A Loaf of Bread That Tastes Exactly like Stuffing (Really!) | McCormick (2024)

FAQs

What is homemade stuffing made of? ›

The BEST traditional Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe is easy to make dried bread cubes, sausage, diced vegetables, and chicken broth. It's a great side dish to make ahead of time and it definitely tastes best homemade!

Cut the bread into 3/4-inch cubes and put them in an even layer on a sheet pan. Bake at 300°F for 40 minutes, giving them a stir every 10 minutes or so. You don't necessarily want them to be golden like croutons, but they should be completely dry.

You can also add herbs and seasonings such as garlic, rosemary, dill, chopped onion, jalapeño, shredded cheese, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, etc. My no yeast bread is the quick bread alternative here—you can add flavors to that loaf, too! Baker's Tip: Avoid adding too much flour to the dough as you work with it.

Broth: Chicken broth keeps the stuffing moist without making it soggy. Eggs: Two lightly beaten eggs help hold the dressing together and add moisture.

Typically high in fat, carbs and salt, stuffing can be made fresh or purchased chilled, frozen or dehydrated. Traditionally, a stuffing would use the giblets of the bird with the addition of sausage meat, a source of starch, such as bread, with some aromatics such as onion, herbs and spices.

Any attempts to make stuffing with soft, fresh baked bread will result in a bread soup with a soggy texture. Follow this tip: Stale, dried-out bread makes the best stuffing.

Recipe Tip – a few days or even weeks in advance of making stuffing – watch the day old bread shelf at your local market. You can often find high quality artisan loaves reduced from $4.99 to $0.99. Just pop them in the freezer until ready to make cubes.

Butter, technically a dough enrichment, tenderizes bread dough and limits gluten development, yielding a softer, more tender crumb and a richer flavor. The butter in this sourdough babka dough makes the interior tender—and delicious. Photo by Maurizio Leo.

Homemade bread contains no chemicals, artificial additives, preservatives, or enzymes. These are often used in store-bought bread to make them stay fresher for longer and enhance the taste.

Fat. If you're looking to ramp up the taste of your favorite bread recipe, we recommend adding a bit of fat. A fat like butter, olive oil or coconut oil in small quantities will help your bread achieve a higher rise and it will also boost its flavor by tenfold.

What is stuffing mostly made of? ›

Many American stuffings contain a starchy ingredient like bread or cereals, usually together with vegetables, ground meats, herbs and spices, and eggs. Middle Eastern vegetable stuffings may be based on seasoned rice, on minced meat, or a combination thereof. Other stuffings may contain only vegetables and herbs.

Stuffing consists of a mixture of savoury ingredients such as breadcrumbs, herbs, fruit, nuts, sausagemeat and onion which are bound together with egg or liquid to form a semi-solid mixture. It is usually cooked with roast meat such as chicken, pork or lamb and is served as an accompaniment to the sliced, cooked meat.

In a large bowl or large plastic food storage bag, combine ​breadcrumbs with dried parsley, minced onion, celery flakes, thyme, pepper, sage, and marjoram. To prepare stuffing, bring 1 1/4 cups of water or chicken broth and 3 tablespoons of butter to a boil.