Holiday Dressing From Scratch
Stuffing, but without the bird! Our Holiday Dressing From Scratch is our take on this classic, except it’s made on the stovetop with homemade bread, just the right amount of seasonings, and is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside for a holiday side that everyone will love!
Bring on all of the holiday classics! With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we’re gathering all our favorites, including our Holiday Dressing From Scratch! While we love our dressing in bigger thicker chunks of bread, you can also of course make it in smaller bites as well, but don’t expect anything mushy about this stuffing without the bird recipe, we cook our holiday dressing to have a crisp butter outside but with a soft and tender inside for ultimate texture and flavor!
Dressing vs. Stuffing
When it comes to the holiday classic, “stuffing” is what many of us are more familiar with, and “dressing” is more commonly found in the South. While stuffing is typically cooked stuffed inside of a bird, dressing is cooked separately from the bird, but then to make it even more confusing, in the Midwest stuffing and dressing can be used interchangeably, no matter how it is prepared. Since we typically smoke our turkey to save that precious oven space, we prefer to make dressing because not only can it be prepared on the stovetop, but it also lets us create a crispy and crunchy outside texture and a soft and chewy texture on the inside which we love far more than a traditional mushy one note dressing. Also, another bonus is that served on its own, this holiday dressing is vegetarian!
Ingredients Needed
- Stale Bread – The base of this classic holiday dressing and we absolutely love our Easy White Sandwich Bread for this recipe, but you can of course use your favorite white bread.
- Egg and Water – These are key ingredients to soften and bind.
- Butter – And lots of it!
- Onion – This one is optional, but onion and garlic are staples in a majority of our savory dishes so of course you’ll find it in this savory dressing, too! But it is also easy to omit, just see the recipe notes.
- Fresh Sage – There’s something about sage that just screams holiday to me, that’s why you’ll find it in most of our holiday classics like our Cream of Mushroom Soup and Fresh Green Bean Casserole From Scratch!
- Seasonings – The rest of the seasonings that we use are salt and pepper (of course), dried parsley, and garlic powder. We prefer to use garlic powder as to avoid any risk of burning the garlic which can ruin a dish pretty quickly!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Prep Stale Bread
Once your bread is stale (1-2 days out is plenty), then it’s a matter of prepping that bread to be cooked up on the stove. To do this, break up the bread and add it to the largest stock pot that you have, add some water with the eggs, gently mix it all with your hands, and then add the seasonings before giving it a final mix.
Recipe Tip – Bread Size
The size of your bread is totally up to you! We like slightly larger chunks of bread when it comes to this dressing, although I know many prefer much smaller pieces. When it comes to the initial breaking up of the bread before adding it to the pot, start large to break up the bread as you mix. This is because as you mix and moisten the bread in the water and egg, the bread will start to break up and if you start with tiny pieces of bread, you’ll end up with a gummy mixture. It’s easier to break up the pieces into the smaller pieces you desire with your hands once it’s all mixed.
Cook Onion and Melt Butter
If adding onion, it’s best to cook that in butter first and then set it aside. This will prevent the onion from burning in the pan while you get a good crispy sear on the outside of the bread. Use some butter for the onion and then melt the rest of that butter in the pan to get soaked up by all that flavorful softened bread!
Cook in Butter
Now, it’s time to add all of that herb-soaked bread to the melted butter-filled pan and cook! Use the biggest pan you have, at least a 3.5-quart pan, or your widest pan, ideally something 14″ or wider like this, which will allow the most surface area to flatten out the dressing and get the best crisp on the outside of the bread (this is also a good time to break up the bread as it cooks to make it into the desired sizes).
Once it’s sauteed to crispy on the outside but soft and tender on the inside, you can add that buttery onion to the pan and give it a final mix before serving.
Ready to go with any special meal, our Holiday Dressing From Scratch! Crispy on the outside, buttery, and tender on the inside!
Another Option
Now if you’re on the hunt for a more traditional dressing/stuffing, then give our Copycat Boxed Stuffing Mix a try!
Recipe Tips
You can but we use water instead of milk because the sugars in the milk can cause the bread to burn.
This is totally based on personal preference and is easily customized. I love big chunks of dressing personally, but you do you! You can break down the bread into much smaller pieces while it all cooks and/or before adding it to the pan to cook.
The texture that makes this holiday dressing so delicious is a crispy outside crust and then a soft tender inside. To achieve this, it’s important to let the bread cook on one side for a good amount of time before turning and allowing the other side to cook for a while too because you still want to ensure that the center is fully cooked as well so you don’t end up with crispy on the outside and soggy on the inside.
This holiday dressing from scratch is great to prepare ahead of time, particularly ensuring that the bread is stale and then breaking it all up and preparing all of the herbs and spices. Save the addition of the water and egg just before you’re ready to start cooking.
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Don’t forget the gravy for this Holiday Dressing From Scratch and of course whatever else it’ll join on your holiday table this year!
Enjoy! As always, if you make this recipe or any of my others, I love to hear what you think! Leave a comment below, email me, or you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
If you want to see more, be sure to sign up for my 5 Easy Ways to Start Cooking From Scratch!
Holiday Dressing From Scratch
Equipment
- Large Stock Pot
- wide saute pan at least 12 – 14 inches wide or 3.5 quart
Ingredients
- 1 loaf white bread sliced and stale
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup salted butter
- 6 large fresh sage leaves minced
- 1 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup onion minced, optional
Instructions
- Prep Bread: Lay slices of bread out on a baking tray to dry out for 1-2 days. Store in a cool dry place, lightly cover with paper towels. Or dry out in the oven, see recipe notes.
- Soften Bread: Break up stale bread into 2 to 3-inch pieces as you add it to a large stock pot. Add eggs and water and gently use your hands to mix the bread with the water and the eggs, careful not to mix too much so that the bread starts to break down and becomes pasty, but instead just so that all of the bread is coated in some water or some egg. Once well coated, you can use your hands to break up the larger pieces into smaller pieces or whatever size desired. Let sit for 2-3 minutes to absorb until the bread has softened a bit.
- Season: Once slightly softened, add salt, pepper, parsley, garlic powder, and sage to the stock pot and mix well.
- Optional Onions: If adding onions, melt 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat in an extra wide saute pan, at least 12 – 14 inches wide, or 3.5 quart skillet. Add onions and turn the heat down to medium-low. Saute slowly until the onions are translucent, 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Cook Dressing: Add the rest of the butter to the skillet, turn the heat to medium, and melt the butter. Once melted, add the softened bread, flatten it to an even layer, and turn the heat down to medium-low. This is when you can also use a spatula to break up larger pieces of bread again, if desired. Let cook uncovered for 10-12 minutes or until the bottom of the dressing in the skillet has browned.
- Flip: After 10-12 minutes, gently turn the dressing in the skillet so that the browned sides are facing up. Use a spatula to break up larger pieces of bread and let the other side of the bread brown and cook for another 10-12 minutes.
- Final Cooking: Add sauteed onions (if using) to the pan and turn in the pan to cook with the bread and mix for final cooking, turning bread and pieces that are not browned to the bottom of the skillet to cook. You want a crispy outside of the bread with a tender center.
- Serve immediately with your favorite holiday meal and gravy!
