I loveeeee Thanksgiving. We typically have at least three Thanksgiving’s to visit on the actual holiday and we do a mini one just for us. This year, we actually made a pre-pre Thanksgiving at my sister’s house which you can check out over here!
But, first, I wanted to share a recipe and pictures for one of my favorite side dishes – the stuffing! I know there is a big debacle about whether you say dressing or stuffing, but I’ve never used the word dressing unless we are talking about a salad, so that’s my stance on that.
I don’t throw hate on boxed stuffing because it totally has it’s time and place and honestly this recipe takes a bit of prep work. But, it is oh so worth it. Between the freshly baked bread, sautéed fennel and fresh herbs, you’ll never reach for that red box again. Trust me, this stuffing is totally worth the time commitment.
Oh, and it has wine in it, so obviously it’s delicious. Make sure you grab a bottle that you also enjoy to drink because you don’t need too much for the recipe. I won’t lie, I usually won’t spend more than $15 on a bottle of wine because I’m not a super heavy drinker and I don’t want to waste the money if I don’t finish the bottle. But, I did really like this one that I picked up at Weiland’s, a local market in Columbus.
The other trick to making this stuffing so delicious is to use fresh herbs. I will say that I’ve had an aversion to fresh rosemary post-pregnancy with O (which is super weird) but I didn’t mind it at all in this recipe! For all your mama’s out there, are there any foods you can’t eat after having a baby? I can’t be the only one. I’m also still annoyed that my foot size grew and never went back down. Pregnancy is weird.
Okay, so if you follow us on Instagram, you know we are moving right now so we have so many things packed … including our big mixing bowls. So, we used my Kitchen Aid 6qt mixing bowl to prepare the stuffing. It looks kinda silly not using it in the mixer, but hey, it worked.
Luckily, I hadn’t packed my cake pan so we were good to go there! Yes, this recipe makes a 9×13 totally full cake pan and you’ll want to lick the pan. I personally would bake it long enough so the edges are starting to brown and get those nice little crunchy parts of goodness. Gah, why do we only make Thanksgiving food once a year?! I’m busting this baby out in May, mark your calendars my friends.
The nice thing about preparing it in this pan is that it will stay warm forever! If you are serving it at the home where it’s cooked, just leave the foil on and take it off when ready to eat. If you are transporting it, you can actually prepare 1-2 days in advance, let it cool, toss in the fridge, then reheat for about 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees F to get it nice and hot and delicious.
What’s your favorite Thanksgiving side dish? Tell us in the comments and don’t forget to tag us on social when you make our recipes!
Herb and Fennel Stuffing
Ingredients
- 2 lbs loaf of country-style bread torn into 1in pieces
- 1/4 cup canola or olive oil
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 1 fennel bulb finely chopped
- 4 celery stalks finely chopped
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks
- 1 cup fresh parsely chopped
- 1 pack fresh poultry blend of herbs sage, rosemary, thyme
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Instructions
- Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 250°. Arrange bread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, tossing occasionally, until dried out, about 1 hour. Let cool; transfer to a very large bowl. Increase oven temperature to 350°.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook onions, fennel, and celery, stirring often, until softened but not yet browned, 8–10 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring, until almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add butter and cook, stirring, until melted, about 3 minutes. Scrape vegetable mixture over bread in bowl and mix in parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Whisk eggs and broth in a medium bowl to combine.
- Pour over bread mixture; fold gently until thoroughly coated.
- Put stuffing mixture into a 13×9″ baking dish and pack stuffing down.
- Cover with foil and bake until you can see some bubbles around the edges of the dishes, 30–35 minutes.
- Increase oven temperature to 425°. Uncover stuffing and bake until top is golden brown and crisp, 20–25 minutes. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
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