Classic Bread Dressing Recipes

CLASSIC BREAD DRESSING RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat oil and 2 tablespoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over high until butter melts. Stir in celery and leeks; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add thyme, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the broth; cook, stirring, 1 minute.
• Combine celery mixture and bread cubes in a large bowl. Add melted butter, eggs, and remaining 1 1/2 cups broth; stir to combine.
• Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish; let stand 15 minutes. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.

BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Melt butter in 4-quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook celery and onion in butter 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Remove Dutch oven from the heat.
• Gently toss celery mixture and remaining ingredients, using spoon, until bread cubes are evenly coated.
• Use to stuff one 10- to 12-pound turkey. Or to bake stuffing separately, grease 3-quart casserole or rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches. Place stuffing in casserole or baking dish. Cover with lid or aluminum foil and bake at 325°F for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 15 minutes longer.

CLASSIC BREAD DRESSING

Steps:

• Make bread cubes ahead of time and set out on counter so they can get a little "stale.".
• Melt margarine in dutch oven over medium-high heat.
• Cook celery and onion in margarine, stirring occasionally, until tender; remove from heat.
• Toss celery mixture and remaining ingredients.
• Pour dressing into a greased casserole. Cover with lid or aluminum foil and refrigerate until about 30 minutes before poultry is done.
• Bake uncovered in the same oven with the poultry about 45 minutes or until hot. Spoon poultry drippings over stuffing as it cooks.
• Continue to bake the dressing while you let the poultry stand 15 minutes before carving.

CLASSIC STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a 3-quart baking dish. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, sage and thyme; season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.
• Whisk the eggs and parsley in a large bowl. Add the bread and the vegetable-broth mixture and stir until combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Drizzle with the turkey drippings (or dot with butter); sprinkle with the paprika.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden, 25 to 30 more minutes.

CLASSIC BREAD STUFFING WITH ONIONS, CELERY, AND HERBS

Steps:

• In a big skillet, melt the butter over medium heat; add in onions, celery, and celery leaves.
• Cook, stirring often, until the onions are golden, about 8 minutes.
• Scrape the vegetable mixture into a big bowl; mix in the bread cubes, parsley, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper.
• Gradually stir in about 1 ½ cups of broth, until the stuffing is evenly moistened but not soggy.
• Transfer stuffing to a lightly buttered casserole dish; drizzle with ½ cup broth, cover, and bake in a preheated 350° oven for 30-45 minutes (if you like crusty stuffing, remove foil the last 15 minutes of baking).

BETTY CROCKER'S CLASSIC BREAD TURKEY STUFFING

Steps:

• In a large, heavy skillet over medium heat melt the butter, then sauté the onion and celery (and mushroom, if using) until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the salt, pepper, and sage and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
• Place the bread cubes into a large, deep bowl.
• Pour 1/4 cup of the butter/celery mixture over the cubes and toss well, then repeat steps until all of the butter mixture is used.
• Toss the cubes thoroughly to coat.
• (Regarding the optional chicken broth: for dry stuffing, add little or no liquid; for moist stuffing mix in lightly with fork just enough chicken broth to moisten dry crumbs.) Let cool and use as stuffing for the turkey.
• We've made this stuffing in the crockpot, as well, adding the chicken broth for moistness.
• Adapted from Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, circa 1950.
• Note: regardling the amount of salt - yes, the amount listed above is correct and is what is listed in the original Betty Crocker recipe. When the butter mixture is first added to the bread, if you taste it at this point it might seem salty (because it is sitting right on the surface of the bread) but remember that the liquid and butter soaks into the bread and redistributes evenly. Also, this recipe, being from the 1950s, is specifically for cooking *inside* the turkey, which a lot of people no longer do, and again the salt will redistribute from the juices in the meat. If you use a crockpot for cooking your stuffing, I'd recommend reducing the amount of salt.
• Note #2: again, regarding the salt. You're going to have to decide for yourself about the salt. Having eaten this recipe for every year of my life I know it tastes wonderful as it's written. But that's just me.

CLASSIC THANKSGIVING DRESSING WITH PARSLEY, SAGE AND THYME

Steps:

• Spread bread cubes in a single layer on two large sheet pans and let dry for a few hours or overnight. Adjust oven racks to lower- and upper-middle positions. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake bread until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees.
• Meanwhile, heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery; saute until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix bread, vegetables and remaining ingredients. Turn into a greased 3-quart baking dish. Cover with foil and bake until steamy, 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake until crusty, 10 minutes longer. Serve immediately.