The Baker Chick

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Great Grandma’s Famous Stuffing

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This stuffing recipe has been a family tradition for generations and it’s just the best! 

You guys I’m sharing somewhat of a treasure with you today. I actually had to ask my mom permission who then asked her siblings if they thought it was OK for this family heirloom to be out on the interwebs. Luckily for you they all said it was fine, and Great Grandma Gerlach is hopefully in the heavens feeling pride at how much we all love her famous stuffing. 

I have realized over the years that not all stuffing recipes are created equal. Are you a dry stuffing person or a moist stuffing person? Do you like it loose and crisp or all soft and scoop-able with a crispy crust? Well this stuffing is definitely the latter, and I’ve had a bit of shock when I’ve tried stuffing that is anything else. After enjoying this at every Thanksgiving since I was a girl, this is how stuffing needs to be as far as I’m concerned, and man is it good. It’s so good that I’ve been asked to make it for my book club’s Thanksgiving the last four years and every time anyone tries it the “Oh my gosh this is SO goods” continue for the whole meal. Everyone asks for the recipe and wonders what in the world could make this stuffing so much more delicious than anything they have tasted.

The ingredients of this recipe really aren’t out of the ordinary as far as stuffing recipes go, but it does contain a whole lot of one thing that we all know makes everything taste better- butter. Lots of butter. The original recipe actually contains an entire pound of butter and is amazing, but over the years my mom has realized it can still be delicious with a little less butter  and a bit more broth. The butter soaks into the bread and bakes up so amazingly and really creates something magical. If you aren’t stuck on a special stuffing recipe this year- I highly suggest you try this recipe, (especially if you like super delicious things!)

Great Great Grandma’s Famous Stuffing

Great Great Grandma’s Famous Stuffing

Yield: 10 servings

Ingredients

  • 4 medium onions, chopped
  • 4 cups of celery, chopped
  • 3 sticks of unsalted butter
  • 32 slices of hearty white sandwich bread*
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth is fine too)
  • 2/3 cup chopped parsley
  • 2 tablespoons salt**
  • 2 tsp paprika

Instructions

Either one at a time, or in two separate saucepans, brown the onions and celery separately in about 1 tablespoon of the butter each. (Over the years we've determined it's much easier not to brown them together- it takes way longer and they don't brown at the same rate.)

When brown, transfer the onion and celery into a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool slightly.

Trim the crusts of the bread (I've made it before not trimming the crusts and while it's still good, I like the crust-free texture better.) and cut it into cubes. Transfer cubes into the same bowl as the onions/celery.

Melt the remaining butter and pour it into the bowl along with the broth, parsley and paprika. Mix together with your hands thoroughly.

Add the salt- one tablespoon first, and then taste the mixture to see how much more you need. (If you are using extremely salty broth you may need a little less. I usually use the whole amount.)

Spread stuffing into a 9x13 or other similar sized baking dish. If the pan is too packed in the center it will be difficult to heat, so I like to made the middle of the dish a little bit scooped out so it bakes for less time.

At this point the stuffing can be covered air-tight and stored in the fridge overnight until you're ready to bake it and serve. When that time comes- bake at 375 for 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pan. It is done when the top is crisp and the inside is hot.

Notes

*You don't want to use something flimsy like Wonderbread for this or the bread will disintegrate with all the liquid. Any heartier white sandwich bread will do- I like the kind called "Country White"

**I used to just add the full 2T of salt every time I made this, but this last time I used a new type of salt that happened to be "saltier" it made the result a little salty, so now I recommend adding it gradually and tasting to see how much you need.

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Comments

  2. LOVE the look of this. My family is Chinese, so the homemade version of stuffing I know is a sticky rice version that is worlds apart from the bread-based Stove Top kind (the only other kind I’ve ever made!) I’ve been meaning to try a homemade bread-based one at some point because stuffing is far and away my favorite side dish — I think I’ll have to try yours ASAP. Love that it’s a family recipe — it’s amazing to think about how just a decade ago so many of these would not be accessible to people like me, whose families have recipes of a completely different culture. But at the same time I think it’s a valuable thing that they aren’t all out there for people to see (and that you checked with your family to make sure!) It keeps them special.

    Thanks so much for sharing this with us. :)

    Reply

    • It’s amazing to me too! I’m so glad that we can merge different types of foods- my Dad is Middle Eastern and I love to see his flavors on our Thanksgiving dinner table too!

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  5. I love that this is your Great GREAT Grandma’s recipe.
    And I love that it has so much butter in it, because,
    well, everything’s better with butter. :D
    Thanks for sharing the recipe, Audra. I’m going to take
    it along to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving dinner! xoxo

    Reply

    • Haha you know what is so funny- my Mom wrote me today to inform me it’s actually just my “GREAT” Grandma’s stuffing…I added the extra Great in by accident I guess…ah well it’s still amazing!

      Reply

      • Hi, my from Italy mother in law taught me how to cook and eve since I’ve been making her Sauage stuffing, my mom was never a good cook so she used to use the stovetop brand stuffing and was partial to the bread stuffing so one year I combined the bread (with fresh hearty bread (not stovetop) and the ground sausage stuffings which everyone enjoyed.
        I guess my question here is do u think I can combine your bread stuffing recipe and my sausage stuffing recipe?!?

        Reply

  7. I am so torn right now! Do I make my beloved grandparents’ Southern dressing or break with nearly a century of family tradition and make your great great grandmother’s recipe? What to do, what to do? :) Thank you for sharing your heirloom family recipe! I think I may merge the two recipes by using half white bread and half cornbread.

    Reply

  10. Stuffing is totally the best part of Thanksgiving, and I’m so tempted to make this! My grandma will be making her stuffing for family Thanksgiving, but I’m thinking I’ll volunteer to make stuffing for my friends Thanksgiving, and make this. Looks amazing. How could it not be, with all that butter?!

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  11. Stuffing are probably what I love the most when it comes to Holiday food! And, like you, I’m all about soft and scoop-able stuffing with a crispy top, so this will definitely make an appearance on my Christmas table! (sometimes I think it’s so unfair that we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in Italy!!)

    xo, Elisa

    Reply

  13. This sounds SO good! I think I’m going to try it this year, instead of the sausage stuffing I usually make. Can you please tell me what kind of “hearty” white bread you use??? Thanks so much!! :)

    Reply

  14. my family uses the same recipe, but replaces half the bread with corn bread. I like your idea of browning the onions and celery separately. I had never thought of doing that. I feel like duh! Makes good sense.

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  16. I love seeing a plain bread stuffing recipe. My mom has always made a bread stuffing and when I tell people, t hey make faces! They act like cornbread is the only way to go. I don’t like cornbread stuffing!!! I am saying all this to tell you that I will be making this stuffing this year. Plain and simple and looks amazing!!

    Reply

  17. Believe it or not, you’ve inspired even me to cook (quite the feat!). This is my first Thanksgiving without Tata or your mom to make it and thanks to you, I was reminded it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without it. The Brands are getting lucky this year. Love you and with we were with you all.

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  18. So glad to see this recipe (and so glad to have discovered your blog — I came upon it recently through a link from another one!). I’ve been on the hunt for years for a bread stuffing recipe like my Mom’s (who never wrote it down). My husband loved hers best of all and I’ve never been able to recreate it. Yours might just be the one since I think her ingredients were the same. One quick question, though, do you dry the bread cubes or leave them out overnight to get stale? Most recipes I’ve seen call for that (but then, maybe that’s why I’ve never been able to make on that was just right!).

    Reply

    • Hi Emilie! I know lots of people dry out their bread cubes but we never have- I hope this comes close to the recipe you’ve been searching for! :)

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      • Hi Audra. I just wanted to report back that this stuffing was AMAZING (and I didn’t dry the cubes). It was exactly what my mom’s used to taste like. Since it makes a lot, I froze about 3 cups of it and then used it as topping for some chicken pot pie several weeks later. Yum! Thanks so much! (And good luck with your little one who’s almost here!).

        Reply

  19. thanks for sharing your recipe!! If I want to do just half of the amount do you think it’ll still taste good When I cut the amounts in half?

    Reply

  20. Hi Audra (nice name!),
    I am wondering if you have a sense of how much the bread in this recipe weighs. Your recipe sounds perfect in texture and flavor, so I am going to veganize it, and want to use some mixed grain bread cubes that I already bought. Thanks so much, Audrey

    Reply

  22. Hi, I am going to try and make this tomorrow! Looks amazing. I had stuffing recently that had mushrooms and olives. Do you think it would be good with this stuffing? If so should I sauté the mushrooms with the onions first?

    Thank you,
    Krystal

    Reply

  23. I prepared this tonight for our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. I will bake it tomorrow but had to try a little taste….. and oh my goodness it is the best I’ve ever had. EVER.

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  25. Made this today for some really tough critics- they said it was their FAVORITE. Thank you for saving me on thanksgiving and for sharing!

    Reply

  26. I’ve never made stuffing before. This was SO easy and tasted amazing!!!! I had so many compliments on it and recipe requests. I used half of the onions and celery and a loaf of Texas toast. Thanks for posting this!

    Reply

  27. I made this yesterday night for a thanksgiving dinner party and I got so many compliments! I am not a cook at all, but was able to easily make this! I only had 3 onions and about 3 cups of celery, so I adjusted the rest accordingly. That’s the main thing about this recipe, it’s very easy to adjust!

    Reply

  28. Hi, How much bread chopped is 32 pieces…I always bake my own bread and cube up ends/leftovers to use at a later time. Just wondering how much cubed bread I need to make 32 pieces/?

    Reply

  29. WOW! You weren’t exaggerating…this stuffing really did steal the show for Christmas dinner! This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks for posting :)

    Reply

  31. You won me at BUTTER!!! My husband picks on me alllll the time about cooking with too much Butter! is it healty?mmmm…perhaps not, but having an Irish father an an Italian mother, I can’t help but use Butter with every single thing I cook or bake! it’s just how I was raised to cook! Now, I face the SAME thing other readers did.. I have a recipe that was passed in my family for nearly 100 yrs for our stuffing. When my relatives came here from Italy, they got jobs on the railroad and the cooks on the railroad cars gave my great uncle a stuffing recipe who then passed it to my Grandmother (now 86 yrs old) so a part of me is feeling guilty on trying something new. However, the Holidays are well over and my Husband (a butcher) brought home a turkey breast and we decided to make it this weekend thus why I am on pinterest. Looking for something a little different then what I am used to all my life. This recipe sounds great so I think I am going to try it. It’s not like I am offending since holidays are over! :) But thank you for sharing, I know what you mean. I accidentally posted a recipe on recipezaar.com years ago that was from my Grandmother and it was a hit on recipezaar and poor grammy whom I never thought would be upset, was kind of bummed that I did that! so thank you for sharing an old recipe with us! cant wait to try it!

    Reply

  33. Little tip: If you only have the “flimsy white bread” on hand, allow it to set out (uncovered) overnight to become stale. It should stand up to the batter then and it won’t effect the taste. My grandmas dressing recipe called for cornbread and a few slices of white bread and she always set the bread out the night before. Hope this helps! Sounds delicious!

    Reply

  34. always make bread dressing for Thanksgiving. but I also use a few eggs for binding. I usually have 30 + family coming. your recipe will feed how many? I normally 4-5 loaves to make enough. Thank you. Wm

    Reply

  35. I’m in charge of dressing this year, I’m using your recipe. Sounds great! Have you used spices like thyme, poultry seasoning, sage, etc?

    Reply

  39. I had to say thank you to you and your great grandmother for sharing this recipe. Im Scottish married to an American living in Spain and cooked dinner for our group of international friends and family here for thanksgiving. I have never tried beber mind made stuffing before but picked yours as I loved the story behind it and it looked yummy! … what a success!! Everyone was raving about it – my American friends were blown away and the Spanish friends who had never tried it were asking for seconds! So a toast to your great granny! It’s going to become a favourite in my house now! Besitos x

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  40. Do you think this recipe would be ok to make the day before, then reheat? I’m worried that it will not have the same texture.

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  42. This looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it for a Friendsgiving this week. Is it possible to spread it in the pan, and refrigerate overnight, then pop in the oven the morning before we leave? (Warning: I’m a rookie cook, so don’t hesitate to school me on this!) :)

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  43. This is the best stuffing I’ve ever had (don’t tell my mom!)!!!! Thank you so much for sharing! I’m hosting Thanksgiving this year and can’t wait to make this again!!!

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  45. Made your great grandmother’s stuffing for the second year in a row and everyone loved it again! Thanks!

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  46. I was hoping to make this tonight (Thursday evening) then freeze and cook Saturday evening. Have you tried freezing it ahead of time? Any thoughts on how this could work?

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  47. HI Audra, This looks so good and can’t wait to try it. I do have a question. Do you know how many this will serve? Thanks for any help you can give me. :)

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  50. THE BEST STUFFING EVER! Period!
    Thank you to your beloved grandma, your mom, your aunts and to YOU!!
    I made this for the first time last Thanksgiving and it was THE STAR of the meal! Leftovers were just as yummy!

    Reply

  52. Hi Audra,

    Thank you for sharing Great Grandma Gerlach’s famous stuffing recipe. I have made this stuffing for 3 years running. I make thanksgiving for 6 – 24 every year and this is a hit. It is really easy to double or half depending on your crowd. I use one 2lb loaf of brioche from a local baker when I half the recipe.

    The first time I made this was the first time I hosted Thanksgiving for my in laws. When I told my mom after dinner that this was the first time I made this stuffing recipe she was shocked I would gamble with one of the staple sides. It really is the best stuffing I’ve ever had.

    Happy Holidays!

    Keri

    Reply

  53. My mom has always been in charge of stuffing. She was sick last year, and I had no idea how to make. I tried this recipe, and I will never use any other!! Ir’a amazing! Ppl loved it so much! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I have one question, can I make ahead and freeze??

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  54. Thank you for sharing your family’s recipe! This has been our go to stuffing recipe for a few years now and I can’t wait to have it again this Thanksgiving! It’s so delicious and I always have to make extra because it gets devoured by everyone!

    Reply

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