Thanksgiving Dressing
A delicious basic dressing recipe perfect to serve with chicken or turkey, especially on Thanksgiving!
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
