Classic Thanksgiving Dressing is made with simple ingredients, is easy to prepare (and can be prepped ahead) and will be your favorite side dish on the holiday table!

We are two weeks from turkey day my friends, and I cannot wait! All the food, all the family, all the fun! 🦃❤️

And as far as looking ahead, I have to say that Thanksgiving dressing is probably my very favorite part of the big meal.

Something about how comforting it is, the delicious mix of flavors and textures and the way you can pair a bite with pretty much everything else on the plate… well, it speaks to me. 

I’ve previously shared my turkey sausage and apple dressing, which is super flavorful and a more recent favorite at our holiday table. I started making it 5 or so years ago and we love it.

And this wild rice dressing is a good option for a gluten-free and vegan friendly side dish if you need one for the holidays. My Southern cornbread dressing is also gluten-free and vegetarian. 

But today’s recipe for classic Thanksgiving dressing, this is what I grew up with. And this is what I come back to time and time again.

It was originally my Aunt Edith’s recipe, and she was the one in charge of the Thanksgiving meal when I was a kid. (The rest of us were there to take orders. Or to stay out of the way. 😂)

It’s made with simple, basic ingredients and it’s really easy to put together. And yet it has such warm, delicious flavors running throughout it.

It’s the perfect complement to your roast turkey (or slow cooker turkey breast, which is my stress-free, fool-proof way to do turkey at Thanksgiving) and all the other gorgeous side dishes on your holiday table.

(But secretly, I bet this will be your favorite dish too!)

Oh, and you can check out my Google web story for this Thanksgiving dressing recipe, too.

Also, I have a slow cooker Thanksgiving dressing version of this recipe if you need to make this in a crock pot to save on oven space.

OK, let's get cooking.

Now, I’ve got some notes, tips and substitutions coming up below on how to make classic Thanksgiving dressing. Just tryin’ to be helpful.

(I’ve also made this dressing recipe a lot, so I want to share what works as well as some troubleshooting tips that are especially helpful for the holidays.)

If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.

Ingredient Notes:

• Broth: This recipe calls for turkey drippings or broth — or a combination of the two. I almost never have turkey drippings already on hand when I go to make this recipe, so turkey broth is a good substitute. If you can’t find any of that, chicken broth will work as well.
• Vegetarian: If you need this to be vegetarian, you could also use vegetable broth. It’ll be a little less flavorful, but still really good.
• Amount: Make sure the dressing has enough liquid before you bake it. It shouldn’t be sitting in a pool of broth, but all of the bread should seem completely moistened. I almost always use a full 4 cups. You may even want an extra splash or two, depending on how dry/stale your bread is.
• Stuffing: You can follow the recipe and use a bag of store-bought stuffing mix or you can substitute additional fresh baked bread. I’ve made it both ways many times. Details on that below.
• Bread: An Italian loaf, whole wheat loaf or rosemary olive oil bread from your grocer’s bakery are all great choices here. No worries if your bread isn’t already stale when you go to make this. I have tips on that below as well.

Also of note: this recipe bakes at 350 degrees F. However, if you need your oven at 325 or 375 for a different recipe at the same time, this one is pretty forgiving. You can go ahead and cook it at the other temp.

Just check and adjust the total cook time as needed so the dressing doesn’t dry out before you pull it out.

OK, so those are the basics.

But I have lots more to share so that you can make this recipe your very own - whether that’s adjusting it to your tastes, to what you can find at the store or to troubleshoot on the big day when the kitchen feels like crazy town.

Cause it’s the holidays, we have company over and we’re not messing around. 😉

How to substitute the stuffing mix:

The recipe calls for a bag of stuffing mix. However, I’ve made this without it before by substituting more day-old or stale bread.

You’ll want to substitute an equal amount (in this case, 6 cups) of crumbled, dry bread in place of the store-bought stuffing mix.

Specifically, I used a rosemary olive oil bread and a whole wheat loaf as the two types last time I made it that way, using 6 cups of each to get the total of 12 cups of dry bread needed for this recipe.

I’ve also made this with half of the bread from an Italian loaf bread and that worked great too. I think it helps to use two different kinds of bread when going this route to get more depth of flavor.

What if you don’t have dry, day-old bread? Oh, I feel you on that one.

Because I am often traveling at the holiday, I don’t always have time to buy bread in advance and let it get stale.

So I’ve found some workarounds that I wanted to share with you.

How to quickly dry out bread for recipes:

Take your fresh loaf of bread and cut it up according to how you’ll use it in the recipe. (In this case, we need it cut down into small rough chunks.)

Spread the bread out on 1-2 baking sheets so it’s all in an even, single layer.

If you have several hours or almost a full day, you can leave the bread sitting out in a warm, dry area. Toss it occasionally and let it dry out on its own. (Having it in smaller pieces helps because more surface area is exposed.)

If you don’t have much time, place the baking sheets of cubed bread into the oven and cook at 300 for 20 or so minutes. This will draw out the moisture and create more stale-like bread right away to use in your recipe.

In fact, I’ve even stuck the bread in the oven when I turned it on to preheat for this dressing and by the time it comes to temperature, or just after, it’s ready to use.

I’m all about some efficiency when it comes to Thanksgiving prep and cooking! 👍

And because it’s Thanksgiving, and because we have 843 other things to do in the kitchen that day, here’s some tips on prepping this dish ahead.

Make ahead notes:

• Prepare the dressing as instructed, but use only 1 egg and 2 ½ cups of the turkey drippings or broth. Store, covered, in a large bowl or a large plastic container in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can even put it right into your greased casserole dish if you'd prefer.
• Remove from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
• Add the remaining egg and up to 1 ½ cups of additional turkey drippings or broth to the dressing mixture. Stir well to get everything well combined.
• Transfer to the prepared casserole dish (if it's not already in it) and bake as instructed, adding an extra 5-10 minutes if needed to get everything warmed through.

Reserving that extra egg and liquid helps ensure that the consistency of the dressing stays just right.

It doesn’t break down too much from all the liquids as it sits overnight in the fridge and it doesn’t dry out in the oven because the bread had already absorbed the liquids before baking. It’s the perfect balance. 👌

Got leftovers? Oh, they are my very favorite part of the holiday. 😍

My most beloved way to use any extras is for my Thanksgiving leftovers breakfast hash. I get giddy for the holidays just knowing I will get to enjoy this!

Also, we love to heat up leftover dressing in the microwave along with some gravy and have it as a side dish again on another night. It reheats great.

Want to freeze your leftovers? I’ve done this too.

How to freeze leftover Thanksgiving dressing:

- Let the dressing cool down then place 1-2 servings each into freezer-safe plastic bags or containers. Label with the contents and date, then freeze for up to 3 months.

- Defrost overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat in individual portions in the microwave. (I’d say start with 45 seconds, stir it a bit then add 15-30 more seconds as needed until it’s completely warmed through.)

If you have a super sophisticated palate, you may think the flavor and consistency changes a bit after freezing.

I am not very picky and I think it’s still super delicious. (Do make sure yours isn’t super dry going into the freezer. That might not work.)

Finally, I don’t recommend making and freezing the entire casserole ahead of time, whether baked or unbaked. You can assemble it up to 1-2 days ahead of the holiday though, as mentioned above, so you can mostly knock it out in advance if needed.

And because I love to share Thanksgiving side dishes, check out these other recipes:

• Classic green bean casserole
• Bourbon sweet potato casserole
• Classic baked macaroni and cheese
• Creamy mashed potatoes
• 15-minute easy cranberry sauce

I hope my family’s classic Thanksgiving dressing will be a hit at your holiday table too.

Happy holidays and happy cooking!

XO,

Kathryn