Holiday Dressing From Scratch
A holiday classic but with a crispy twist and cooked easily on the stovetop!
Servings 8 people
Calories 356kcal
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!
Notes
Substitutions
Bread: Use your favorite white bread! For some fun added sweetness, our Homemade Hawaiian Sandwich Bread is great, too!
Butter: Salted is best for this one! But if all you have is unsalted, just add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the recipe.
Seasonings: You can use a few cloves of garlic when cooking the onion, and substitute 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley for dried and 1 teaspoon of dried sage for fresh.
Size of the Dressing Pieces
In our house, we like larger dressing pieces, as shown in the pictures, but you can make much smaller pieces, whatever size you prefer. Just don't break the break up into those pieces to start as you mix it all in the large pot because as you mix the bread will break down a little and if you start too small, the whole mixture may become mushy and pasty.
Nutrition
Calories: 356kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 806mg | Potassium: 153mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 416IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 196mg | Iron: 3mg
