📋 Old Fashioned Turkey Stuffing Recipe

old fashioned turkey stuffing in a green dish with spoon

5 from 5 votes

📋 Old Fashioned Turkey Stuffing Recipe

This Old Fashioned Turkey Stuffing is straight up traditional. That means it's savory, not sweet. And it's an easy turkey stuffing, containing no sweet stuff like apples and sausage; it's simple and pure.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American, Canadian, North American

Keyword bread stuffing, dressing, stuffing, turkey

Special Diet Vegetarian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Total Time 30

Servings servings

Calories 230kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Ingredients

1 ⅓ cup unsalted butter
1 medium onion
5 sticks chopped celery
5 loaves dried bread- I use a variety including rye, brown, white bread, french bread or any kind of bread I have on hand
3 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon peppper
2 tablespoon poultry seasoning
3 tablespoon parsley, dried

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

Leave the slices of bread out to dry overnight. * I use cookie sheets and turn it before going to bed.
If you forget or don't have time, you can dry it in the oven - see *NOTES.
But as long as it's not really soft it's fine to use.
Cut into cubes.
On the stove top, over medium heat, saute onion and celery in 1 cup butter in large pot until soft- about 7 minutes.
Add half of the cubed bread and spices to the butter and onion mixture.
Heat, stirring continually until it shrinks down by about ½.
Melt remaining ⅓ cup butter in microwave, then add remaining bread and spices.
Then pour butter over top of it and stir continually until softened. (about 5-7 minutes)
Stuff turkey with stuffing.*I can usually only get about ¼ of this into a 13-15 lb turkey, so I bake the remainder separately.
To bake the remaining stuffing separately: spray a couple of 9X13 pans with nonstick cooking spray and add remaining stuffing, spreading evenly.
Bake turkey in oven according to directions for how you usually cook a stuffed turkey. * I cook my stuffed turkey for 25 minutes per lb (if it's a 10-16 lb turkey). It takes about 5 hours. But do NOT put the stuffing in the oven yet.
When turkey has been cooking for about 1.5 hours, Fill your baster from the turkey pan juices and squirt about 3-4 full syringes onto stuffing in pans. Cover tightly and seal with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove and baste again ( 2-3 syringes full). Again, cover tightly with foil, then return to oven and cook for another 20 minutes.
Remove the pans of stuffing from oven. *It may be a little dry, but not to worry, you'll mix it with the stuffing from the turkey when it's done.
When turkey is done, take out stuffing and mix with baked stuffing in a large bowl. It will now be the perfect moistness/texture.

Notes

📖Variations & Substitutions

Bread- you can use any type of bread you like or have on hand. I like to use a mixture of white, rye, brown etc...
Butter - you can use salted butter, but cut the salt in the recipe by ⅔
Parsley - you could use fresh herbs instead of dried, but you will need about 2X the amount
Lighter/WW friendly- Use a light butter and low point WW friendly bread
Dairy-free - use vegan margarine or plant-based butter substitute instead of butter

Expert Recipe Tips

If you don't have time to dry your bread overnight, you can dry it in the oven. Arrange cubes in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 250°F (120°C) for 15-20 minutes or until the bread feels stale and dry.
The "Stale is Better" Rule: If your bread is too fresh, your stuffing will be mushy. If you don't have time to air-dry overnight, see the first tip above.
The "Hybrid" Method: My favorite tip is to cook some stuffing inside the bird and some in a pan. Mixing them together at the end gives you the perfect balance of the moist, juice-soaked center and the crispy, toasted edges from the pan.
Taste Before You Stuff: Once you've mixed the bread and butter on the stove, give it a taste! This is your last chance to adjust the salt or poultry seasoning before it goes into the turkey.
Don't Over-Pack: When stuffing the turkey, pack it loosely. This allows the heat to circulate and ensures the stuffing reaches a safe internal temperature (165°F) without overcooking the meat.

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