I grew up in a home where eating poultry was just an excuse to eat stuffing. Where there was a rule that we couldn’t take “just stuffing” if we wanted seconds. Where my father would make extra stuffing, and hide it, just so he could have some leftover the next day.
My family loves stuffing… a lot.
Personally, I’m not even picky about the quality of the stuffing. I love great stuffing, but in a pinch, a box of Stove Top will do. A box of Stove Top makes a grand meal for one, an evening snack, breakfast, or lunch. The convenience store near my home stocked Stove Top just for me (no exaggeration) and my frequent trips to buy it is probably what led to me meeting my wife who worked there at the time.
This is making me sound crazy isn’t it.
Well, this year’s holiday events lead to me making what was probably the best stuffing I have ever eaten. I’m recording the recipe here for prosperity (so I can easily make it over and over and over again).
It all started with me expressing an interest in learning to use my wife’s bread machine. My wife supplied me with a few recipes and one of them was “Bread For Stuffing”. How did I not know this was a thing! It’s bread, with all the yummy stuffing spices baked in!
Then my closest friends decided to do a potluck holiday dinner together, so of course I decided I needed to make stuffing with this magic bread.
IT WAS SO GOOD AND I WAS SO HAPPY EATING IT!
So how did I make it?
The bread itself it a recipe specifically made for the Breville Custom Loaf Bread Maker, which my wife claims is the best bread maker available right now. I’m unsure how difficult it would be to use the same recipe in a different bread maker, or even make it manually, better cooks than I will have to let me know – but the recipe is in the Custom Loaf Bread Maker Manual.
I made the bread the night before, cut it into cubes after cooling, and let it sit out overnight in a towel-covered bowl to semi-harden.
The stuffing itself, well here’s the recipe.
Equipment
- 1 9×13" baking (cake) pan
- 1 large skillet (larger than you think)
- 1 large mixing bowl (larger than you think)
Ingredients
- 1 2lb "bread for stuffing" loaf (see above)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup butter unsalted
- 2 cup chicken broth
- 3 cup sweet onion diced (approx 2 onions)
- 2 cup celery diced
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
Optional
- 3 tbsp sage (only if not using "bread for stuffing recipe")
- 3 tbsp thyme (only if not using "bread for stuffing recipe")
Instructions
The Bread
- Following the instructions found in the Breville Custom Loaf Manual, make one 2lb loaf. Once cooled cut loaf into 1/2" cubes (I like the bread in bigger chunks but cut smaller is preferred). Place bread in a bowl; loosely cover (towel or tented tinfoil), and allow to sit out over night.
The Stuffing Sauce
- Heat butter in a large skillet. You will likely need a larger skillet then you think you do.
- Once melted stir in sweet onion, diced celery, salt, and pepper. Cook until onions and celery soften (approx 10 minutes).
- Stir in garlic, parsley and rosemary. Add 1 cup of chicken stock (half of the 2 cups in the Ingredients list) and let cook for 2 more minutes.Note: Stir in sage and thyme only if using normal bread. If you used the Bread for Stuffing recipe above the spices are already baked in.
Putting It All Together
- In a large bowl, pour the stuffing sauce over the bread and toss well to coat.
- Whisk together eggs and remaining half of chicken stock. Pour into the bread cubes and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Bake stuffing for 45mins in oven preheated to 350F.
Nutrition
Notes: This recipe should work well if you’re using regular bread, no promises, but if you do add in the additional sage and thyme as noted. The 2lb loaf made approx 25oz of bread cubes.
Also, I said that this serves 10 people – it does make a lot, but this number entirely depends on how much people like stuffing. There were 4 people at our holiday dinner and only about 1/3 of the stuffing was left afterwards.
So… am I missing anything? I’m curious, what do you all add to your stuffing that you feel makes it stand out?