Thanksgiving Dressing
Dressing should be a light and fluffy texture (not soggy or rubbery) with lots of fresh flavor. This homemade dressing can be prepped ahead of time, leaving more free time on Thanksgiving Day!
Bread is one of the most important ingredients in dressing. It’s the base of the whole dish, giving the dressing structure, and plays a big role in its final texture. While you can use almost any bread to make dressing, it needs to be dried first. Any attempts to make dressing with soft, fresh baked bread will result in a bread soup with a soggy texture.
Stale, dried-out bread makes the best dressing. Either dry out your bread starting a few days before you plan to make the dressing by letting it sit out or, if you don’t have the extra time, cut the bread into cubes, and then toast in a low (300°F) oven until dry.
Stuffing gets its name from literally being stuffed into large turkeys before cooking. The USDA advises that whole turkeys should be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F to kill any potentially harmful bacteria, including any stuffing deep in the turkey’s cavity. At temperatures below 165°F you risk exposure to salmonella or E. coli, two very scary bacteria. The problem with stuffing your roast turkey is that when the turkey’s meat is safely cooked, the stuffing inside still is not. Cooking the stuffing to 165°F will overcook the turkey meat, so assemble the dressing in advance and bake it outside of the turkey in a casserole dish while the turkey rests. And any add-ins, like onion, celery, herbs, and sausage, won’t properly cook while the dressing is being baked, so these need to be fully cooked in a saucepan before they are added to the dressing before baking.
Ingredients:
- 18 to 24 ounces bread cubes, (1.5 loaves of bread, or about 12 to 14 cups) preferably toasted or stale
- 3 cups diced sweet onion, roughly 2 large onions
- 2 cups diced celery. You can substitute a green pepper, finely diced, or two tsp of celery seed
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ lb ground sausage
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
- 2-½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
- kosher salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 large eggs
Preparation:
- For the bread cubes, stale or toasty bread works best. The first option is that you can cut 1-½ pounds of bread into cubes, using a sharp serrated knife to cut the loaf of bread into 1/2” cubes. Place the bread cubes into a large baking dish, loosely tent with foil and let it sit overnight. You can also cut the cubes and put them in the oven, toasting them at 350º F until they are like croutons, about 15 minutes or so. Finally, you can buy the toasted bread cubes in bags from the store. You can also choose the size of your cubes. They can be small or larger for a more rustic stuffing. Consider using a mixture of stale and fresh bread, and use different kinds of bread (usually two), like a sourdough and italian, and mix the cubes. which provides great texture.
- Preheat the oven to 350º F. Brush a 9x13 baking dish (you can also use a larger baking dish or a larger foil roasting pan) with melted butter, olive oil or spray with nonstick spray. Place the bread in a large mixing bowl (this may be easier for you to stir!) or the baking dish that you will bake it in. You can also separate this into two baking dishes if it's easier.
- Heat the butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. Once melted, stir in the onion, celery or green pepper, and the garlic with a big pinch of salt and pepper - at least ½ to 1 teaspoon each. Cook until the onions and celery soften, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the sage, parsley and rosemary. Cook for another minute. Stir in 1 cup of stock.
- Pour the onion celery mixture over the bread crumbs and toss well to coat.
- In a large sauté pan, brown the sausage breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Remove sausage to a paper towel lined plate, to soak up any excess grease. Add the sausage to the bread cubes and toss to combine.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the remaining 1-½ cups stock and 2 eggs.
- Pour that mixture onto the bread cubes and stir and fold the bread cubes until thoroughly combined. Bake the stuffing for 45 to 50 minutes, until the internal temperature registers 160º F. If the stuffing is getting too browned, you can tent it with foil.
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