Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe perfect for Thanksgiving! (2024)

Here’s a how-to guide to making stuffing in a CrockPot! This slow cooker recipe for everyone’s favorite holiday side dish is perfect for Thanksgiving! Do you call it stuffing or dressing? I have always called it stuffing, but recently, I have seen it called a dressing for Thanksgiving

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe perfect for Thanksgiving! (1)

Crockpot Stuffing Recipe

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This recipe is so easy to make! The hardest part is cutting up all the bread and slicing the celery and onions. Outside of that, the Crock Pot does all the work.

When I made this recipe, I thought it would take a lot more bread than it does. I went out and bought four loaves of bread and started cutting up the bread.

After the first loaf, I realized the Crock Pot was full.

We ended up with tons of sandwiches for lunch after making this recipe. John laughed and asked if I planned to feed an entire army with my four loaves of bread.

I don't know why, but I thought it would take more bread than one loaf. Oops.

I made this with all white bread since that is what John and our neighbor requested. When I make it again, I will mix a few different types of bread to add flavor to the stuffing.

We love making this CrockPot Dressing with a mix of white, sourdough, and wheat bread. The multiple flavors add a great combination of colors to the dressing and flavors.

If you love slow cooker crockpot recipes and are looking for time savings and making life easier on Thanksgiving, check out this list of Thanksgiving Crock Pot Recipes!

I love using the CrockPot to make a crazy day a lot easier! You can save oven space and know that your stuffing is being handled and will be amazing!

The slow cooker makes making this classic Thanksgiving dinner side dish easy; it’s our go-to Thanksgiving stuffing recipe.

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe perfect for Thanksgiving! (2)

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of the simple ingredients needed to make an epic Crock Pot Dressing! The printable recipe card at the bottom of the post includes specific measurements and step-by-step instructions.

  • Dry Bread Cubes
  • Celery
  • Onions
  • Sage
  • Salt
  • Chicken Broth or Vegetable Broth
  • Unsalted Butter

Optional Add-ins: Dried Cranberries, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Sage, Parsley, Poultry Seasoning, Mushrooms, Sausage, Thyme, Your Favorite Herbs, and Pepper to Taste

Equipment Needed

  • Knife or Kitchen Scissors (to cut bread into pieces)
  • Non-Stick Cooking Spray
  • Kitchen Spoon/Spatula
  • CrockPot: We suggest using a CrockPot with a digital timer that automatically switches the temperature to warm after a set time to ensure your dinner cooks perfectly without stressing about cooking time.
  • Serving Dish

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe perfect for Thanksgiving! (3)

How to Make CrockPot Dressing

I've included complete instructions in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post, but here's a quick version.

  1. Combine all ingredients, minus the butter, until well mixed.
  2. Toss the mixture with butter.
  3. Cook on low

Preparation and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make uncooked stuffing beforehand, but freeze it immediately after mixing! According to the USDA, raw dressing grows bacteria when kept in your refrigerator.

Storage: Store your CrockPot Dressing in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy it within four days. The USDA also recommends keeping leftovers unrefrigerated for no more than two hours.

Freezing/How to Freeze: Keep leftover portions in an airtight, freezer-safe container or Ziploc bag and enjoy them within three months.

How to Reheat: The USDA doesn’t recommend your Crock Pot Stuffing leftovers in the slow cooker. Instead, reheat leftovers using your microwave or stove, depending on how many people you serve. You may need to add some broth to moisten it before reheating.

Recipe Variations

Substitutions: We use a mix of wheat, white, French bread, and sometimes sourdough bread, depending on what we have. The best bread is what you have available.

Vegetarian Option: Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth to make this Crock Pot Stuffing recipe vegetarian.

Vegan Option: Vegans should use plant-based bread and butter to make this classic Thanksgiving recipe vegan.

Gluten-Free: Gluten-free eaters should use gluten-free bread to make this recipe gluten-free.

Smaller Serving Size + Larger Group/More Servings: This recipe makes 12 servings. Scale it up or down to your desired yield, keeping in mind that you may need to work in batches if you scale up.

Make It Spicy: Add red pepper flakes for stuffing with a kick.

Sugar-Free: The written recipe contains 3 grams of sugar per serving. The amount of sugar depends on the bread you use, so check the label before you buy.

Tips for the Best CrockPot Dressing

  • If you have a large bowl, mix everything in there before pouring it into the CrockPot. Just wait to pour the butter until everything is in the slow cooker.
  • If you want to dry the bread pieces ahead of time you can spread them on a baking sheet and let them sit out for a day or heat them in the oven.

What to Serve with CrockPot Dressing

No holiday dinner featuring turkey as the star protein is complete without dressing (or stuffing, depending on how you call it)! Here are some menu planning suggestions for your next Thanksgiving, Christmas, or holiday meal.

Sides: Pineapple Stuffing, Carrot Soufflé, Creamed Corn Casserole, Crock Pot Mashed Cauliflower, Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes, Jiffy Cornbread with Sour Cream, CrockPot Sweet Potato Casserole, gravy

Main Dishes: CrockPot Turkey Crock Pot Bourbon Maple Pork Loin, , , Crock Pot Orange Glazed Ham, Crock Pot co*ke Glazed Ham, Bourbon Baked Ham

Desserts: Eggnog Cookies, 4 Ingredient Christmas Crack, Easy Holiday Reindeer Chow, Church Window Cookies, No Bake Cherry Cheesecake Dip, Easy Eggnog Cake with Eggnog Glaze, Ambrosia Salad, Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball, Cranberry Fluff Salad

Drinks: Eggnog White Russian, Spiced Cranberry co*cktail, Cranberry Moscow Mule, RumChata Pudding Shots, Pomegranate Breeze Martini, Mulled Cherry Cider co*cktail

When to Serve

  • Dinner
  • Potlucks
  • Thanksgiving meal
  • Christmas
  • Any Holiday Dinner!

Great Slow Cooker Holiday Recipes

CrockPot Turkey

CrockPot Corn Pudding

CrockPot White Hot Chocolate

Crock Pot Ham

Crock Pot Candied Sweet Potatoes

Crock Pot Glazed Carrots

CrockPot Sweet Potato Casserole

Check out all of our CrockPot Thanksgiving Recipes and vegetarian CrockPot meals!

Do you love recipes? Check out our copy cat recipes, dessert recipes, and our Crock Pot Recipes.

Follow Tammilee Tips on MSN,Facebook,Instagram,Pinterest, andTwitterfor all of our recipe posts.

If you are running out of crockpot and need to use the oven or stove top don't worry you can make the always delicious Campbells Green Bean Casserole and Cracker Barrel Carrots.

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe perfect for Thanksgiving! (4)

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe perfect for Thanksgiving! The slow cooker makes this recipe so easy to prepare

3.86 from 7 votes

Print Rate

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 12

Calories: 271kcal

Author: Tammilee Tips

Ingredients

  • 14-15 cups Bread Cubes about 1 loaf of bread
  • 3 cups Celery chopped
  • 1 ½ cups onions chopped
  • 1 ½ Teaspoon Sage Spice
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 ½ cup Chicken Broth
  • 1 ¼ cup Butter melted

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients minus the butter until well mixed

  • Toss with butter

  • Cook on low for 4-5 hours

Kitchen Tools

  • Slow cooker

  • Vegetable Chopper

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 271Calories from Fat 180

% Daily Value*

Fat 20g31%

Saturated Fat 12g75%

Cholesterol 50mg17%

Sodium 660mg29%

Potassium 183mg5%

Carbohydrates 18g6%

Fiber 2g8%

Sugar 3g3%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 710IU14%

Vitamin C 4.3mg5%

Calcium 69mg7%

Iron 1.3mg7%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Love this recipe?Follow @TammileeTIps on Pinterest

Tried this recipe?Mention @TammileeTipsLife when you share a photo!

Recipe originally shared on September 7, 2015. Updated October 2020, November 2022

Crock Pot Stuffing Recipe perfect for Thanksgiving! (2024)

FAQs

Should you make stuffing the day before or the day of? ›

"Make-ahead stuffing freezes well and can be made as much as two months early if stored in the freezer properly," Tiner says. "Stuffing that is made ahead and only refrigerated should be used within seven days."

How soggy should stuffing be before baking? ›

The stuffing should be moist but not wet. If there is a puddle of broth at the bottom of the bowl, you've added too much. Add more bread to soak up the excess moisture. If the mix is still dry and crumbly, add more liquid and toss gently until it starts to clump together.

Should I put eggs in my stuffing? ›

Eggs: Two lightly beaten eggs help hold the dressing together and add moisture. Water: You can add a few tablespoons of water, if you'd like, to achieve your desired consistency. Seasonings: This turkey dressing recipe is seasoned with salt, pepper, rubbed sage, and garlic powder.

What is the difference between Thanksgiving dressing and stuffing? ›

"Stuffing is cooked in the cavity of the turkey, so the juices soak into the ingredients, making it more flavorful. Dressing gets cooked on its own and needs extra liquid to make it flavorful." So stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked outside the bird, usually in a casserole dish.

Can you prepare uncooked stuffing ahead of time and refrigerate? ›

If you don't plan on stuffing the bird, but preparing the dressing as a side dish, you can prepare uncooked stuffing ahead of time as long as you freeze the stuffing immediately after mixing the wet and dry ingredients. USDA recommends that you never refrigerate uncooked stuffing.

Can I make stuffing the night before and reheat? ›

Absolutely. Most Thanksgiving stuffing recipes can be made at least partially in advance since: A) They're easily assembled a day or two ahead of Thanksgiving Day; and B) They're often baked using a two-step process (once covered with foil to cook through, then uncovered to achieve a crispy top).

Why can't you refrigerate uncooked stuffing? ›

Because stuffing is an excellent medium for bacterial growth, it's important to handle it safely and cook it to a safe minimum internal temperature as measured with a food thermometer. Here are some common ques- tions consumers ask. Stuffing should not be prepared ahead.

Why is my stuffing gummy? ›

If the stuffing came out too wet and soggy (aka bread soup!) try not to over mix it, otherwise it'll turn into mush. Curtis Stone says to pour it on a large sheet tray and spread it out. Bake it on high heat to crisp it up, but make sure it doesn't burn.

How do you keep dressing from getting gummy? ›

And if your dressing is still too mushy after baking, you can add more crumbled cornbread, dry bread, or even dry breadcrumbs or croutons to absorb excess moisture.

What is traditional stuffing made of? ›

Classic stuffing made with bread cubes, seasonings, and held together with chicken stock and eggs. A holiday staple!

Can you mess up stuffing? ›

Your Bread Is Too Fresh

There's nothing better than soft, fresh bread—except for when it comes to stuffing. If you want your stuffing to hold up and not end up a soupy, soggy mess, make sure your bread is dried out or staled for a few days.

Should stuffing be cold when putting in turkey? ›

Give stuffing a head start by heating it up before placing inside the turkey. Like the turkey, stuffing needs to reach the 165 degree mark. If the bird is done before the stuffing, remove stuffing from the cavities and continue to cook in a baking dish.

What do Southerners call stuffing? ›

But for the Thanksgiving side dish in the South, the term dressing was adopted in place of stuffing, which was viewed as a crude term, during the Victorian era. Although dressing and stuffing are interchangeable terms, the signature ingredient of this Thanksgiving side dish in the South is cornbread.

Is stuffing the same as dressing black folks? ›

The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish, in which case it may still be called 'stuffing', or in some regions, such as the Southern US, 'dressing'. This is from Wiki. Basically, everyone except a tiny percentage of Black people with family in Alabama calls it stuffing.

What is stuffing called when it's not in a turkey? ›

Stuffing and dressing are commonly used as different names for the same thing—a dish consisting of bits of bread (or other starchy things) and various seasonings. The dish can be made by stuffing it (hence the name) inside a turkey or other bird that will be roasted, or by baking or cooking it separately.

Can you refrigerate uncooked stuffing overnight? ›

Do not refrigerate uncooked stuffing. If stuffing is prepared ahead of time, it must be either frozen or cooked immediately. To use cooked stuffing later, cool in shallow containers and refrigerate it within 2 hours. Use it within 3 to 4 days.

Is stuffing better the next day? ›

Game-Changing Stuffing Recipes

But by morning the next day, the pillowy, soft layers of what's essentially a bread-and-butter casserole have undergone a drastic transformation. They've become even better-tasting leftovers. It's the only side dish that does this.

Should I leave bread out overnight for stuffing? ›

If you use soft, fresh bread, you'll ultimately wind up with a soggy, mushy stuffing. So, how do you dry bread for stuffing? There are two ways to go about it. If you've planned your Thanksgiving dinner ahead of time, you can cut your bread into cubes and leave them out to become stale overnight.

Does stuffing keep overnight? ›

Most stuffings can be prepared a day ahead and stored in the fridge overnight. In the US a stuffing that is cooked in a separate dish is known as a "dressing".

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