Homemade Stuffing

For me, the tastiest Thanksgiving dish has always been stuffing. I grew up on Stove Stop stuffing, cooked right inside the turkey, seasoned with all of the delicious juices from the turkey. I have to humbly admit that I still think Stove Top is the best - even better than my recipe, but my best friend's husband is always disappointed when we don't have homemade for the holidays, so I needed to learn to make my own!

1 454g loaf of french bread 

1 Tbsp. granulated garlic

1/4 cup butter 

1/4 sweet onion

3 celery stalks

1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 

2 cups broth, preferably turkey, but chicken and vegetable both work 

2 large eggs

500 g turkey sausage

1. The day before you want to make the stuffing, cut the bread into very small cubes and spread out across baking sheets to dry.  It is best to cut the bread as small as you can, as it puffs up a lot when the liquid is added.

Proceed with the following steps when you are ready to make the stuffing.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Sprinkle bread cubes with garlic and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Remove from oven and set aside.

3. While the bread is baking, chop the sausage into small pieces, cook fully, and set aside.

4. Dice the onion and celery into small pieces and set aside.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

6. Melt butter over medium-high heat, and then add onion and celery.  Cook 8-10 minutes, or until soft.  Add sausage and mix well.

7. Put bread cubes and sausage mixture in a large bowl and stir.

8. Toss with seasoning, salt, and pepper.

9. Add broth and mix well.

10. Add the two large eggs and stir to combine.

11. If you are baking the stuffing in the turkey, allow the mixture to cool, stuff and bake as normal.  

Or 

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking dish and cover with foil.  Bake for 45 minutes, remove foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Note: If you are planning on baking this inside the turkey, you need to prep this with enough time to allow it to cool.  You don't want to put hot stuffing inside of a raw turkey.