Easy Homemade Stuffing From Bread

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This recipe for homemade bread stuffing is so delicious and full of savory flavor, you’ll never buy store-bought again.

Doesn’t matter if you call it stuffing or dressing, the taste is the star of the show!

Homemade Stuffing From Bread- With Ingredients You Can Get From The Dollar Tree

Now I know what you’re thinking, homemade from the Dollar Tree? Yes, sir.

Affordable, amazing homemade stuffing from bread with ingredients you can buy for a hundred pennies. Why not save a buck for the holidays?

Stuffing or Dressing?

Do you call it stuffing or dressing at your house? I grew up calling it stuffing whether it was in the bird or in the pan. It really doesn’t matter what side of the debate we land on, we all love to call it delicious!

Stuffing History

Which came first? The Chicken or the egg? Don’t shoot the messenger but in this case, stuffing came first.

It wasn’t until the 1850’s that we started referring to the same dish as dressing. It’s ok, you can still call it dressing, I won’t judge.

It is not known when stuffings were first used. The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig.

Most of the stuffing’s described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (an old cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other organ meat.

Names for stuffing include “farce” (~1390), “stuffing” (1538), “forcemeat” (1688), and relatively more recently in the United States; “dressing” (1850)

As far as stuffing/dressing becoming a regular staple of the Thanksgiving Day meal, there are written records as far back as 1836.

Homemade Stuffing From Bread

This specific recipe is for homemade bread stuffing, my favorite. It starts with homemade bread cubes and gets better from there. No artificial ingredients or caramel food coloring.

The Dollar Tree now sells Nature’s Own bread which has No High Fructose Corn Syrup or GMO’s, this is the preferred bread I like to use in my recipe.

Ingredients

One Loaf Of Bread. Follow directions for stuffing cubes below.
One Medium Diced Onion
4 Stalks Celery, diced
1 Stick of unsalted butter
3-4 Cups chicken or turkey broth
1/8 teaspoon regular salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 tsp of chopped sage
1/2 tsp of chopped rosemary

How Do You Dry Out Bread for Stuffing?

When making homemade bread stuffing, one very important step it to start out with dry bread cubes. Think of them as plain croutons.

If you have a couple of days before you’re going to cook your bread stuffing, you can simply cut the bread as I mention below and leave out on the counter for a couple of days to get dry and stale.

Directions for Homemade Stuffing Cubes

Set oven temp to broil and wait to rise to temperature.
Use kitchen scissors and cut slices into cubes ( the size of croutons- about 3/4″ square)
Place bread cubes on a lined cookie sheet in the oven and keep an eye on it.
Once the stuffing cubes start to brown, flip over with a spatula to brown the other side.
When both sides are golden brown, remove from oven and let cool
Use the stuffing cubes in your favorite stuffing recipe

In addition to baking the bread cubes as I just mentioned, you can set the oven on the lowest temperature and bake the bread cubes on a cookie sheet 20-30 minutes or until dry. Flip the cubes half way through cooking.

Bread Stuffing Recipe Directions

After you’ve made your stuffing cubes either by drying on the counter for a couple days or baking as suggested above, now it’s time to make the bread stuffing!

Preheat oven to 350°F.

First, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat.
Add onion, celery and poultry seasoning and herbs.
Cook over medium-low until the celery and onions are tender.
Remove from heat and add bread cubes, salt and pepper.
Stir to coat bread cubes with mixture.
Pour broth overtop until cubes are moist but not mushy.
Stuff in turkey and bake accordingly or place in a casserole dish and bake.
If baking in a casserole dish, bake 35 minutes, uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Do you like to add celery, raisins, sausage? The possibilities are endless, I’ve added some other recipes for you to try below.

Homemade Stuffing Recipes

Whether you like savory or sweet stuffing, I have the perfect recipes for you to try, including one that’s gluten-free! Don’t forget to try our homemade poultry recipe at Common Sense Home.

No Time to Cook?

You don’t have to miss out on the wonderful smells and aromas of the season. Try our homemade potpourri recipes.

Thanksgiving Potpourri: The Wonderful Smells Of Thanksgiving-Without All The Work

Stuffing Safety

The last thing we want to do is poison our friends and family for the holidays, or any day for that matter.

Food safety and the proper temperature is extremely important when dealing with raw meat.

Here are safety tips when cooking stuffing from the USDA

What Is Your Favorite Way To Make Stuffing?

Over the years I’ve used several different recipes. Homemade bread, cornbread, from a box and semi-homemade. I’ve added roasted chestnuts and golden raisins.

My absolute favorite is the bread stuffing but my husband prefers cornbread stuffing, I generally make both every holiday.