Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!)

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!

chopped vegetables and herbs for herb stuffing, with eggs and butter — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 65

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.

herb stuffing ingredients — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 66

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.

bread cubes on sheet pan — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 67

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.

cooking celery and leeks in pan — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 68

celery, leeks and garlic in pan — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 68

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.

butter melting into cooked chopped celery and leeks — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 70

cooked celery and leek — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 70

Stir in the dill, parsley, and thyme, and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.

adding herbs to cooked vegetables in pan — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 72

Transfer the bread cubes to a very large bowl, and pour the vegetable mixture over the bread.

adding vegetable and herb mixture to bread cubes in stainless steel bowl — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 73

Toss until everything is evenly distributed.

bread cubes mixed with vegetable and herb mixture for stuffing — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 74

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, and mix in the low sodium chicken stock, salt and pepper.

pouring chicken stock into measuring cup over bowl of eggs — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 75

adding chicken stock to bowl of beaten eggs — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 75

Pour over the bread mixture, and mix well until the bread absorbs all the liquid.

pouring egg and stock mixture into stuffing — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 77

herb stuffing mixture in metal mixing bowl — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 77

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.

transferring stuffing mixture from mixing bowl to baking dish — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 79

Cut the remaining butter into ½-inch (1cm) cubes and spread them over the top.

stuffing mixture in baking dish with butter on top, before cooking — Herb Stuffing (Family Favorite!) 80

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!