The BEST Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe You’ll Ever Make

It wasn't until I tried this recipe that I realized why people are so crazy about stuffing. This is going to become a go-to for every Thanksgiving and I'm craving some stuffing, so let's get started. We'll start with a loaf of bread. I'm using my home-baked sourdough bread, but you have so many options here. Anything from white bread to french bread, any rustic bread, even ciabatta. I love a good crusty bread because it adds crunch to the stuffing. Day-old bread works better because it absorbs the liquid without turning soggy. Chop your bread into 1 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 inch cubes, then we're gonna toast it in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 to 15 minutes or until it's fully dried out. Fresh bread can take a little longer to bake, so make sure to dry it out fully. While your bread dries out, we're gonna prep the veggies. Finely chop up three celery stalks. You're looking for about two cups of finely chopped celery. Celery is considered an aromatic, so do not skip it. It adds amazing aroma and sweet flavor to the stuffing. Now, finely chop up two medium yellow onions. The best way to cut onions is with your eyes closed. Just kidding, never. I need a minute. I know you guys have shared so many great tips on chopping onions and preventing tears, but literally every time I go to chop the onion, I forget until I'm already crying. It's like an onion marathon. It does seem like a lot of onions, but as they saute, they will disappear into the mixture. I can't even see. Thanks. You should end up with about two cups of finely chopped onion. Now for the herbs, which are so important here. Do not skip these. You'll need half a cup of chopped fresh parsley. I'm using a flat leaf parsley, but a curly parsley works just fine. You'll also need a bunch of fresh rosemary. To strip the leaves off of the stems, just pull them back against the stem and they come right off. You'll need about three tablespoons of the whole leaves, and once you finely mince them up, you'll have one and a half tablespoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary. And of course, let's not forget the garlic. I'm using four large garlic cloves, finely minced. Keeping it goofy. And if you're curious, it is better to mince garlic by hand anytime the mixture is sauteed instead of using a garlic press. Our bread is toasted and ready just in time. Make sure you bake that bread until it is fully dried out like croutons. It should be crisp to the tap. Transfer your croutons to a large mixing bowl. Now grab your skillet and it's time to hit the stove. We're going to be sauteing a lot of veggies here, so make sure you use a large skillet. Now bacon is the secret ingredient to get the best tasting stuffing. Saute that over medium heat until it renders the fat and gets crispy. Transfer your crispy bacon to a plate and keep the bacon grease. This builds so much flavor in a stuffing. Melt your butter into the pan and into the hot butter, add your chopped onion, celery, garlic, and rosemary. Saute, stirring occasionally for about six to eight minutes or until the veggies are very soft. You don't want to brown the mixture. Finally, stir in your chopped parsley and season with salt and pepper. Also a small thing that makes a big difference in flavor is to use freshly cracked black pepper and a peppermill is a smart investment. Everything is prepped and it's time to put this stuffing together. Into the bowl with your croutons, add your crispy bacon and add your veggie mixture. Also add half of your chicken stock and stir everything together. Stir until the chicken stock is pretty much absorbed into your bread. And wow, it smells so good already. Into the remaining chicken stock, you're going to crack two large eggs and whisk those together. Then pour that mixture over your stuffing. This helps to evenly distribute the eggs and the eggs are important here. They help bind everything together and it forms an almost souffle-like texture once it's baked. Now generously butter a 9 by 13 casserole dish and spread your stuffing mixture evenly into the pan. Finally, dot the top of your stuffing with your remaining butter. It's easier when the butter is not softened. The butter adds a great flavor, color, and moisture to the top layer. Cover your casserole dish with foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 minutes. Then uncover and bake until the top is crisp and golden brown. It's going to take another 30 to 40 minutes. You can bake on the longer side if you like your top to be extra crunchy. My house smells like Thanksgiving right now. This stuffing is incredible. Oh and I love how the tops are like crisp and crunchy. You can see the little bites of bacon. I cannot wait to dig into this. This is the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving menu and if you have some turkey gravy to pour over it. Okay we got to do this taste test. I know it's still like blazing hot but I do like to garnish with a little bit of parsley. There's parsley in it so it totally makes sense and it just makes it extra fancy. But add the parsley just before serving. Don't put it on a hot stuffing because it'll wilt. I'm just gonna do this quick. Okay here we go. We're gonna see and I have to tell you guys my history with stuffing. You guys have been asking me for stuffing for years. I mean years and the reason why I didn't have it is because well first of all I didn't grow up eating stuffing but the stuffing recipes that I had tried were like two thumbs down and I honestly thought why would somebody waste a perfectly good loaf of bread to make stuffing? But you guys this recipe changed all of that for me and now I understand. I understand why this is like the flavor of Thanksgiving for people. It's just so good and without further ado we're gonna dig in. Mama's hungry. I seriously want this. When you make it with sourdough or a crusty bread you get that amazing crunch with that custardy center so you kind of get the best of both worlds. The texture is phenomenal. Okay enough talking. More chomping. This smells amazing. All those yummy fresh herbs coming through and it's extra exciting because it's my homemade sourdough bread which I love so much. You can substitute other breads here. You can use french bread. You can use a white bread. You can even use focaccia. There's so many options but I do love the crusty bread because I love the crunch. I think that looks good. It's generous. I'm super excited for this and I know you guys are super passionate about your stuffing because when I polled you and asked you what are your favorite go-to stuffings you guys sure answered. There's a lot of passionate people about stuffing. All right let's dig in. Enough talking. Coziness on a plate. It's so hearty and satisfying because it has the egg in it. It's like super moist and fluffy on the bottom. Crisp and crunchy on top. It's just the best of both worlds. So so good and just the right amount of herbs. It's not overdone. It's so pleasant. Make this and everybody's gonna be asking you for your stuffing recipe. It's that good. Also this reheats really well so this is one of those Thanksgiving recipes that you're gonna hope you have leftovers of because you pop it in the air fryer for 10 minutes and it is just crisp and perfect. Seriously tastes like the day that you baked it. I hope this becomes a new addition to your Thanksgiving table. Also if you need more inspiration I have tons of amazing recipes in my cookbook. I will leave a comment to this in the notes and you especially should try our whipped mashed potatoes. I'm gonna be serving those on Thanksgiving. Anyway hope you guys love it. Let me know if you guys have any more recipe requests. I'd love to hear from you in the comments and where you spotted Sharky in the video. As always the first person to spot Sharky in a live premiere will get a gift card and I'm gonna go enjoy the rest of this scrumptious stuffing. It's so delicious. Okay adios. Bye guys. Oh big bite. I don't even feel bad because it's sour though.