Thirty-six hours before the cooking-est day of the year in America is as good time as any to for us to talk about some hard-won cooking truths: There’s the idea of the perfect menu (all of my favorite recipe darlings in one place) and then there’s the actually perfect menu (the one you can pull off in a reasonable amount of time with as little stress as possible; darlings, murdered.) This is the kind of recipe we use when we come to our senses.
The reasoning is deliciously selfish: I’m not throwing feasts to miss them. I want to be wedged on the sofa between friends I never see enough of with a cocktail in my hand, telling terrible stories, not sweating in the kitchen because I forgot to wash the thyme leaves before stripping them and now my fingertips are worrisomely gray? (This is highly specific because it happens all the time.) Nobody I know or care to hang out with is going to care if I chuck the thyme in the trash and move on. The way I want to cook is — excuse the crushing earnestness here — the way I want to live; little extraneous noise in my recipes, lots of noise in the living room. Repeat after me: The time for the 4-process side dish is when it’s the only thing you’re making.
Which brings us to the stuffing I began making when I started hosting Friendsgiving dinner vs. contributing to Thanksgiving Official in another home. It began in a kind of silly way. After shooting this episode earlier one fall, we ended up with a serious surplus of challah dough. I shoved it in the freezer in a big plastic bag and then, as I was trying to figure out the best bread to use for stuffing, I took it out, braided it up, brushed it with egg and made the sloppiest challah you’ve ever seen and what turned out to be the simple, easy to scale, easy to replicate forever, stuffing of my dreams — just celery, leeks, and herbs and although you can add diced mushrooms or sausage or use onions instead. This is an extremely flexible recipe, but the simplest route is all you’ll need.
You’re about to say, “Deb, you just told us about a very simple stuffing recipe that starts with making your own challah? You’ve finally snapped!” Which means it’s time to channel my queen, Ina Garten: store-bought is fine! Barring that, and high in the category of things I probably could have mentioned last week but am not, as you probably know by now, “on top of things” or “organized” or “great at adulting despite being too old for it to be charming” is that my challah recipe makes two loaves. Two! You can have your challah (whenever you want) and save the other one for whenever. Further, my challahs clock in at 2 pounds but you truly only need 1.5 to fill a 9×13 dish as shown, meaning that you’ll have snacks or French toast or other formats of great glutenous joy with the other half. It’s the holidays, after all, and yours should be exactly this good.
Previously
Six months ago: Exceptional Grilled Chicken
One year ago: Cabbage and Mushroom Lasagna
Two years ago: Endive Salad with Toasted Breadcrumbs and Walnuts
Three years ago: Brussels Sprouts, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad
Four years ago: Pecan Pie and Roasted Leek and White Bean Galettes
Five years ago: Classic Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Praline Sauce
Six years ago: Apple-Herb Stuffing for All Seasons
Seven years ago: Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette
Eight years ago: Sweet Potato and Marshmallow Biscuits
Nine years ago: Creamed Onions with Bacon and Chives and Sweet Corn Spoonbread
Ten years ago: Creamed Spinach
Eleven years ago: Meyer Lemon and Fresh Cranberry Scones and Winter Fruit Salad
Twelve years ago: Pumpkin Waffles and Nutmeg-Maple Cream Pie
Thirteen years ago: Classic Grilled Cheese + Cream of Tomato Soup
Challah Stuffing with Leeks and Celery
- 1.5 pounds challah bread (storebought or 3/4 of one of these), cut into generous 1-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup turkey drippings or melted unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
- 2 cups small-diced celery (from about 3 large ribs)
- 2 cups small-diced leeks or yellow onions (from about 2 large leeks or 1 large onion)
- 1 tablespoon each minced fresh rosemary, sage, thyme
- 1/2 cup packed, chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 3 cups vegetable, chicken, or turkey broth
- One day, two days, or even the night before: You can either spread your challah cubes on a large pan or even loosely pile them in the baking dish you’ll use for the final stuffing and leave them to dry anywhere you can find a surface. Oh you didn’t do this and you need to make the stuffing right now? Spread them on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven at 300°F until firm but not brown.
- Should you wish to add [insert whatever stuffing ingredient you wish was here, like sausage or mushrooms], you absolutely can. I’d normally add about 2 cups diced mushroom, sauteed with the other vegetables. You can also brown up 1/2 pound of sausage you like and add it with the vegetables.
- I like some stuffings torn and others cubed; this is cubed. Challah is already on the tender size and they don’t need any help crashing into each other. Cubes provide better overall texture.
- If the photos look generous, it’s because I’m making a double batch because I do think you should have two pans for more than 16 people. Nobody will want to go easy on this.
- Finally, and this is the biggest piece, I don’t add eggs by default. Egg bind stuffing together so but I like it kind of loose. (Although “bound” stuffing is better for next-day stuffing waffles, just saying.) However, I know everyone is like me and should you wish to add eggs, add two large and whisk them into 1/2 cup less broth than written below, then continue as written, however you might find you need up to 10 extra minutes (on top of the 20) foil-on for the eggs to set. That’s it!
- Finally, thanks to Cathy Barrow for loosely inspiring this one five years ago, although I’ve, like a good little bird, flown off on my own.
The day of, at any point, or an hour before you want to serve the stuffing: Heat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. I always forget to do this. Don’t forget. It will absolutely stick if you don’t. Add challah cubes to the dish.
In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add celery, leeks, half the salt and pepper, and cook, stirring here at there, until the celery is mostly tender and onions are translucent and sweet, about 10 minutes. Add sage, rosemary, and thyme and cook for one minute more. Sprinkle over challah cubes along with parsley. Use your hands — it’s so much easier this way — to gently disperse the vegetables through the challah, being careful not to let all the vegetables fall through to the bottom.
Add remaining salt and pepper to broth (although if your broth is very salty, maybe you will want less) and pour it over the challah. Challah is very tender, even when stale, so it doesn’t need soaking time.
Cover pan tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then increase the oven heat to 425°F. Remove the foil and drizzle challah with remaining 6 tablespoons of melted butter, you don’t want to skimp on this. Return the pan to the oven and bake the stuffing for another 15 minutes, until the top edges are crisped and it’s nicely browned on top.
Serve right away or reheat when needed at 350°F (foil-on because it’s already well-browned.
Other ways to make this ahead: You can just bake it for the foil-on portion the day before and blast it at the higher heat before you serve it, although if it’s coming from the cold fridge, it may need 20 minutes, not 15.
Tools: This is my forever easy favorite baking dish, although I’m down to 2 of them after dish-cident this weekend, woe.
Notes:
Oh Deb, I love you and your practicality and I can’t wait to try this out, it looks like the perfect texture!!
Yummmm!! This is not helping with my pre-Thanksgiving work motivation…
So I have sone leftover no knead brioche dough from making cinnamon rolls this week. Would that be an ok swap for the challah or too sweet?
Local bakeries only make challah onFridays, but recommended brioche as a substitute. According to the baker, “It will bring your guests to their knees.” We shall see, and I’m game to try!
Go for it — it’s a little sweeter but not a lot.
Oh goodness, I just spent time trying to casually coax a fellow friendsgiving-er to use your hollowed-out-onion stuffing recipe, and now I want this simple one instead!! Fortunately, as long as there is stuffing, I will be happy – and there WILL be stuffing.
omg you’re supposed to wash thyme?! sh#t Happy Thanksgiving!
Yup. Perfect. I added chopped apples with the celery etc. and because there is a vegetarian in the mix, I used mushroom broth.
Please advise about freezing challah dough. I’m excited. It’s time for holiday baking and challah is one of my favorite gifts.
Oh and by the way challah makes the absolute best bread pudding.
OMG you are hilarious!!!! Happy holidays!!! <3
Thanks for two thanksgiving recipes in a week! Happy challah-daysss ;)
I really appreciate your comment about adding eggs (or not). I’m making a cornbread dressing, but was stumped about whether or not to add eggs and now I’m definitely going to go ahead and add eggs. (I’m trying to re-create a recipe i lost in a breakup many, many years ago!)
Cheers!
Can this be stuffed in turkey or is it too delicate?
You shouldn’t stuff a turkey with stuffing at all, it’s a food safety hazard!
The warning is against stuffing a raw turkey the night before, to save time. Even if it’s refrigerated, bacteria from the raw turkey can enter the stuffing. You can still make the stuffing in advance as long as you pop the bird in the oven shortly after stuffing it. (If you type the word “stuffing” enough times, it starts to look funny.)
It can be stuffed!
I’m so pleased to see that your stuffing is basically what I’ve been making since forever. Now I’m sure there isn’t a better way! Two things I figured out over the years: 1. I bake challah once a year, for Rosh Hashanah. The second one always gets well wrapped and saved for my Thanksgiving stuffing. 2. As simple as this stuffing is, I sometimes make my life even easier by throwing it together a week or two in advance and freezing it in a big Ziplock bag. I am in the “with eggs” camp, so Thanksgiving morning I defrost, add the eggs beaten with a little broth, put it in a buttered dish and bake it off.
Thanks for another winner recipe, and a very happy Thanksgiving to you and your people.
For those who hate stripping leaves off of thyme, strip off most of the branches and then insert each stem through an opening in a small strainer and slowly pull the stem through the bottom of the strainer. The leaves will end up in the strainer, and if the tender portions at the tops of the stem come off as a whole, they are tender enough to go into the cooking with the leaves.
This reminds me of my Mom’s delicious stuffing but being from the south she added cornbread to the bread mix and chopped hard boiled eggs.
Deb, this is without question, the BEST stuffing I have ever made! New tradition, 100%. Used homemade turkey stock… added eggs and mushrooms…forgot the parsley, but WOW!!
Glad to hear this, because other than forgetting the parsley, your version is my planned version.
What temp should the oven be to dry out the brioche? 300?
300 is usually fine; 275 if you have more time.
When do you add the parsley??
When you add the vegetables to the challah cubes.
Made this exactly as written and it was perfect. Baked it yesterday through the “foil-on” part as Deb directed and then drizzled the butter on today and baked it after the turkey came out. Worked perfectly and we are all so glad we went with the last minute change to our menu!
Thanks for explaining the term “bound” stuffing — I never used eggs until this year so it’s nice to know the right name for what I made today. Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Loved it. Best stuffing I’ve ever had. Funny thing is that I already had my challah made and was using Barrow’s recipe then saw yours and decided to use yours. Thanks so much!
I made this for TG dinner. It was a huge hit. I doubled the recipe, except for the butter drizzled on top. Twelve people ate the entire double recipe (which was a little unfortunate in the sense I was hoping for leftovers). Next year I will add the mushrooms.
Classic stuffing, just like my mom & grandma used to make, and just like I make every year. I made essentially this, but with just a few changes. First, I always do onions (no leeks). I’m with you on the looser stuffing, too–no eggs. Second, no challah (although I will definitely try that sometime!) My mom and I have always just used plain white bread, but this year, I did 1/2 dried-out french bread and 1/2 rosemary bread from Trader Joe’s. It was fantastic! Also, that little drizzle of butter at the end is mandatory and life-changing. Thank you!
This is pretty much how my Mom has always made stuffing, and it’s always been the best stuffing I’ve ever had. Although we use white bread, onions and no herbs (and sometimes water instead of broth if we don’t have any…. It’s still amazing!). Our most important rule that should never be broken is “always use too much celery!”.
I’ve made sausage, leek, and challah stuffing for ages. My go to move for even more hands off thanksgiving is to do the stuffing in the crockpot. I just throw it in in low when I start the turkey- and then I have no issues with timing, or jostling for room in the oven.
If you are a stuffing purist, read no further! Last year I had grown tired of my Jane Brody-inspired dried fruit and bread stuffing, and I decided to test drive something new. I thought through the steps of making stuffing: starting with flour or corn meal, adding liquid, baking (drying it out), cubing and “staling” (more drying out), adding liquid, and then baking for another drying out. Feeling that all this back and forth between wet and dry is somewhat ridiculous, I merged Peter Reinhart’s whole wheat challah, Deb’s fig, olive oil, and sea salt challah, and my usual stuffing ingredients into what I call “stuffing bread”. It’s a braided challah with a paste of apple, leeks, celery, nuts, dried cherries, dates, garlic, and spices. It feels more sane and my family says they love it, but maybe they are humoring me!
I made this, with the egg, and with a loaf of potato bread because no challah at the store. It was delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
I have been making a variation of this recipe for years. I thoroughly moisten 8 to 10 cups of challah cubes in broth in a large mixing bowl.
When I add the sauteed celery, onion, herbs and mushrooms, I also add the broiled and finely diced turkey liver and a generous addition of poultry seasoning with ginger. Then I mix it all with 2 large beaten eggs and bake it in an oiled baking dish at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes until browned. My family says it isn’t Thanksgiving without it! Sometimes I still place scoop or two in the turkey. It’s even better that way.
This was a hit at Thanksgiving. Actually thinking of making it soon again, cause there were almost no leftovers! :)
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A little late (or early for Thanksgiving, but I just came across your recipe for Challah Stuffing. The link no longer works and I’m wondering about your favorite baking dish. Is it still made?
Yes. It’s this one.
Thank you! My family is full of egg/mushroom/sausage-averse folks. This looks perfect for everyone and still delicious.
I have never posted before but have read much of this site. As I prepare for thanksgiving this year I particularly appreciated the introduction to this recipe. While I will not be shoving myself between friends on the couch this year, I hope that next year I will be doing exactly that. Stay safe everyone.
Challah is out of the oven and cooling. I usually make Julia Child’s decontructed turkey which calls for separating the breast from the thigh/legs. Brining the breast, and deboning the thighs and seasoning them, but keeping legs attached. All of this is then cooked on top of the uncooked stuffing. Will the Challah hold up to this? I would reduce the stock added by a third due to the drippings from the bird. My only concern is cooking time. It takes about 2.5 hours to cook the full breast. Would love any thoughts on this
Personally, I cook my stuffing separately (you can drizzle it with turkey drippings for a similar effect) so it’s not forced to align with the turkey’s different roasting time.
I just got back from the final store trip and my challah loaf is only 1 lb. we are serving 8 (outside) and I’m adding sausage. We have a ton of other food but also feeding mostly guys. Would it be enough to adjust other ingredients for missing bread or should I be extra and make my own? Just spitballing here but if I make my own could I use the additional dough to make something like rolls?
Is the resulting stuffing sweeter because of the Challah bread?
so when you leave the chunks of challah out to dry overnight, do you cover them?
No, but I don’t have any pets, wanted or other.
I put my bread cubes in a 9×13 pan and draped a tea towel over the top, tucked in all around. No “pets” here either, but just felt better to have it covered. Worked great! And the stuffing is DELICIOUS.
I make this year after year and it is fantastic. My niece and nephew wrote to get the recipe. This year I am short on time and oven space. Can I put this together in the morning, and then cook it later in the day. I use eggs so I would be refrigerating it. Any problems?
The flavor of this stuffing/dressing is amazing! Definitely a win and my favorite stuffing recipe I’ve ever used. I used regular onions, veggie broth with a teaspoon of white miso for some umami, added some veggie sausage and a small-diced apple. So delicious!
A note for others using store-bough challah: I used store-bought and it had a much lighter (less plush, more dry and open) texture than homemade. Consequently, the 3 cups of broth was too much, and it was very soggy when I pulled it out at the originally suggested time. I’m sure people who make stuffing/dressing often would know as they poured in the broth that it was looking too soupy, but if you’re a novice like me, just a heads up to pour in a little at a time and see how your bread is holding up! (And if it is too soggy when it comes out, just bake a bit longer or turn it out onto a baking sheet, break it up, and let it dry out that way.)
Very similar to my mom’s beloved, amazing stuffing except: (1) she used 3 counts of challah and one count of bakery white bread air-dried for a couple days and (2) she added a cup of hand-crushed cornflakes to the dried bread. They pretty much melt into the stuffing but provide an indescribable something extra.
I made this for tiny quarantine Thanksgiving this year, and my parents LOVED it. My mother who doesn’t like stuffing loved it.
This was perfect for all of the 1/3 loaves of challah leftover from past shabbats. Thank you!
Would these leftovers make a good stuffing waffle?
This was perfect!! No idea why I haven’t been using challah for stuffing all this time. One of our number is allergic to celery, so we used leaks, mushrooms, and parsley. Otherwise everything else according to the recipe. It was super, thank you, Deb!
Can I substitute Earth Balance butter for the unsalted butter snd if so how much?
It should work 1:1 by weight or volume
Can you make this in a Bundt pan? (Looking to conserve space on the table!)
Hi Deb – can you suggest a celery substitute that is not mushrooms? Thanks.
Leeks, or more leeks, or a combination of leeks and fennel.
Deb, how many cups of bread cubes are you getting from 1.5 pounds of challah? We’re making a gluten free version and I’m trying to determine the quantity for a more dense bread. Thanks for your help!
Truth. So you say 1.5 pounds of challah. Challah usually comes in one pound, so we’ll need to get two, right? Is this because as you let the challah sit out to dry it gets nibbled on? I definitely have THAT going on around here!! LOL!!!
Is there a food more perfect than stuffing?
I’m Polish, living in States with my American husband and children. Since I’m not a turkey fan, we always had prime rib. This year, I’ve decided to try turkey for the first time (I’m 60!). And as always, I go to your blog to help with recipes.
It took me 2 days and 5 store trips to find challah bread. Finally found challah rolls at Whole Foods (we live in a Dallas suburb of chain restaurants, fast food places and not much of a foodie area).
I followed your recipe as written, using leeks, and fresh herbs. And, OMG, the best thing ever! There were NO leftovers. I should have made double, just like you suggested (we only had 6 people!). We are going to have prime rib for Christmas, and I AM making it as a side dish.
And by the way, your “apple thing” is my daughter’s favorite desert 😀
Recipes look delicious! Do you have a recipe for the Challah?
Yes. My recipe makes 2 loaves. You’ll need just shy of one of them for this stuffing.
Want to make Challah stuffing.
Deb, do you know if stuffing like this can be assembled and frozen ahead of time (cooked or uncooked)? I’m not sure if there would be a big impact on texture or flavor, since there’s no green veg or fruit here.
I have not frozen it personally but I aside from the changed texture of frozen and defrosted celery etc. I think it would be just fine.
This is not unlike our family’s challah stuffing, but we add fried up shredded carrots & sometimes a chopped apple making it a veggie heavy side….
Hi, my daughter has celiac. Can I make the stuffing with gluten free bread?
Thank you, DBC
Made this stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner, and it was a huge hit. I made it with a round French loaf and it was great. The butter finish is excellent.
This dressing recipe is fantastic! The challah is important. Do not skimp.
I made the recipe as written, even though I worried I would miss eggs or custard. I didn’t! This is wonderful, and I will make it again next Thanksgiving.
The post is very informative and helpful. You and everyone else are doing a great job. Go on.
After reading this recipe of yours, this dish has become my favorite because you have used many good ingredients in it. Apart from this, this Jalen Hurts NFL Philadelphia Eagles Varsity Jacket is also my favorite which is a complete wear for winter.
Third time making this. Twice with Deb’s challah recipe and this year with store bought. Always a hit, even subbing vegetable stock this year because we had so many vegetarians to table. Important especially with the store bought to get it good and dry before starting the rest of the recipe
After reading this recipe of yours, this dish has become my favorite because you have used many good ingredients in it. Apart from this, this Jalen Hurts NFL Philadelphia Eagles Varsity Jacket is also my favorite which is a complete wear for winter..
Deb, I know this is late, but could we put this stuffing in the hollowed-out onions? Is there any reason it wouldn’t work?
Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you a million times for all the great recipes and witty commentary!