The Best Sourdough Stuffing Recipe (Rich & Buttery)
My husband grew up eating Thanksgiving stuffing made with half white bread and half brown bread, and he asked me to recreate his family’s version with sourdough. Challenge accepted!
And before the great stuffing-versus-dressing debate begins, we both grew up in families that called it stuffing. This version never goes inside the turkey, but I’m not about to change its name now!
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Why You’ll Love This Sourdough Stuffing
- Two breads are better than one: The combination of white and brown sourdough bread gives this stuffing an amazing depth of flavor and a beautiful contrast of colors! As the old culinary adage goes, we eat with our eyes first, and this dish is stunning.
- Star of the Thanksgiving table: My husband says this stuffing is the best dish of the Thanksgiving feast. Personally, the best bite of all is some of this stuffing with a touch of mashed potatoes and turkey. Oh, and a little gravy on top. Heaven.
- SO much better than store-bought: Once you start making stuffing from scratch, I don’t think you’ll ever want to go back to the boxed stuff!
- Prep-ahead friendly: Don’t feel like you have to crank out fresh sourdough in the middle of Thanksgiving chaos. This stuffing uses 450 g (about half a loaf) each of white and brown sourdough bread. Bake each loaf whenever it’s convenient in the weeks before the holiday, then cube and freeze the portions you’ll need. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, you’ll have both breads ready to go!
The Recipe Testing Journey
There were two problems with fulfilling my husband’s request: I didn’t have a brown bread recipe, and my first batch of stuffing came out dry.
Problem #1: No brown bread. So I made one! My sourdough brown bread recipe became a favorite all on its own, earning an average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars from more than 340 recipe testers. For the white half, use my Wonder Bread Copycat recipe or my Foolproof White Sourdough Bread. Both taste amazing in this.
Problem #2: Dry stuffing. To fix the dryness, I made a few changes:
- More butter for cooking the veggies
- More turkey stock for moisture
- One egg, whisked in, for a custardy texture
- Pats of butter on top before baking
That did the trick!
My mother-in-law happened to be visiting when I made it, and she said it was the best stuffing she’d ever had. Since she’s the one who made this stuffing for my husband growing up, I don’t think I could’ve gotten a higher compliment.
How to Prep Ahead for Thanksgiving Stuffing
Rather than my usual baker’s timeline, I think a prep-ahead plan would be much more helpful here.
Because making this stuffing completely from scratch in one day would be a TON of work. And nobody needs that on Thanksgiving if it can be avoided!
Prep the Sourdough Bread
The stars of this recipe are the two types of sourdough bread. But if you’re following my artisan recipes for both of them, that’s two days of bread-making right there, plus you need time to dry the bread cubes.
The good news is that you can make both breads weeks ahead of Thanksgiving. Bake a loaf of each whenever it works for you, set aside 450 g (about half a loaf) of each for the stuffing, then cube and freeze the bread in freezer-safe zip-top bags until you’re ready to use it.
Sidenote: you could also use my brown bread rolls recipe if you prefer, but there would be a lot more crusty pieces.
When it’s time to make the stuffing, dump all your frozen bread cubes on half-sheet pans and let them thaw (this takes a few hours). From there, assess how dry the cubes are. If they need more drying, you can bake them in a 300°F (150°C) oven or leave them on the counter until they’re completely dry.
Prep the Turkey Stock
I really want to make a case for homemade turkey stock here. It makes SUCH a difference in the flavor of this stuffing (and it’s soooo easy).
Since stuffing only has a few ingredients, there’s really nowhere for a mediocre stock to hide.
Leading up to Thanksgiving, my husband smokes bone-in turkey breasts for dinner, and we save the bones in a freezer bag. Occasionally, he even spatchcocks an entire turkey to get a little practice before the big day.
Shopping tip: Buy whole turkeys right after Thanksgiving (they often go on sale) and keep them in the freezer! That way, you can make turkey throughout the year, save those bones, and ultimately have turkey stock on hand when you need it.
Once we have enough bones (about one gallon-sized zip-top bag’s worth), we toss them in the Instant Pot with an onion, celery, carrots, sea salt, whole peppercorns, and a few cloves of garlic. Add water, keeping the contents below the Instant Pot’s PC MAX fill line, and pressure cook on high for 2 hours. Once the pressure has fully released, strain the stock and cool it promptly in shallow containers before refrigerating or freezing.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can make the stock in a slow cooker for an entire day or on the stovetop for about half a day.
The time and effort spent making the stock pay off when you’re enjoying the stuffing; you can’t get that flavor from a carton!
You can freeze the cooled stock in freezer-safe Mason jars (choose straight-sided jars and leave room at the top for expansion!) or some of those silicone soup containers until you’re ready to use it.
Equipment You’ll Need
- Bread knife: A good serrated bread knife will make your life much easier when you’re cutting the bread into cubes.
- Two Half-sheet pans: To dry out your sourdough bread cubes.
- Chef’s knife: To chop your onions, celery, and other veggies.
- Cutting board: I love this solid wood one made from a single slab of wood! Use code THATSOURDOUGHGAL for 10% off.
- 6-quart sauté pan: For cooking the veggies in butter before adding them to the stuffing. If you’re doubling the recipe, sauté the vegetables in batches if your pan is too crowded.
- Whisk: This 11” OXO whisk is easy to use.
- Large mixing bowl: You’ll need a very large bowl to toss all your bread cubes with the stock and veggies. An 8–12-quart bowl or a large stockpot would work well.
- Spatula: For tossing the bread cubes with the vegetable mixture.
- 9×13-inch baking pan: I love my USA pans. They’re nonstick and great for baking everything.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Bread: I developed my sourdough brown bread recipe specifically with this stuffing in mind, so you can’t go wrong with that. But for the white bread portion, I’ve tried a few different loaves, and they’ve all turned out great. Besides my go-to artisan loaf, I’ve also made it with my sourdough sandwich bread and even a loaf made with half freshly milled flour! If you’re using a different bread, just keep the texture in mind. You want something with a fairly even crumb, not a loaf with lots of big holes.
Related: Sourdough Wonder Bread Copycat Recipe – So Soft!
- Stock: I think turkey stock is the best choice here. It gives this stuffing that traditional, savory flavor that just tastes like the holidays to me. Chicken stock can work in a pinch, and yes, you could use store-bought stock, but I’ll always encourage you to make your own if you can! Aside from the bread, the stock is arguably the most important ingredient in this recipe, and the flavor is astronomically better when you make it yourself.
- Egg: The egg is optional, so if you’re egg-free, don’t worry about skipping it. It adds a custardy texture, but it’s not essential to the success of the recipe.
FAQs
You want your bread cubes nice and dry so they can soak up all that flavorful stock. Fresh bread has too much moisture already, so it gets mushy once you add the stock. You can dry it out on your counter (takes a couple of days), or you can do it in a low-heat oven in under an hour. Both options are explained in the recipe card!
No, but we’re sourdough people over here, and that’s kind of the whole point of this stuffing recipe!
Technically, you can make stuffing with all kinds of bread, like white, whole wheat, multigrain, even cornbread or focaccia.
This recipe uses both white and brown sourdough bread because that’s the tradition I was trying to recreate for my husband. Plus, the brown bread adds a depth of flavor you just don’t get with white bread alone.
You can make both sourdough breads, cube them, and freeze them weeks ahead of time. You can also make and freeze the homemade turkey stock.
I would wait until Thanksgiving Day to assemble and bake the stuffing, because it’s always best fresh! If you want to do more prep ahead of time, keep the wet and dry ingredients separate until you’re ready to assemble and bake.
You want the top to be nice and golden with some crispy edges, but the inside should still be soft and moist. Use an instant-read thermometer to make sure the center reaches 165°F (74°C).
The great stuffing debate! Here’s my hot take: bake it separately.
A stuffed turkey takes longer to cook, and by the time the stuffing reaches a safe temperature, the turkey meat can end up overcooked and dry. Plus, you don’t get those crispy edges on top if you bake it inside.
Storing and Reheating
Refrigerate leftover stuffing within two hours of serving in shallow, airtight containers. Use within 3–4 days.
Reheating it in the oven will bring back a little bit of the original crisp on top.
Put the stuffing in an oven-safe dish, add a splash of turkey or chicken stock if it’s looking dry, and reheat in the oven at 350°F (175°C) until the center reaches 165°F (74°C).
You can also reheat it in the microwave to the same internal temperature, but you won’t get those same crispy edges.
Sourdough Stuffing
Equipment
- Cutting board use code THATSOURDOUGHGAL for 10% off
- Large mixing bowl or stockpot
Ingredients
- 283 g unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks or 20 tbsp)
- 1 medium white onion
- 3 celery stalks
- 2 tbsp poultry seasoning
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp white pepper or black pepper
- 615 g (approx 2.5 cups) turkey stock or chicken stock
- 1 egg optional; creates a more custard-like texture
- 450 g brown sourdough bread about 1/2 loaf
- 450 g white sourdough bread *See Notes; about 1/2 loaf
Added Later
- cooking oil spray
- 28 g unsalted butter (1/4 stick or 2 tbsp) for topping
Before You Begin
Instructions
- Prepare bread: Slice 450 g brown sourdough bread and 450 g white sourdough bread into roughly ¾-inch cubes. Spread the cubes in a single layer on two half-sheet pans. Let rest, uncovered, on your counter for 1–3 days, or until fully dried out. Or, to speed things up, bake at 300°F (150°C) for about 40 minutes, stirring the cubes and rotating the pans halfway through, until completely dry.
- Preheat oven and prep pan: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F (175°C). Coat a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking oil spray.
- Sauté vegetables: Dice 1 medium white onion and 3 celery stalks. In a 6-quart sauté pan (or similar pan) over medium heat, melt 283 g unsalted butter (2 1/2 sticks or 20 tbsp). Add the onion and celery and cook until softened and lightly browned on the edges, 5–7 minutes. Stir in 2 tbsp poultry seasoning, 1 tsp sea salt, and 1/2 tsp white pepper (or black pepper) and cook 1 minute more. Add 615 g (approx 2.5 cups) turkey stock (or chicken stock) and remove from the heat.
- Add egg (optional): In a small bowl, whisk 1 egg. Let the vegetable mixture cool slightly, then slowly pour the egg into the vegetable mixture while whisking constantly so it doesn’t scramble.
- Combine all ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, mix the dried bread cubes with the vegetable mixture. Pour the stuffing mixture into the prepared baking pan. Slice 28 g unsalted butter (1/4 stick or 2 tbsp) into 6–8 pats and distribute them over the stuffing.
- Bake: Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 15–20 minutes more, or until the top is nicely browned and the center reaches 165°F (74°C).
Notes
Conclusion
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this sourdough Thanksgiving stuffing! I’m curious if any of you grew up eating white and brown bread stuffing, too.
If you make it for Thanksgiving, let me know how it turned out and tag me on Instagram!
More sourdough recipes for your holiday table:
