Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

my mom's bread dressing (stuffing)

(1 rating)
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Deb Lund
Rhinelander, WI

Nothing says "holiday meal" in our house like dressing! Or as some call it, stuffing. This recipe only appeared around the holidays and it's one of those that I learned by hanging around the kitchen watching my mom as she prepared the Thanksgiving feast. Mom would start the day before, baking crescent rolls and preparing the always creative Jell-o mold. She would begin the dressing around 6 am on Thanksgiving Day. Then came the candied yams, the potatoes and the endless stream of dishes brought by the family. Holidays are to meant to create new traditions and remember old. Enjoy!

Blue Ribbon Recipe

Whether you call it stuffing or dressing, this semi-homemade recipe is fantastic. We love the addition of sauteed celery, onion, and browned bacon. Bacon adds a little smokiness to the side dish. This recipe makes just the right amount to stuff the turkey and have an extra pan of dressing on the side. It's very adaptable and delicious.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(1 rating)
yield 8 -10
prep time 1 Hr
cook time 45 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For my mom's bread dressing (stuffing)

  • 1 lb
    Oscar Mayer bacon
  • 2 c
    diced celery
  • 1 c
    diced onion
  • 2 bag
    onion and sage bread stuffing, 12 oz each
  • 1/2-1 tsp
    rubbed sage, to taste
  • 1-2 c
    chicken broth, enough to dampen dressing
  • maybe a little melted butter

How To Make my mom's bread dressing (stuffing)

Test Kitchen Tips
The packaged bread crumbs already are already salted. If you're looking to cut back on salt, go with low sodium bacon and chicken broth to keep the sodium content down.
  • Cutting bacon into bite-sized pieces.
    1
    Cut up bacon in one-inch pieces.
  • Browning the bacon.
    2
    Brown lightly in pan. Do not drain grease. You can use any bacon you like, My mom always used Oscar Mayer which has a certain flavor.
  • Sauteeing celery in the pan with bacon.
    3
    When browned. add celery and saute for 2-3 minutes.
  • Adding onions to the pan.
    4
    Add onions and continue sauteing until they become glassy and soft but not browned.
  • Stuffing cubes in a large pan.
    5
    Empty dressing bags into a large pan (I use an old roasting pan).
  • Pouring bacon, onion, and celery over the bread.
    6
    Pour the bacon, onion, and celery evenly over the bread.
  • Adding sage to the mixture.
    7
    Sprinkle about 1 tsp rubbed sage and mix well.
  • Slowly adding chicken broth.
    8
    Add chicken broth a little at a time. The dressing should be moist but not soggy. The bread cubes should still look like cubes but should be starting to stick together.
  • Stuffing the turkey.
    9
    Stuff your 12-14 lb turkey. There will be leftovers.
  • Turkey ready to be roasted.
    10
    Roast according to directions. Don't stuff ahead of time.
  • Extra stuffing mixture in a baking dish.
    11
    Place the leftovers in a baking dish.
  • Adding a little extra broth to the baking dish.
    12
    Add a little more chicken broth.
  • Drizzling butter over the stuffing.
    13
    You can drizzle some melted butter over the top to make top nice and crispy.
  • Baking dish of stuffing cooked.
    14
    Bake at 350 until warm and brown, about 45 minutes.
  • Turkey with stuffing nicely browned.
    15
    My sons love this and would eat only this for Thanksgiving with some gravy! It is a rather basic stuffing that is always a crowd pleaser.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT