Best Classic Bread Stuffing From Cooks Illustrated Recipes

CLASSIC BREAD STUFFING WITH SAGE AND THYME (AMERICA'S TEST KITCH

Steps:

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 400.
• Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the celery and onions and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme, and marjoram and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Transfer to a very large bowl. Add the dried, cooled bread, broth, eggs, salt, and pepper to the vegetables and toss to combine.
• Turn the mixture into a buttered 10 x 15-inch baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake until golden, about 30 minutes longer. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

TEST KITCHEN'S FAVORITE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Divide bread between 2 rimmed baking sheets and spread in a single layer. Bake, stirring a few times, until crisp and dry, about 40 minutes. Let cool. Break a piece open to make sure it's dried all the way through; if not, bake a few more minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add onions, celery, and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft and golden in places, 7 to 9 minutes. Add garlic, sage, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook 1 minute. Pour in wine; cook until mostly evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees. Brush a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with butter. Transfer onion mixture to bowl with toasted bread; add parsley. Drizzle with stock, stirring to combine. Stir in eggs to evenly coat. Transfer to prepared baking dish. Top with buttered parchment; loosely wrap with foil. (If making ahead, refrigerate at this point until you're ready to bake.) Bake 20 minutes. Uncover; continue cooking until golden on top, about 20 minutes more. Serve, with more parsley sprinkled on top.

CLASSIC STUFFING

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large skillet. Add onions and celery, and cook over medium heat until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add sage, stir to combine, and cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1/2 cup stock, and stir well. Cook for about 5 minutes, until liquid has reduced by half.
• Transfer onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add all remaining ingredients, including the remaining stock; mix to combine.

CLASSIC BREAD STUFFING WITH ONIONS, CELERY, AND HERBS

Steps:

• In a big skillet, melt the butter over medium heat; add in onions, celery, and celery leaves.
• Cook, stirring often, until the onions are golden, about 8 minutes.
• Scrape the vegetable mixture into a big bowl; mix in the bread cubes, parsley, poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper.
• Gradually stir in about 1 ½ cups of broth, until the stuffing is evenly moistened but not soggy.
• Transfer stuffing to a lightly buttered casserole dish; drizzle with ½ cup broth, cover, and bake in a preheated 350° oven for 30-45 minutes (if you like crusty stuffing, remove foil the last 15 minutes of baking).

CLASSIC STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a 3-quart baking dish. Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, sage and thyme; season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat.
• Whisk the eggs and parsley in a large bowl. Add the bread and the vegetable-broth mixture and stir until combined. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Drizzle with the turkey drippings (or dot with butter); sprinkle with the paprika.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake 30 minutes, then uncover and bake until golden, 25 to 30 more minutes.