipe ChefBilly thank you 😋😁🤤
Amazing taste ChefBilly thank you for your recipe 😋😁🤤
Best stuffing ever! I do add chopped apples and cranberries.
This is best stuffing recipe we’ve used it 2 yrs now has best taste simple to make also my family loves this recipe . Thanks Billy Parisi for this delicious stuffing recipe .
Excellent recipe. Delicious .
Wonderful !
Great recipe for stuffing! This will be my go-to stuffing going forward. Love your videos. I’m a decent cook, but I’ve learned so much from watching you cook.
This recipe is quite similar to how I’ve been making stuffing for years. But it’s nice to have everything quantified instead of just done by eye. The only adaptation I made was to omit sausage (my wife is pescatarian) and to add a bit of chopped fennel with the onions.
Flavor and consistency were perfect, just like Nana used to make! And that’s saying something!
Do you change any of the other ingredient quantities when you leave out the sausage? I presume you use a vegetable stock but how do you replace the eggs? Thanks!
Great traditional stuffing recipe chef! Bravo, yet again! May I say, very similar to mine. I don’t use mushrooms and sometimes I also add bacon along with the sausage. My motto, “old school rules”!! Happy American Thanksgiving from Canada! 🦃🍗🥧🥂
Billy, I just love your videos and recipes. I am trying to make as many sides ahead of time. I made your sweet potatoes yesterday. I know you have reheat instructions posted for the stuffing, but I am just not sure if I should make today and then reheat tomorrow? Assemble today and bake tomorrow like I did with the potatoes? Will it be dry or too soggy? Any guidance is appreciated.
I’d bake first and then reheat
This is a take off from stuffing of my youth…only better. Without a doubt the best stuffing that I’ve ever had. I don’t usually follow the food that chefs make but I thought that I would try Billy’s approach. OMG. My family went in hook line and sinker. Best ever!
Thank you!
Hands down, the best stuffing recipe I have ever made! Full of favor! This is my go to recipe for now on.
I used a sourdough loaf and croissants since I had those on hand that I cut up and it was still amazing! Thank you!!!
Hi Billy, I love your recipes. My husband and I made your stuffing for Thanksgiving. Quick question, do you drain your sausage of grease before adding the onion back to the pan?
You can, I don’t
Billy.
I’m taking this to a house that I’m not comfortable bringing a dish with pork. Could I use chicken sausage (what flavor?) or what instead?
Thanks…Jackie
yes
Is it possible to put completed recipe in a crackpot until turkey is ready to serve? Not much room in the oven alongside the bird. Thanks
You could
The stuffing looks delicious. Thanks for sharing
YouTube frog here. Giving this a go this Christmas, wish me luck!
Merry Christmas Billy.
The recipe indicates to preheat the oven to 300, but directions say to cook at 350. At what temperature should I cook the stuffing?
Check out it again, the 300 is for drying out the bread while prepping up everything 🙂
Hi Billy, your stuffing recipe is similar to my mothers! We didn’t put mushrooms in the stuffing, but always made stuffed mushrooms on every Holiday. Wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving.❤️🙏❤️
Can I put it in turkey?
Hi Billy,
I will be making my stuffing similar to yours, but, because my husband and daughter hate mushrooms, I, sadly. will have to leave them out. Also, my daughter is allergic to onions (do you know how many dishes call for onions, of course you do your a chef) so I will have to leave them out, too. Do you think that using onion powder (which she isn’t allergic to) will work?
Judy
I think it could for sure work!