Classic Stuffing Recipe with Baon (2024)

This TRADITIONAL STUFFING RECIPE is loaded with crispy fried bacon, plenty of veggies, and loads of herbs. It’s sure to be a favorite at Thanksgiving with the crispy top, moist center, and classic flavor.

Classic Stuffing Recipe with Baon (1)

I have a confession, guys.

I’m a lying liar who lies.

This recipe is actually for dressing, but every single person I know calls dressing stuffing. Do you know the difference?

Stuffing is actually stuffed inside of a turkey. Dressing is baked in a casserole dish alongside the turkey (or alongside whatever you want).

See? I called this recipe stuffing, but actually it’s dressing and that makes me a liar.

Forgive me?

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What Readers are Saying!

“I love your explanation of stuffing and dressing. Very clear. Bacon in this dressing is probably going to make this everyone’s favorite dressing recipe!” -Carol

The good news is that it really doesn’t matter what you call it, this is goooooood stuff. I have a favorite sausage dressing recipe that I make every single year for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but my mama doesn’t like sausage and so she never eats it. It makes me all sad, because it is seriously amazing stuff and she’s missing out.

I was dreaming about my sausage dressing the other day when I had an epiphany. A bacon epiphany. They’re both pork, they’re both delicious and fatty, I could totally swap one for the other.

And I did and it was glorious.

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I ended up changing the recipe quite a bit from our grandpa’s sausage version – this is more of a traditional stuffing recipe with loads of herbs, crusty French bread, and plenty of bacon.

So tell me…what does your family make every year? Dressing or stuffing? Inquiring minds want to know!

How to make bacon stuffing:

Chop up about a pound of French bread and toss it on a baking sheet. You’ll want to toast this in a warm oven for about 10 minutes to dry it out. This will help the bread soak up all the delicious liquid and seasonings.

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While the bread is toasting, dice your bacon and cook it over medium heat until it’s just starting to crisp up around the edges.

Add onion and celery to the pan and cook for five minutes or until they soften up. Be sure to stir this fairly often.

Add your bread to a large mixing bowl and pour the bacon and veggies (and grease – don’t you dare drain that grease!) right on top. Sprinkle in your herbs, poultry seasoning, and spices. Top with chicken broth.

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Our secret ingredient here is cream of chicken soup. We love the way it makes the stuffing a bit creamy – it gives it a great texture! If you don’t want to use the canned stuff, use my substitute for cream of chicken soup.

Stir this up and pour into a 2-3quart dish (we use an oval dish, but a 9×9 would work well, too) pan and cover with foil. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the liquid soak into the bread.

Bake for 30 minutes and then remove the foil and bake for 30 minutes more.

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Reasons To Love This Recipe:

First of all, it has bacon. That’s enough for most of us to love it right there.

Beyond that, we love the use of French bread instead of the bag of stuffing cubes or the white bread that our sausage dressing uses. It feels a little fancier too!

There are loads of herbs and seasonings in here, from fresh parsley to dried sage and rosemary, to poultry seasoning. Big flavors all the way around!

This recipe is very simple and easy to customize. Add in some dried cranberries or chopped apples. Swap the bacon for sausage. Use whatever mix of herbs you like best.

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Thanksgiving dinner menu

  • Air Fryer Turkey Breast
  • Canned Sweet Potato Casserole
  • Broccoli Cheese Casserole
  • Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole
  • Green Bean Casserole with Bacon
  • Jiffy Corn Casserole
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thanksgiving desserts

  • Pumpkin Pecan Pie
  • Pumpkin Crunch Cake
  • Apple Cobbler
  • Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars
  • Fresh Apple Cake
  • Sweet Potato Pie
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Classic Stuffing Recipe with Baon (9)

Recipe

Traditional Stuffing with Bacon

This stuffing recipe starts with crusty French bread, plenty of fried bacon, and loads of celery, onions, herbs, and spices. It's flavorful, easy, and perfect for a holiday dinner.

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Prep30 minutes minutes

Cook1 hour hour

Total1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Serves 8 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 pound French bread
  • 8 slices bacon diced
  • 1 medium sweet onion chopped
  • 2 stalks celery chopped
  • 10 ounces cream of chicken soup
  • ¾ cup chicken broth plus more as needed
  • ¼ cup fresh minced parsley
  • 2 teaspoons dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

  • Cut bread into small cubes and place on a baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes to dry out a bit.

  • While the bread is in the oven, fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat.

  • When bacon is beginning to crisp around the edges, add the onion and celery and continue cooking until bacon is cooked and vegetables have softened.

  • Place the bread cubes in a large bowl and increase the oven to 350 degrees.

  • Pour the bacon and vegetables over the bread – do not drain the grease.

  • Add the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, and remaining ingredients to the bowl.

  • Stir well to combine. Add additional chicken broth if needed to reach the level of moistness you prefer in stuffing.

  • Spread stuffing into a buttered 2-3 quart baking dish and top with foil.

  • Bake for 30 minutes, and then remove the foil and continue baking for 30 more minutes.

Tips & Notes:

We don’t like our stuffing to be overly wet, so we usually stick to around 3/4-1 cup of chicken broth. Add more if you like an extra moist stuffing.

You may swap the cream of chicken for cream of mushroom soup, if preferred.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 306kcal (15%)| Carbohydrates: 39g (13%)| Protein: 11g (22%)| Fat: 12g (18%)| Saturated Fat: 4g (25%)| Cholesterol: 17mg (6%)| Sodium: 1069mg (46%)| Potassium: 237mg (7%)| Fiber: 2g (8%)| Sugar: 4g (4%)| Vitamin A: 282IU (6%)| Vitamin C: 6mg (7%)| Calcium: 49mg (5%)| Iron: 3mg (17%)

Author: Karly Campbell

Course:Side Dish

Cuisine:American

Keyword:easy side dish recipes, easy Thanksgiving recipes, holiday recipes

Did You Make This?Tag Us On Instagram

This post was originally published in November 2014. It was updated with a new (improved!) recipe and photos in November 2020. Original photo below.

Classic Stuffing Recipe with Baon (10)
Classic Stuffing Recipe with Baon (2024)

FAQs

How to make stuffing Gordon Ramsay? ›

Make the stuffing, melt butter in a large frying pan and gently sauté onion and garlic for five minutes until soft. Stir in the herbs for one minute then add breadcrumbs to absorb butter. Mix in zest, pine nuts and seasoning and cook over medium heat for about seven minutes until crumbs start to brown and crisp.

Is stuffing better with or without eggs? ›

It's all about personal preference. If you want a sturdier dressing, eggs can help do that. I don't use eggs in this recipe, though, because I like a lighter, more crumbly texture in my dressing.

In what did recipes did people originally use stuffing? ›

So how far back can we find stuffing used in cooking? Some time between the 2nd century BC and the 1st century AD, a chef by the name of Apicius created a cookbook entitled, “Apicius de re Coquinaria.” In its pages are recipes for stuffed chicken, rabbit, pig, and even dormouse.

How to make stuffing jamie oliver? ›

Tear the stale bread into small chunks and whiz into breadcrumbs. Add these to the bowl, then crush and crumble in the chestnuts. Place the diced pork into the food processor, pick in the sage leaves, roughly chop and add the bacon, followed by 1 level teaspoon of white pepper and a good pinch of sea salt.

How to make stuffing for turkey Martha Stewart? ›

Ingredients
  1. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter.
  2. 4 onions, coarsely chopped (about 4 cups)
  3. 5 stalks celery, coarsely chopped (about 2 ½ cups)
  4. 1 large bulb fennel, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups), optional.
  5. Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper.
  6. 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary.
  7. 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage.
May 16, 2017

What does adding egg to stuffing do? ›

Eggs: Two lightly beaten eggs help hold the dressing together and add moisture.

What's the difference between stuffing and filling? ›

Although most people in America debate on whether the dish should be called stuffing or dressing the people of Pennsylvania call it filling. Essentially filling is the same as stuffing or dressing. The name suggests that it will fill something like stuffing does.

Can I mix up my stuffing the night before? ›

Absolutely. Most Thanksgiving stuffing recipes can be made at least partially in advance since: A) They're easily assembled a day or two ahead of Thanksgiving Day; and B) They're often baked using a two-step process (once covered with foil to cook through, then uncovered to achieve a crispy top).

What makes stuffing unhealthy? ›

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.

Why is turkey stuffing so good? ›

It's wildly flavorful and buttery and filled with herbs and most importantly, a delicious neutral flavor that truly goes with any meal. Stuffing is by FAR my favorite side dish. In fact, Thanksgiving is alllll about the side dishes for me.

Why is Thanksgiving stuffing so good? ›

Something magical happens when stale bread meets butter, celery and tons of sage. Flavors meld and the bread turns soft and gooey and outshines everything else on the Thanksgiving plate.

What is traditional stuffing made of turkey? ›

Stuffing most often uses dried bread, herbs, and vegetables that are reconstituted with liquid, stuffed into the turkey cavity, and baked until it is firm and finished cooking. In addition, stuffing can also be cooked separately in a casserole dish in the oven, which would then be considered dressing.

What country invented stuffing? ›

Purportedly ancient Roman, or else Medieval, cooks developed engastration recipes, stuffing animals with other animals. An anonymous Andalusian cookbook from the 13th century includes a recipe for a ram stuffed with small birds.

What is Christmas stuffing made of? ›

Starting with dried sourdough bread, celery, onion, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, chicken broth and eggs. A whole stick of butter goes in the pan adding onions, herbs and garlic (sausage is optional). Eggs combine everything together before going in the oven on a baking dish.

Are you supposed to cook the stuffing before putting it in? ›

Fully cook raw meat, poultry, or seafood ingredients before adding to stuffing. Combine the ingredients and place them in your bird immediately before cooking. Don't stuff whole poultry with cooked stuffing. In addition to the turkey, the stuffing's center needs to reach 165 F.

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