Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe For Great Feast

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If you’re looking for a fabulous dressing to include at your Thanksgiving, then this old fashioned Thanksgiving dressing recipe is for you, that is veggie herb stuffing in bread. This recipe is super easy and delicious. I love to make traditional recipes because they remind us to love our origins. My grandmother Dana made this for years and I was lucky enough to learn the recipe!

Thanksgiving turkey stuffing is a great place to start! It’s simple, easy, and has an amazing flavor that will have you coming back for it every Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Occasion and Craze for Dressing Recipes

Thanksgiving occasion is an important holiday that celebrates the blessings of the past year and hopes for further blessings for the upcoming year. It often celebrates the Family gathering and passes gratitude among each other. Serving the family feast with meatloaf, Thanksgiving turkey stuffing, bread stuffing or southern dressing recipe dressing is a tradition on these occasions due to their warmth and cozy flavors. Growing up in the South made me fall in love with these traditions that bring families closer and evoke a sense of togetherness.

Why this Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe?

Reminds me of Grandma’s Tradition: Traditional recipes are always yummy and delicious and develop a hearty connection to your loved ones. It’s the recipe I learned from my grandmother Dana so it’s a nostalgic memory of my childhood.
Simple and Easy: The Thanksgiving stuffing recipe is perfect for your Thanksgiving dinner. It is so easy to make you just need to bake the onion, celery, and sage dressing combined with dry bread and chicken broth. A perfect homemade dressing that brings warmth and nostalgia to your Thanksgiving table!
The Flavorful Combination of Love: This Turkey dressing is passed from generation to generation and is mostly popular in southern dressing. The crispness of the bread matches perfectly with a delicious combination of sage, celery, and the moistness of chicken broth.

Equipment

A pan to sauté the veggies.
A large bowl to assemble onion-celery mixture and chicken broth in tossed bread.
A baking dish or casserole dish for baking the dressing.

Ingredients for Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe

Butter: I am using unsalted butter as a low-sodium option. You can use salted butter as well but you have to adjust the amount of salt accordingly. Butter gives the onion-celery mixture a good taste but also adds moistness to the dressing. As we are using dry bread that’s why butter is necessary to adjust the moistness and crispness of the bread while baking.
Veggies: The veggies I am using in Turkey dressing according to the old traditional dressing of southern dishes are Onion and Celery. It’s better to take medium-sized yellow onions than red ones because they add a light color to the dressing, not dark ones. Chopped the onion and diced the celery.
Sage: The Main herb that is mostly used in southern dressing recipe is sage. It adds a beautiful nostalgic aroma to your old fashioned bread stuffing. Although fresh sage works just as well, I’m using dried sage here.
Seasoning: We will use basic seasonings like salt and black pepper to keep the dressing simple and traditional.
French bread: I am using French bread that is torn into cubed-shaped pieces. You can also use sourdough, Challah, Cornbread, or Brioche bread. Use dry bread.
Chicken broth: Chicken broth is used to add moistness to the bread. Add the broth slowly and gradually because adding broth at once can turn the bread soggy in specific areas of bread. You can use chicken stock, turkey broth, or vegetable broth as well.

Which Bread Should I Choose to Make this Dressing?

The choice of bread for this recipe is all yours. When I first made this recipe, I used cornbread. My Grandma made turkey dressing with different breads based on availability. She often used Sourdough Bread, cornbread and fresh French bread. If you are using the sourdough bread then, dry the cubed pieces of this bread a day earlier. I like this recipe with Crusty French Bread. The other breads you can use are Challah, Cornbread, Brioche, Italian bread, sturdy sandwich loaf, or Hearty bread. Remember that no matter which bread you are using, don’t forget that the bread should be dry, hard, and cut perfectly into cubed-shaped pieces because dry bread absorbs the broth and flavor greatly.

Dressing Vs Stuffing

Although both the terms are the same with little difference. I am using both so don’t be confused. The only difference is dressing is the dried bread with herbs and seasoning baked in a separate dish while stuffing is to fill this turkey dressing dressing into a turkey cavity and roasted together. Many people consider them the same, but each cooking style depends on people’s preferences.

How to Make Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe.

1. Make onion-celery mixture

Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Chop the onion and celery this time while your butter is melting. Add diced celery and chopped yellow onion in butter once it melts and cook them until tender but not brown. Once it is done remove from heat and add sage, some black pepper, and salt to taste into it and mix it well. Let it sit for 5 minutes before tossing this mixture into bread.

adding butter into pan and then adding diced celery in it — Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe for Great Feast 23

sautéing onion, celery, and sage in butter with salt and black pepper — Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe for Great Feast 24

2. Assemble the onion-celery mixture with torn dry bread

Add the cube-shaped pieces of dry bread to a large bowl and pour the onion-celery mixture into it. Gently add half a cup of chicken broth and toss them lightly and make sure that all the bread is moist and none of it is dry.

Mixing onion celery mixture and chicken broth into bread peices — Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe for Great Feast 25

3. Baking the dressing

Place the prepared bread mixture in a baking tray wrapped with aluminum foil, place the baking dish in the oven and cook for 30 minutes at 350F. If you like your dressing crispier and crunchier from the outside, then bake for another 10 minutes uncovered. Frequently check the dressing while baking for extra minutes to avoid burning the outer crust. Remove Turkey dressing from the oven, serve it up and enjoy!

bakiing the dressing that is placed in the baking dish and cover woth aluminum foil — Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe for Great Feast 26

thanksgiving stuffing recipe is ready to serve — Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe for Great Feast 27

Additional Add-ins

You can add chopped parsley along with the sage.
Add thyme or rosemary for a warmer aroma.

Expert Tips

The most significant aspect of this old fashioned bread stuffing is its moisture content. Add the chicken broth to the tossed bread gradually and stop until the desired moistness is attained. Don’t add too much broth because we don’t want our bread to become soggy. Carefully watch the broth while adding, add more broth if the bread is still dry and add more bread if the bread is too moist. Be sure the bread absorbs liquid as well and does not lose its shape.
Sauté the onion and celery until they are fragrant. Don’t sauté for too long because we don’t want our onion-celery mixture to turn brown.
If you love the outer layer of your old fashioned thanksgiving dressing recipe to be soft and not too crispy then bake at 350F in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes is enough. If you want the outer layer to be a little more crispy and light brown, then bake for another 10 minutes uncovered. Check the oven when baking for an extra 10 minutes and remove when you think that it is the perfect layer you want to achieve.

Make the Turkey Dressing Ahead of Time

Refrigeration: Put the southern dressing recipe in an airtight container or wrap it tightly with foil and refrigerate it for 2-3 days. Reheat in a microwave by adding some splash of water or broth for 5 minutes until it gets done.
Freezing: Freeze the dressing in an airtight freezer-safe bag and for a safer first wrap it in the foil and then the freezer-safe bag. The dressing recipe keeps for around three months in the freezer. Reheat the frozen dressing in the microwave.

FAQ’s

Although both the terms are the same with little difference. I am using both so don’t be confused. The only difference is dressing is the dried bread with herbs and seasoning baked in a separate dish while stuffing is to fill that dressing into a turkey cavity and roasted together. Many people consider them the same, but each cooking style depends on the preferences of people.

Yes, you can! The egg holds the dressing together. It’s your choice, I am not using eggs. If you want to use the egg in this recipe then add a beaten egg into the bread mixture along with chicken broth and follow the other procedure as I mentioned in the recipe.

The dressing should be moist but not soggy. The most significant aspect of this dressing is its moisture content. Add the chicken broth to the tossed bread gradually and stop until the desired moistness is attained. Don’t add too much broth because we don’t want our bread to become soggy. Carefully watch the broth while adding, add more broth if the bread is still dry and add more bread if the bread is too moist. Be sure the bread absorbs liquid as well as does not lose its shape.

Yes, you can! I know that most Thanksgiving stuffing is prepared a day earlier. Place your dressing in an airtight container or fold the entire dish with tightly wrapped foil and microwave it when you want to serve.