Making this Savory Sourdough Thanksgiving Stuffing is easy to assemble, plus you will want to make it every year because it is that good! The breads I used for this recipe were a Whole Wheat Sourdough Bread from Southern Oregon Sourdough, here in Southern Oregon, and a Brioche loaf.

Homemade Stuffing is Easy to Make!

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The hearty wheat sourdough and the light texture of the buttery brioche paired well together. Adding in the sauteed Onions and Celery with the classic herb flavors of Thanksgiving, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme brings out the best flavors.

Choosing Bread to Use

You don’t have to use Sourdough Bread for your stuffing. Most any bread will work. Where you want to focus is the flavor of the breads or bread you are using.

In the case of choosing sourdough and brioche, the brioche brings in a lighter texture that breaks down easily with the addition of the chicken stock but brings in the buttery sweetness of brioche.

The whole wheat sourdough delivers the tang of sourdough and a denser bread that stands up the liquid that will be added. This will give your stuffing a nice texture. When you ladel gravy over the stuffing, both breads work to soak up the flavorful herbed turkey flavors from the pan drippings.

Other Bread Combinations

If you want to try sourdough bread in a stuffing bit can’t find a whole wheat sourdough, don’t fret. Flipping the script and use a hearty dense sourdough as the backbone and a whole wheat that is lighter in texture but has some nice flavor.

Find a whole grain wheat with some nuts, seeds or oats as an example that will not only deliver flavor but will give a nice twist to the stuffing. You can use a light and fluffy wheat bread but it may not deliver the flavor of a whole grain an may become too mushy in the final stuffing.

Other bread options – skip the sourdough all together and go a different direction. Try cornbread, rye bread, other wheat breads or even what you have stocked up in the freezer. Guilty on the last one, I will throw bread in the freezer such as remaining heels of loaves or that I found on a discount that I think I may use later. Break them out and use in the stuffing to use them up and give mix of textures and flavors to your stuffing.

What About Adding Other Ingredients?

If you want to vary up the ingredients or add additional ones no problem. Many recipes out there have ingredients such as sausage, apples, raisins, mushrooms or oysters. Using the hearty whole wheat sourdough bread will stand up to most any added ingredients.

Savory sausage would be a nice addition to this recipe, the fennel in the sausage would bring in an additional flavors that go with the traditional herbs. The fat in the sausage would add additional flavor to the breads as well.

Drying the Bread is Critical

You can use stale bread for the stuffing ingredients but I prefer to slow dry the bread to get nice crisp cubes like croutons. This will allow the bread to absorb the liquid without much fuss. Using stale bread will work fine but everyone’s opinion of what “stale” bread is different.

Drying the bread at a low temperature is key, 200-225 degrees slowly dries out the bread without browning or burning quickly. In this recipe, since I used two different densities of bread, the brioche dried out and crisped quicker than the higher moisture content of the sourdough.

I had them on the same pan mixed together and continued to dry them at the low temperature and the additional cooking time did not affect the brioche. If you are concerned about the drying time of the different textures of the beads you are using, dry them on separate pans and then combine them after.

I hope you Enjoy the Savory Sourdough Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe, our house did. Now they are asking for it for real Thanksgiving!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!