Here's a delicious recipe for classic go-to stuffing (aka turkey dressing) that can either be cooked in, or out of the turkey this Thanksgiving. This version was cooked outside of the bird, but contains plenty of chicken stock and sausage to still have that savory flavor that keeps you coming back to the stuffing dish again and again. Decked out with all the essential crusty breads, hearty veggies, sweet apples and perfectly tart cranberries that makes stuffing shine, this recipe has everything you need to use a perfect base for your own stuffing variations.

Step 1: Ingredients

basics

1 pound loaf of bread
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 large onion
8 stalks celery
4 teaspoons poultry seasoning - mine had sage, thyme, onion, marjoram, black pepper, celery seed, and cayenne
1 1/2 cup broth

fancies

1 pound Italian sausage without the casing - I used Italian turkey sausage
2 teaspoons crushed herbs - I used rosemary and lavender (leaves only)
3 small tart apples
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pecans - I didn't use these, but it seemed like a good idea after the fact

TOOLS

Large saute pan
Baking dish - 13" x 9"
Knife
Stirring utensil

Step 2: Dry Bread

Chop or tear bread into 1" size pieces.

Place chunks in baking dish and bake at 350F until dry. Mine took about 20 minutes.

Since I was using fresh herbs, I broke them up and baked them with the bread too.

Alternatively, you could use day-old bread and dried herbs, or let your bread chunks air dry overnight.

Step 3: Cook Sausage (opt)

The sausage is optional, not *cooking* the sausage.

If not using sausage, skip to next step

Heat pan over med-low heat
If using turkey sausage, add small amount of oil
Add sausage, crumble coarsely and cook until browned.
Remove sausage to baking dish. Drain excess oil if there is any.

Step 4: Cook Veggies

In the same pan, melt 1/4 cup butter
Add onions, celery, apples (opt) and poultry seasoning
Cook until softened: 10-15 minutes

Step 5: Mix It Up

Add cooked veggies to reserved sausage or empty baking dish if not using sausage.
Pile in bread cubes, herbs (rosemary + lavender in this case) (opt), cranberries (opt) and pecans (opt)
Add 1 1/2 cups or so of broth to moisten. I ended up using about 2 cups and some extra salt to taste.

Step 6: Cook It

Whether you stuff your turkey with it or cook it on the side is a personal preference, and one of much debate. Here's instructions for both:

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