Homemade Stuffing From Scratch With Easy-to-Make Bread Cubes

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Homemade Stuffing Recipe Bread Cubes Scratch

Ever made homemade stuffing from scratch? Not using store-bought bread cubes, I’m talking about even making the bread cubes for stuffing!

Do you call it stuffing, or dressing?

Either way, a roast turkey is incomplete without, it.

I don’t know why I always save stuffing exclusively for roast turkey though. Turkey, chicken, pork, or otherwise, I’d happily eat stuffing with any meal!

Those bagged and boxed stuffing mixes might seem super easy, but once you’ve tasted stuffing from scratch, with homemade bread cubes, you’ll never go back.

Why Make Homemade Stuffing From Scratch?

Aside from having a better flavor and texture, homemade stuffing cubes are better for you than the store-bought version.

Bagged and boxed stuffing cubes often contain high fructose corn syrup, “natural flavor,” and preservatives to keep them shelf-stable for quite a long time.

When you make your own bread cubes for homemade stuffing, you know exactly what is being added: your bread, seasoning, and fat of your choice.

You can choose the seasonings you want, based on what your family likes. (I’ve given my favorite combo below, but feel free to play with the flavors!)

You can add only as much salt as you want. So if you have family members who are watching their salt intake, this is a great option.

And, you can use better bread! You know the bread going into those bags and boxes is nothing special. But by making your own bread cubes for stuffing you can use bread that you want your family to eat: sourdough, whole grain, sprouted grains, and so on.

Simply the good stuff!

What Bread Do I Use To Make Stuffing Cubes?

You can use ANY type of bread for homemade stuffing cubes! It all depends on what you like.

Baguettes or artisan loaves. Sandwich bread or dinner rolls. White or wheat. Sourdough or whole grain. You could even use pumpernickel or rye if you wanted to add a little of those flavors to your stuffing. (Rye and turkey is a pretty stellar combo!)

Many people tend to prefer white or wheat without too many seeds. But I tend to like the nuttiness that seeded bread adds to a stuffing.

Feel free to experiment and see what you like best!

How To Make Bread Cubes for Homemade Stuffing

Making bread cubes for stuffing is quite simple.

Whenever you have bread left over that you won’t use before it goes stale, cut it into ½ inch cubes and dry it out using the recipe below.

Don’t have a stale bread problem? (We typically don’t in our house.) Buy or make a couple of extra loaves specifically for making the homemade stuffing cubes. Or grab some day-old bakery bread that stores discount because it’s about to go stale. You’re going to dry it out anyway, so it doesn’t matter if it’s not super fresh.

To dry the bread cubes, I toss them with a little olive oil and some seasonings and put them in a relatively low oven. Using low heat helps dry the cubes out entirely without browning them too much. If your cubes are entirely dry, they will last for months in a sealed container in your pantry.

Drying the Homemade Stuffing Bread Cubes

It might seem like drying the bread is an unnecessary step to making the stuffing, but in addition to making the stuffing cubes last longer (which means you can dry stale bread as you have it), it does help with the flavor of the finished stuffing.

Remember, when making homemade stuffing, dry bread absorbs more liquid than undried bread. So using dry bread means the flavor of your stuffing will be more robust because the stock, onions, celery, and all other add-ins will really permeate the dish.

Homemade Stuffing Recipe Bread Cubes Scratch

Homemade Stuffing From Scratch

Ever made homemade stuffing from scratch? Not using store-bought bread cubes, I'm talking about even making the bread cubes for stuffing!

Prep Time
10 minutes
Active Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 55 minutes
Servings
10 cups dried stuffing cubes
Course
Dinner
Cuisine
American
Estimated Cost
$4

Ingredients

Instructions

Making Bread Cubes for Stuffing

  1. Preheat oven to 250°F.
  2. Grease a rimmed baking sheet with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. (This will be way too much to grease the sheet, but you’ll use it in the next step).
  3. Place the bread cubes on the baking sheet and mix to coat them with the oil.
  4. Sprinkle seasonings over the bread cubes and mix to evenly distribute the seasonings.
  5. Once the seasonings are evenly distributed, arrange bread cubes in a single layer on the baking sheet.
  6. Bake the bread cubes for 1½ – 2 hours, stirring after 1 hour, until they are completely dry.
  7. Once dry, remove bread cubes from the oven and let them cool completely on the pan.
  8. After they are cool, transfer them to a sealed container.
  9. If the bread cubes are completely dry, they should last for about a month.

Make Homemade Stuffing

  1. To make homemade stuffing from your bread cubes simply sauté a diced onion and a few stalks of celery in a ¼ cup (half stick) of butter for 5 minutes.

  2. Add the cubes and enough broth to moisten them, 2 cups should do.

  3. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. There, you just made delicious stuffing from scratch!

Recipe Video

Notes

If you want to get fancy, use your homemade bread cubes to make a unique homemade stuffing like this French Chestnut Stuffing or this Mushroom Dill Stuffing.

Nutrition:

Serving: 1cup | Calories: 25kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 1mg
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Have you tried to make stuffing from scratch? What do you like to put in your homemade stuffing? Share with us in the comments!

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About Sarah Ozimek

Sarah is a writer, recipe developer, traveler, gardener, and lover of (almost) all things outdoors. Together with her husband Tim, she writes the blog Curious Cuisiniere where they explore world cuisines and cooking using real ingredients and tried and true methods, the way our ancestors have done for ages. Connect with Sarah on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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Comments

  1. Avatar photoJennifer Parker says

    I love stuffing and I do want it to be as healthy as possible. I make a recipe very similar to your, but before baking I add chopped apples and homemade cranberry sauce. I don’t measure, I just put in how much seems right for the amount of stuffing I have prepared.

  2. Avatar photoMs. Jackie Aguiar says

    Basic stuffing recipe my mom taught me: a little olive or vegetable oil, sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned – your preference), diced white onion, ground dried sage, walnuts, celery leaves and the heart of the celery, salt and pepper, garlic, and water or chicken/turkey stock. Cook diced onions in oil until soft, add celery- Cooking 2-3 minutes. Next add mushrooms, until soft if using fresh or 1-2 minutes if using canned. Then add seasonings except salt and pepper. Next add pepper. Leave salt last if you are using stock instead of water. Taste to check seasonings. Add more as necessary. Next add walnuts and bread crumbs. Make sure to use UNSEASONED bread crumbs. Now add water/stock until it is thoroughly moist. Add more salt/pepper to taste. This is all done on medium heat. Then removed from heat, cool. Use inside of Turkey or chicken. A raw Turkey is cooked 20 minutes per pound at 350 degrees F.

  3. Avatar photoDiana says

    My husband makes artisan bread and we’re going to use your bread cube recipe for our stuffing this year. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I generally make my own using the packaged bread so am looking forward to your recipe. I add onion, celery, apple, dried cranberries and chicken stock to my stuffing and spice it up a little with some poultry seasoning, parsley (fresh) and a pinch of thyme. Its always very tasty.