Meghan
A delicious basic dressing recipe perfect to serve with chicken or turkey, especially on Thanksgiving!
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 35 minutes mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
- 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
- 3/4 cup onion (diced small)
- 1 cup celery (boiled and diced small)
- 1 loaf white sandwich bread (frozen and cubed into ½-inch cubes- crust and all)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 3/4 cup celery water (hot)
- 3/4 cup chicken stock (hot)
- chicken or turkey gravy (optional)
Boil pieces of celery until soft. Remove strings. Reserve 2/3 cup of the water the celery was boiled in and keep warm.
Finely dice celery and onion.
Melt butter in pan, sauté onions and celery until soft.
Combine the celery water and chicken broth in a measuring cup, making sure it is hot (heat it up if it’s not).
Add bread cubes to a large bowl/pan, add the salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Add the cooked onion/celery mixture and the hot celery water/chicken stock. Stir until the bread is moist. It is better to have the bread too moist than not enough because it will be baked.
Spoon the bread mixture into a small baking dish (such as 7x11-inch for a full batch, 9x13-inch for a double batch). Do not flatten it out – leave little hills and valleys for the turkey juice or gravy to settle into.
Bake covered at 350°F for around 40 minutes, then uncover for the last 20 minutes to brown (cook time total of 1 hour). You may also add gravy to the top intermittently during the baking process, but not the last 20 minutes because you're looking to get that crispy top.
Notes: Aunt Suey always doubles this recipe for Thanksgiving. The dressing needs at least 1 hour in the oven depending on how deep the pan is. Cook at 400 degrees F for a double batch.
Source: Adapted from my Aunt Suey and my Mom
You're Gonna Bake It After All
bakeitafterall.com
Keyword side dish, Thanksgiving, vegetarian