Nanny’s stuffing has been in our family since my grandmother first made it. This is a simple recipe and one that every person in our family makes. It doesn’t matter who is hosting, we all make this stuffing. My grandmother made it this way and so did my mom. Over the years, I’ve added nuts and dried fruit (which I’ve loved) but the family always wants the real deal.
As kids, we got to help make the stuffing! The night before the holiday, my mom would give me two whole loaves of white bread and tell me to tear it into pieces and pile it in a bowl. This “sous chef” task could take a hour if I dragged it out…LOL. I guess I was already liking the kitchen. These bowls of torn bread would sit out overnight to dry out. While I’m sure we could have toasted the bread, bought dried stuffing bread cubes, etc., this was how we did it and it was all part of the holiday fun! My mom told me this is how she got us all involved in the festivities and it certainly was easy enough for a five-year old.
While my mother did stuff the turkey and put extra in a small casserole dish, I have long abandoned stuffing the turkey but still call it stuffing rather than “dressing”. (Always have, always will.) Stuffing the turkey requires several extra hours of cook time and tends to dry out the bird. So, I bake my stuffing on the side (often called “dressing”).
Feel free to use different brands of sausage and poultry seasoning. This is just how we always made it and I’m sure other brands will work fine. (Bell’s Turkey Seasoning can be hard to find on the West Coast although I have found it online.)
I’ve also substituted turkey breakfast sausage for my friends that don’t eat pork. Just be sure you use breakfast sausage and not Italian sausage. The seasonings are just different. This recipe serves a lot of people but can easily be cut in half.
This is also a great dish to make in advance. You can assemble this whole recipe and put it in a baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge overnight. Just bring to room temperature before baking. This makes this a fabulous make ahead dish for the holidays. I hope you’ll enjoy this tried and true recipe…a gift from my home to yours.
If you are looking for other traditional Thanksgiving dishes, be sure to check out my Cranberry Orange Sauce, or my nod to the canned cranberry sauce we had as kids (only so much better) Jellied Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce, my Easy Turkey Gravy and my Sweet Potato Souffle with Crunchy Streusel Topping. Looking for an entire Thanksgiving menu? I’ve got it. Check out my Thanksgiving Menu for Two if you want to enjoy a quiet holiday.
To get started, be sure you tear your bread the night before and let it sit out overnight to dry. Alternatively, place the torn bread on baking sheets and toast in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. to dry out and lightly toast the bread.
Chop up your veggies and spray a large skillet with cooking spray and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the onions and celery and saute until vegetables are soft. Add the sausage and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and stir into the mix and cook until pork is cooked through.
Once cooked, add to dry bread in a bowl. Whip eggs with a fork and add to the bread in the bowl. Add enough stock to moisten everything. (Start with 1/2 Cup and go from there.) You’ll want to add enough stock until the bread is really moist.
Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and add the stuffing. Cover with tin foil and bake for about ½ hour to 45 minutes.
Check at ½ hour. If it looks dry, add a little more stock.
If you like a crispy topping, uncover the dish the last 20 minutes and let get brown and/or put under the broiler to crisp up the top. Your choice.
Serve the dish with a big spoon and a side of my Mushroom Turkey Gravy.
Looking for other stuffing recipes? Check out some of these:
Nanny’s Stuffing
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 Loaves of good white bread ripped into pieces and left out overnight to dry out.
- 2 16 Oz. Rolls of Jones Pork Breakfast sausage
- 1 Large onion, chopped
- 4 Celery stalks, chopped
- 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 2 Eggs
- Chicken stock (1 Cup – 1 1/2 Cups)
- Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp. Bell Poultry Seasoning
- Cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the onions and celery and saute until vegetables are soft. Add the sausage and break it up with a wooden spoon. Add poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and stir into the mix and cook until pork is cooked through.
- Once cooked, add to dry bread in a bowl. Whip eggs with a fork and add to the bread in the bowl. Add enough stock to moisten everything. (Start with 1/2 Cup and go from there.) You’ll want to add enough stock until the bread is really moist. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray and add the stuffing. Cover with tin foil and bake for about ½ hour to 45 minutes.
- Check at ½ hour. If it looks dry, add a little more stock.
