Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe for Two

I’ve mentioned before that stuffing is my families favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal, so I had to have a post devoted to it this year.  This stuffing or dressing recipe makes about 4 servings so it’s perfect for a single serving Thanksgiving dinner with leftovers, or for a couple.  You can stuff it in a bird if you want, but I tend to make it in a casserole dish so I know it’s cooked through and don’t even have to think about food poisoning.  This year I decided to take that one step further and cooked it in individual servings.

If you cook yours in individual serving dishes just check it at 10, 15, and 20 minutes to make sure it doesn’t burn.  This is basically my hodgepodge stuffing that I wrote about last year, but I cleaned up the recipe AND I have a nicer camera now!  I love stuffing because it’s a simple side that tastes amazing and uses ingredients I usually have on hand.  In fact I just served it with pomegranate chicken for lunch the other day, and often make it just for a snack.  You don’t have to save stuffing for the holidays!!!

I HIGHLY recommend simply using a baguette or other bakery (or homemade) bread for stuffing rather than the stuffing mix in a bag or box.  The first is that it gives a better texture, but the most important is that it’s CHEAPER!  A loaf of French bread is usually $1 at our local store, I just checked and the bag of “stuffing” is $4 on sale!!!! Just make sure to cut your bread into chunks that are 1/2 inch or 1 inch at the most, and let them dry out a bit.  If you’re in hurry, just toast them lightly in the oven before mixing everything together.  One last important step is to make sure to leave any excess broth in the mixing bowl.  You don’t want the dressing to be too soggy.  Oh yeah, and if you don’t have chicken broth on hand you can make some from bullion.

Easy Thanksgiving Stuffing

Ingredients

12-14 inch length crusty french bread
1 shallot
1 celery stalk
3 cloves garlic minced
1 TBS butter
salt and pepper
2 cups chicken broth

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut bread into 1/2 inch chunks. Chop shallot and celery then saute with garlic in butter until tender.

Season lightly with salt and pepper then mix into the bread in a large bowl. Pour in enough broth to well moisten the bread. Mush with your hands to absorb the liquid and slightly break apart bread chunks.

Dump into a baking dish (with out any excess broth) and pat down. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden and crusty on top.

Approximate cost/serving: It only costs $1.45 to make the whole dish.  It serves two as a single side, or 4 with multiple sides like for Thanksgiving.  So only 36 cents a serving.

Vegetarian: You can make this vegetarian by subbing vegetable broth for the chicken broth.