Mushroom & Herb Bread Stuffing recipe

Mushrooms and herbs add a delicious earthy flavour to this easy bread stuffing recipe that can be made in the oven or stuffed into a big ole turkey. No need to wait until Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy though. This bread stuffing recipe makes a great side dish any time of the year.

Stuffing in my house is just as important as the roasted turkey at Thanksgiving dinner and every family has its own special recipe. My mom just used onions and spices and loaded it up with black pepper and to be honest it was never my favourite. My mother-in-law takes a whole different path and makes meat stuffing. Sort of like having a meatloaf stuffed into the turkey with red peppers and herbs. It is delicious but not traditional by any stretch.

My recipe is a take on a traditional bread stuffing but with the addition of fresh herbs and cremini mushrooms giving it a lovely earthy and savoury flavour that I just can’t get enough of.

Ingredients You’ll Need for Bread STuffing

• Bread cubes – Cut a crusty french style bread into 1″ cubes and dry them out. firmer crusty style bread holds together best when combined with the chicken stock.
• Onions – Rough chopped. I prefer to use white or yellow onions.
• Celery ribs – Adds a little crunch and texture to the stuffing.
• Mushrooms – Button or Cremini mushrooms are best because they are firm, easy to find and offer a nice earthy flavour.
• Butter – Used to sautee the onions, celery and mushrooms with and the fat helps to crisp up the bread when baked.
• Chicken stock – The moisture that makes stuffing what it is. Soft and custard-like on the inside with a little crunch on the outside if baked in the oven. Helps to soften the bread and blend all the flavours together.
• Garlic – Minced fine.
• Parsley – Fresh is best but if you can’t find fresh use only 1 1/2 tbsp of dried parsley.
• Sage – Rough chop fresh sage leaves and then rub the pile of chopped sage between your hands to release the oils. You can also purchase dry rubbed sage but only use 3/4 of a tsp for dried in this recipe.
• Rosemary – Packs a punch of flavour so use sparingly. Remove the rosemary leaves from a fresh sprig and rub between your hands to release the oil. Then dice finely. Use 1 tsp of fresh or 1/4 tsp dried.
• Poultry Seasoning – Various herbs and seeds ground up. The fine grind helps to more easily incorporate the herbs throughout the recipe adding great things to many holiday recipes like turkey, chicken, gravy and stuffing.
• Salt and pepper

Methods for drying bread for stuffing

If you have time – Then cut a large loaf of crusty french style bread up into 1″ cubes and lay out flat on a cookie sheet overnight or for a few hours. Turn the pieces over about 3-4 hours in so that both sides can dry out fully.

I don’t think ahead and always get stuck waiting to the last minute so ….

The fast way – Cut the french crusty bread into 1″ cubes like above and layout on a cookie sheet. The place in the oven which as been pre-heated to 250 F for about an hour and a half. Turning them over halfway through to make sure they dry out on both sides. This will also give you a chance to take a look at them. Every oven is different so if they are dry earlier take them out. You do not want the bread to brown.

Making the mushroom bread stuffing

After you have the bread dried in the fashion that suits you are your poor planning which is usually my case you can now move on to actually making the stuffing.

Can you stuff the turkey with this stuffing?

Yes! I usually don’t though because it means that you need to cook your turkey longer and risk drying the turkey out. Baking inside the turkey means that the juices from the turkey will run into the stuffing that is in the bird which adds flavour but also adds the potential risk of salmonella poisoning.

If you are fine with the additional cooking time be sure to use a meat thermometer stuck all the way into the centre of the turkey where it will reach the stuffing and ensure the internal temperature reaches 165 F before eating.

The addition of the chicken broth and butter adds all the fat and flavour you will need so I highly recommend baking separately in the oven.

If you would like to learn more about baking the stuffing inside the turkey this site is a great resource. Click here.

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For the step-by-step version of this recipe, check out the How To Make Butter Smothered Green Beans & Cashews Story.

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