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This Make Ahead Stuffing is based on my favorite (and wildly popular) bread stuffing recipe. It’s a great way to get a jump-start on the holiday!
This Thanksgiving stuffing recipe is my mom’s creation and my favorite part about Thanksgiving. Add in the advantages of make-ahead convenience and you’re officially out of excuses not to make it!
And if you love getting ahead of the game (Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl of the food world, after all), check out my full Make Ahead Thanksgiving menu: Make Ahead Roasted Turkey, Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes (they won’t get watery in the freezer), and Make Ahead Pumpkin Pie.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Chicken broth: I keep jars of homemade chicken broth in the freezer (it’s a delicious by-product of poaching a chicken), but store-bought is also good. Or use turkey broth if you have that.
- Herbs: Fresh herbs taste the best in this stuffing, but dried work too. I rarely find fresh marjoram and almost always substitute dried. Or, customize with your favorite herbs like rosemary or poultry seasoning.
- French bread: Use any sturdy bread such as Italian, challah, or sourdough bread. Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
Step-by-step instructions
- Coat a 9″ by 13″ baking dish with butter. In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt butter until foaming. Add onion and celery and sauté until translucent, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk eggs in large bowl. Stir in broth, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- To skillet, add parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer the vegetables to the bowl with eggs mixture and stir well. Add bread cubes and toss to combine. Transfer to buttered casserole dish and cover with foil. Freeze until ready to bake.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Keep stuffing tightly covered with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 10 to 20 minutes longer.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe will serve at least 10 as a side dish.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: For best results, assemble and freeze the bread stuffing uncooked. Bake from frozen as directed in the recipe.
- Classic stuffing recipe: To make my homemade Bread Stuffing recipe, preheat oven to 400 degrees and rub a 9×13 inch baking dish with butter. Add stuffing to the baking dish, cover tightly with foil, and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 10 to 20 minutes longer.
- Crockpot stuffing: Save your oven space and make bread stuffing in your slow cooker. You’ll still have soft, chewy bread cubes with plenty of crispy edges without using your oven.
- Gluten-free stuffing: transforms gluten-free bread into a side dish worth making. You’d never know the difference when you tuck into this glorious gluten-free bread stuffing.
- Small batch: My Bread Stuffing for Two is the same delicious, buttery stuffing with all your favorite flavors, but scaled down to a smaller quantity for small gatherings. See my full Thanksgiving for Two Menu which includes a pair of roasted Cornish Hens with Stuffing and two Mini Pumpkin Pies for dessert.
- Sausage stuffing: My homemade Cornbread Dressing is made with plenty of sausage for a spicy kick.
- Vegan stuffing: Filled with wild mushrooms, leeks, fresh kale, and all the classic Thanksgiving herbs you love, this Vegan Stuffing recipe has bread cubes that are soft and chewy on the inside with browned, crispy edges outside. The entire recipe is 100% vegan and delicious.
- More Thanksgiving side dishes: Round out your Thanksgiving dinner with Green Bean Casserole, Cranberry Sauce, Soft Yeast Dinner Rolls, and Vegetable Casserole.
Frequently Asked Questions
The best bread for stuffing is a sturdy loaf with a tight crumb. Bakery French bread, Italian bread, Challah, and Sourdough are all good choices. When you cut up a 1-pound loaf into cubes, it should fit in an even layer on a single half-size rimmed baking sheet. If you need 2 sheet trays to fit your pound of bread cubes, the bread is too soft an airy. It won’t make good stuffing and you’ll wind up with a dish full of mush, no matter how well you dry it out.
Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
Yes! I’ve tested this homemade stuffing recipe in a 9-inch by 13-inch aluminum foil pan.
For food safety reasons, and for a more evenly cooked bird, most modern recipes don’t encourage stuffing a turkey. If you decide to stuff your turkey, combine wet and dry stuffing components just before placing them in the cavity, ensuring any raw meat, poultry, or seafood used in the stuffing is fully cooked beforehand. Do not stuff a bird with cooked stuffing. Use a large spoon or your hands to loosely stuff the body and neck cavities (do not pack it tightly because the stuffing expands while it cooks). Truss the main cavity with trussing pins to keep the stuffing inside. The stuffing must register 165 degrees on an internal thermometer to be safe to eat. For more information, see the USDA website. Stuffing a chicken or Cornish hens is also discouraged.
More Thanksgiving recipes
Vegetable Recipes
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Casserole Recipes
Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe with Marshmallows
Side Dish Recipes
Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
Bread Recipes
Homemade Crescent Rolls
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Make Ahead Stuffing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter plus more for buttering baking dish (1 stick)
- 1 large yellow onion chopped
- 4 celery ribs sliced lengthwise and chopped
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups chicken broth (see note 1)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley (see note 2)
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh sage or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram or ½ teaspoon dried
- 1 (1-pound) loaf French bread cut into 1/2" cubes and dried overnight on counter (see note 3)
Instructions
- Coat a 9″ by 13″ baking dish with butter. In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt butter until foaming. Add onion and celery and sauté until translucent, about 7 to 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk eggs in large bowl. Stir in broth, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- To skillet, add parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl with eggs and mix well.
- Add bread cubes and toss to combine. Transfer to buttered baking dish and cover with foil. Freeze until ready to bake.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Keep stuffing tightly covered with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 10 to 20 minutes longer.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Chicken broth: I keep jars of homemade chicken broth in the freezer (it’s a delicious by-product of poaching a chicken), but store-bought is also good. Or use turkey broth if you have that.
- Herbs: Fresh herbs taste the best in this stuffing, but dried work too. I rarely find fresh marjoram and almost always substitute dried.
- French bread: You can also use brioche, challah, or Italian bread. Dry the bread up to 3 days in advance (keep it covered with a dry kitchen towel on counter, or slice and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes).
- Yield: This recipe will serve at least 10 as a side dish.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
If I assemble this on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving are you sure I can put it in the fridge with the raw eggs and bake it on Thursday? The eggs in the stuffing won’t go off?
I’m sure Melissa! This recipe is tried and true every Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy. – Meggan
Have you ever used the bags of dried cubed bread from the grocery store to make stuffing? If not, any thoughts on how it would take to the recipe?
Hi Brittany, you totally can! Just make sure they are nice and dried out. – Meggan
Can I use a bag of already prepared cubed stuffing in place of toasting fresh bread?
Hi Randi, yes! I would just make sure they are nice and dried out. – Meggan
Hi Meggan:
I just read about baking, cooling and freezing the stuffing…then taking the stuffing from the freezer and rebaking it.
Should I thaw the stuffing before it goes into the oven?
Hi Lisa, you do not need to thaw the stuffing beforehand, just bake directly from the freezer. Hope you enjoy! – Meggan
I need to make gluten free stuffing. Do you think this will work with gluten free bread cubes bought from the store that are already dried? Also guests have an egg allergy, any suggestions to do without egg?
Hi Jennifer, unfortunately we haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free bread or without eggs. I would recommend finding a recipe that has already been tested with those things, I’m so sorry about that! – Meggan
Oh no!! I ended up baking it, letting it cool and then put it in the freezer. Did I ruin it? It tasted absolutely delicious when it came out of the oven!!
Andrea
Hi Andrea, it’s okay! Reheat in the oven covered with foil until it reaches 165 degrees. Also you can leave it uncovered for a couple minutes to make sure the top is crispy. – Meggan
Ok thank you!
Can’t wait to make this! I’m planning to make it tomorrow and freezing it until Thanksgiving. Should I bake it first and then freeze it? Or make the whole recipe and freeze it without baking it? Thanks!
Hi Andrea, I’m excited for you to try this! I recommend assembling the stuffing and freezing before baking. When you’re ready to bake it, bake in a 400-degree oven. Keep stuffing tightly covered with foil and bake until mostly heated through, about 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until crispy edges form, about 10 to 20 minutes longer. – Meggan
Can I make this in October and freeze it to serve on thanksgiving?
Hi Gina, yes! It will freeze up to three months. – Meggan
Just to clarify. If make and bake the stuffing on Thanksgiving morning, just before before putting the turkey in the oven, how long would it take to reheat? Having one smallish oven is a pain -:)
Hi Jeanne, I believe it would take about 25-30 minutes, depending on how well your oven could recover the heat. Another option would to be to assemble the stuffing, and once the turkey is out of the oven, and resting (I recommend about 30 minutes) you would be able to adjust the heat and bake the stuffing. (Also would be the time you may be making gravy.) I hope this helps! – Meggan
Hi Megan
Any substitutions for French loaf? I have ww bread. Would that ruin the outcome?
Thank you
Lynne
Hi Lynne, yes you can substitute for other types of bread. It may change the texture some but will still be delicious. Make sure to cube and dry it out so your stuffing isn’t soggy. I’m not entirely sure what ww bread is, if you could clarify I’d love to help you out! – Meggan