This herb stuffing recipe is not just the perfect Thanksgiving side dish, you can enjoy it any time of year! Serve it with a roast chicken, oven-baked turkey thighs, or even something like a pork roast. This easy stuffing recipe with dill, parsley, and thyme is straightforward to make—and delicious!
Our Favorite Thanksgiving Side
We all have our favorite childhood food memories. When it comes to Thanksgiving, I remember my father’s roast turkey (recipe here), and his stuffing. It was my favorite item on the holiday table.
Our Thanksgiving stuffing was always cooked in a separate pan, not stuffed into the turkey. Technically, I guess it would be called “dressing,” but we still call it stuffing!
My father, a professional chef working in resort hotels back in the day, would start with a mirepoix of chopped celery, onions, and carrots, sauteed in a pan or stir-fried in a wok with lots of dill. And boy, our kitchen smelled good with the turkey and the stuffing cooking in the oven.
Since those days, we’ve tried lots of stuffing recipes. We’ve tried it with sausage, cornbread, mushrooms, and bacon, but we always come back to a simple herb stuffing with a crusty loaf, parsley, thyme, and especially dill (it’s not an herb stuffing without dill in our family), butter, chicken stock, celery, and leeks.
In recent years, I have been refining our herb stuffing recipe until we finally got declarations at the family table that this was the one!
Gluten-free?
If you are looking for something different or need to serve a gluten-free stuffing, then give our sticky rice stuffing a try! You might be surprised, but it blends seamlessly with everything on a traditional Thanksgiving plate, and goes great with turkey gravy.
What kind of bread to use for stuffing
My father used to use a loaf of white sandwich bread in his stuffing, but the bread choices have really come a long way since I was a kid.
Our favorite bread to use is a crusty country-style loaf. You can use sourdough, but we would recommend looking for a loaf that isn’t too sour. A really tangy sourdough bread can overpower the other delicate flavors in the stuffing.
Did you know that sourdough bread doesn’t necessarily always have a sour flavor? When we make our own homemade sourdough, it’s actually very mild.
What kind of herbs can you use?
We use a generous amount of herbs in our stuffing, but it’s important to have one herb that stands out with a dominant flavor. For us, that herb is dill.
I grew up with a dill stuffing, and that flavor always reminds me of Thanksgiving. Our whole family loves the flavor. Sarah and Kaitlin say that dill stuffing reminds them of their favorite meal at a summer camp they attended when they were kids—turkey night!
Dill can be a polarizing flavor, so if you aren’t a fan, you can use sage or rosemary as your dominant herb. That said, we think you won’t be disappointed by the dill-forward version here!
Video: Watch Us Make It!
Herb Stuffing Recipe Instructions
Preheat your oven to 325°F/160°C. Spread the bread cubes onto a sheet pan, and toast for 15-20 minutes, or until dry and slightly crunchy.
After you take the bread out, increase the oven temperature to 350°F/175°C.
Meanwhile, heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, leeks, and celery.
Cook until the vegetables are soft and tender (they should not brown, so adjust the heat accordingly), about 10-15 minutes. Stir in 1 stick (4 ounces/115g) of the butter, and cook until melted.
Stir in the dill, parsley, and thyme, and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Transfer the bread cubes to a very large bowl, and pour the vegetable mixture over the bread.
Toss until everything is evenly distributed.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and mix in the low sodium chicken stock, salt and pepper.
Pour over the bread mixture, and mix well until the bread absorbs all the liquid.
Butter a large rectangular baking dish (8×12 or 9×13 inch; about 20x30cm). Pour the stuffing into the buttered dish and spread it out.
Cut the remaining butter into ½-inch (1cm) cubes and spread them over the top.
Bake at 350°F/175°C for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. If the stuffing starts to brown too quickly during baking, cover the stuffing lightly with foil.
Serve!
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Recipe
Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!)
Ingredients
- 20 ounces crusty country-style white bread (cut into ¾-inch/2cm cubes)
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 8 cloves garlic (chopped)
- 3½ cups chopped leeks (leeks can be very sandy; wash thoroughly before chopping; can substitute white or yellow onion)
- 2½ cups finely chopped celery
- 1½ sticks salted butter (divided)
- ¼ cup fresh dill (chopped)
- ¼ cup parsley (leaves and stems, chopped)
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups low sodium chicken stock
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F/160°C. Spread the bread cubes onto a sheet pan, and toast for 15-20 minutes, or until dry and slightly crunchy. After you take the bread out, increase the oven temperature to 350°F/175°C.
- Meanwhile, heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, leeks, and celery. Cook until the vegetables are soft and tender (they should not brown, so adjust the heat accordingly), about 10-15 minutes. Stir in 1 stick (4 ounces/115g) of the butter, and cook until melted. Stir in the dill, parsley, and thyme, and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Transfer the bread cubes to a very large bowl, and pour the vegetable mixture over the bread. Toss until everything is evenly distributed.
- Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and mix in the low sodium chicken stock, salt and pepper. Pour over the bread mixture, and mix well until the bread absorbs all the liquid.
- Butter a large rectangular baking dish (8×12 or 9×13 inch; about 20x30cm). Pour the stuffing into the buttered dish and spread it out. Cut the remaining butter into ½-inch (1cm) cubes and spread them over the top.
- Bake at 350°F/175°C for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown. If the stuffing starts to brown too quickly during baking, cover the stuffing lightly with foil.
