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Your holiday meal just got easier with this prep ahead slow cooker stuffing. The perfect Thanksgiving {or Christmas} side dish!

Don't Stuff the Bird! Slow Cooker Stuffing

The absolute tastiest stuffing for your Thanksgiving dinner, without all the fuss!

Course Side Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Thanksgiving
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 25 minutes
Servings 16 people

Ingredients

  • 14 Tbsp butter
  • 2 cups onion chopped
  • 2 cups celery chopped
  • 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp poultry seasoning *see substitute in notes
  • 4 Tbsp fresh parsley chopped
  • 1 Tbsp fresh sage chopped (or 1/2 tsp. dried sage)
  • 1 Tbsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 12 cups dry bread cubes
  • 2 cups chicken broth or as needed
  • 2 eggs beaten

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, mushrooms, and garlic and saute in the butter, stirring occasionally, until onions and celery are soft, about 8 minutes. You may add up to 1/4 tsp. salt about halfway through cooking to bring out the flavors of the vegetables.
  2. When the vegetable mixture is done cooking, turn off the heat and add the poultry seasoning, parsley, sage, thyme, marjoram, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
  3. Put the bread cubes into an extra large mixing bowl. Pour the vegetable mixture over the bread and mix. Pour in 1 cup of broth, to start. Add the beaten eggs. Mix everything together and dump into a slow cooker that is at least 4 quarts.
  4. Cover the slow cooker and turn it on low. Let the stuffing cook for two hours and check the consistency at this time. If it seems a bit too crunchy for your taste, add up to 1 cup of broth. Stir well.
  5. Check the stuffing again two hours later. If you like the consistency, turn off the crockpot (or turn it to warm). If it seems too crunchy for your taste, add 1/2 cup broth and stir. Let cook for another hour.

Recipe Notes

I have made this with a poultry seasoning substitute when I didn't have any in my pantry. I just used 1/4 tsp. dried thyme, 1/8 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ginger, and 1/4 tsp. oregano. I do realize this doesn't add up to 1 tsp. but it worked for me.

You may use any type of bread for this, but make sure it is dry. I have used both dry bread cubes from the store and homemade Italian bread, which I toasted in the oven to dry.

If you don't have any fresh herbs or don't want to spend the extra money on them, you can use dried ones. It may not be as yummy, but it will work just fine.

Adapted from Allrecipes - Gayle Wagner