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Thanksgiving Dressing

Thanksgiving Dressing

Meghan
A delicious basic dressing recipe perfect to serve with chicken or turkey, especially on Thanksgiving!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 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)

Instructions
 

  • 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

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