Stove Top Stuffing

Traditionally, stove top stuffing, otherwise known as dressing, is made with bread, celery, onions, garlic, and spices.  It can be prepared on the stove and served right away, or it can be used to stuff your holiday turkey.  It’s easy to make, versatile, and very tasty.

Preparing the Bread

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  Cut your bread into 1/2 inch cubes.  Any type of bread will work for this, although most people use white or wheat bread.  Spread the cubes on a baking sheet and place them in the pre-heated oven.  Cook for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove the pan and set aside to cool.

Preparing Your Vegetables

Dice your vegetables.  Celery should be diced into 1/4 inch slices.  If you’re not a fan of celery, you can substitute celeriac, fennel, or leeks.  Onions should be diced into 1/8 inch segments.  Garlic should be very finely diced or grated.

Saute your onions and garlic in a pan with three tablespoons of butter until they are soft.  You can substitute three tablespoons of beer or 3 tablespoons of olive oil if you’d rather not use butter.  Set your vegetables aside to cool.

Now Comes the Fun Part

Pour your cooled bread cubes into the bowl with the pepper, sage, parsley and thyme.  Mix well, so that the seasoning mixture covers every cube of bread.  Add the rest of your butter and your chicken broth to your vegetables and heat until the butter is melted.  You can use olive oil in place of butter and vegetable broth in place of chicken broth if you’d like a vegetarian recipe.  When it is heated, add it to your bowl of bread and seasonings.  Mix well, until the butter is evenly dispersed and the bread cubes are slightly moist.  You can also add some diced walnuts or apples, uncooked, at this point to increase flavor and crunch.  Cranberries also make a pleasant addition to this holiday stuffing.

It’s Time To Eat

If you are planning to stuff a turkey with your stove top stuffing, use a spoon to scoop the stuffing into your turkey’s cavity.  Roast your turkey as you normally would.  Remove the stuffing from the turkey when it is finished and fluff your stuffing with a fork.  If you simply want a side dish, without stuffing the turkey, place your stuffing in a serving dish.  Be sure to keep your stuffing covered until it’s time to eat in order to keep it moist and fluffy.  Serve your stuffing alongside your meal and enjoy!

Remember that leftover stuffing can be stored in your refrigerator in an airtight container for several days.  You might also try freezing it, which will keep it fresh longer, and reheat a little bit when you’re having a stuffing craving.

Did You Know?

A little interesting tidbit about bread crumb dressing is that it was first seen in an ancient Roman cookbook called ‘Apicius’ in the 4th or 5th century A.D.  The company Stove Top introduced it’s easy to make stuffing in 1972, nearly 1500 years later!  That’s a long history for such a simple and tasteful food.