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A close up view of a wooden spoon in a pan of Thanksgiving dressing.

Mom's Thanksgiving Dressing

Course: Side
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Classic dressing, Stuffing, Thanksgiving
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Make ahead: Cornbread: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 143kcal
This is my mother's recipe for dressing. It's been my all-time favorite since I was a kid. We love it baked in the oven (not stuffed in the bird) until golden and crunch on top and moist in the middle! So good!
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Ingredients

  • ½ pan corn bread about 2 cups, save the rest for eating
  • 5 slices bread dried out, or toast3ed
  • 8 oz stuffing packaged, seasoned is best
  • ½ cup yellow onion chopped
  • ½ cup celery chopped
  • 4 eggs lightly beaten
  • 4 tbsp sage or 2 tbsp dried
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 to 4 cups broth turkey or chicken, see note

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Combine all ingredients, except the broth, in a large bowl or pot, cover, and set overnight in the refrigerator, of for at least several hours.
  • Transfer the mixture into your serving dish and pat down gently with your hands.
  • Pour enough broth into the prepared dressing until it's just juicy to the touch. Shouldn't be swimming in it, but still juicy when pressed.
  • Bake for 50 minutes. If starting to brown too much, cover with foil in the final 15 minutes of baking.

Video

Notes

Making the cornbread from scratch is great, but you can also use the boxed variety, too. 
Let the bread sliced sit out for 12 to 24 hours to dry out, or toast them (we toast them, just like mom does, and we love the toasty taste).
Make broth by simmering the turkey giblets and neck in a pot of water for at 45 minutes to an hour.  For deeper flavor, add roughly chopped carrots, celery and onion.  Strain.
After the turkey has finished roasting, remove the turkey and strain the liquid into a boil.  Add this to the giblet broth.
We usually roast the turkey, and let it sit and then carve it, which allows us to collect the delicious turkey juices, add to the broth and then bake the dressing.  

Nutrition

Calories: 143kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 616mg | Potassium: 127mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 424IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 2mg