Grandma’s Thanksgiving Dressing (2024)

Grandma’s Thanksgiving Dressing is the BEST dressing-stuffing recipe you’ll ever have. It’s super simple to make, and is the perfect addition to turkey and gravy!

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This dressing recipe has been my family’s favorite Thanksgiving side dish for forever! I’ve been pulling the bread for this every year since I was a toddler. It’s super easy to make, you can make it early in the day, or even the day before to save time!

Dressing versus Stuffing?

What’s the difference between dressing and stuffing? Well, the obvious choice would be dressing is not stuffed into the bird. However, the terms are used interchangeably for dressing/stuffing outside the bird. In the south, we say dressing. And, up north they say stuffing. Rumor has it southern belles didn’t like to say “stuffing” so they would say dressing.

Either way, it’s all good and yummy!!

We have our Thanksgiving day menu making down to a science after 30+ years of doing this. Dad starts with removing the giblets and stuff from the turkey, puts them in a pot of water with poultry seasoning, and lets it create a stock for later uses. You’ll want to do this first thing, so it’s ready when you are. It doesn’t need to boil for hours on end – just a good 20 minutes or so. We use this exact 4-quart pot, and fill it 3/4 of the way full with water, after adding the giblets.

I’ll walk you through how to make this dressing recipe.

First, you’ll want to tear up two Italian loaves of bread into 1″ pieces.

I do this first thing in the morning – usually while watching the parade. I’ve been doing this step since I was a toddler! If you aren’t familiar with Italian loaves, they’re the fat, squishy ones in the bakery section. It’s a soft bread, not hard and crunchy like a long french baguette.

Here I am with my dad, ripping up bread at just 18 months!

Second, you’ll sprinkle the spice mixture on top and gently toss it around to coat each piece of bread.

What’s in the Dressing Spice Blend?

• Salt
• Pepper
• Poultry Seasoning

This is the pot of water with the neck and gizzards in it, along with a heavy sprinkling of poultry seasoning.

It’s the Stovetop Stock we need to create the flavor-filled dressing we’re making!

This is what we’ll use to help *moisten* the dressing after the next couple of steps.

Third, we need to chop up some celery with lots of leaves.

You’ll need just the top part of the celery – you want mostly celery leaves, so choose your celery based on this fact.

Chop it all up real fine, along with one medium onion, not pictured.

Fourth, you’ll add the chopped celery and onions to a skillet with TWO sticks of butter.

Yes, two. Just do it and don’t think about it. It’s the holiday season, and you’ll want to have your eating pants on.

via GIPHY

The fifth step is, after the celery and onions have softened, pour them over the seasoned bread.

Stir this around until well coated.

Using the stovetop stock, ladle in the turkey stock and stir each time.

You want the bread to be well coated, not dry, but not soggy. Maybe a cup and half total. Which, depending on your ladle size could be 3-4 ladles full.

Like this! The bread isn’t wilting, but it’s not standing firm either. {Does any of this make sense?!}

I use sounds a lot when cooking – and this shouldn’t have a slurpy sound, you should hear nothing. If you hear that gloppy sound that is so gross, you’ll want to find some more bread and tear it into the bowl.

**If you end up with your dressing with too much liquid, either add some more bread and toss it around or just bake it longer in the oven. That is okay!**

Finally, press into a 9×13 buttered pan.

I like to get my hands wet with a tinge of water, and gently press flat. Cover with foil and set aside until 30-40 minutes before you’re going to serve.

You’ll bake the dressing at 350˚ until the edges and top are browned.

Grandma’s Thanksgiving Dressing is THE BEST part of the day!

Other Thanksgiving Menu Recipes:

• Bacon-Wrapped Green Bean Bundles
• Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes
• Pineapple Cheese Casserole

Here are the items I think are the best to have on hand to make Thanksgiving prep a bit easier!

Helpful Tips for Making Grandma’s Dressing:

• Your bread does not need to be stale. I “pull” the bread apart the morning of Thanksgiving.
• Italian Bread is the fluffy, soft, plump loaf of bread in your grocery’s bakery section. It’s not long and skinny. But, stocky and full.
• This recipe makes ONE 9×13 casserole dish. Enough to serve 8 polite people. 6 people who just love dressing!
• You should be using about 1.5 – 2 cups of stock. Maybe more. Just ladle it in, and as it gets to the consistency where you feel like it’s *moist* enough, stop.
• You can make this the day before! For reheating, either pour a little extra stock on top before baking it at 350˚ or, place a baking dish on the rack below the dressing that is filled with water to create steam in your oven. This helps keep everything moist!
• Storebought stock is totally fine to use if you are not making the turkey! I prefer Swanson’s Unsalted Chicken Broth and will simmer with a chopped onion + poultry seasoning + kosher salt before ladling into the dressing.

If you’re nervous about the Thanksgiving holiday, here’s a How to Guide for Surviving Thanksgiving!

You can save this pin to your Thanksgiving board to use later!

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