Step 1

Begin by tearing or cutting your loaf of bread into bite size pieces, about 1-2 inches. Spread pieces onto a dry pan and bake at 250 F for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. You don't want to brown the bread; just get it nice and toasty (the better to absorb broth!)I don't recommend letting your bread sit out overnight. It turns stale and tough; we want crispy and toasty bread, to get that perfect texture stuffing.

Step 2

While your bread is toasting, prep the veggies. Chop the onion, using 2 small onions if you don't have a large one. You need about 3 and 1/2 cups chopped onion. Onion brings the flavor, so don't skimp.Chop the celery into about a 1/4 inch dice. Usually I like tiny celery pieces, but not for stuffing. You need it to be a little more substantial. I love the flavor or celery leaves, so I always chop starting from the end of the whole head of celery (see photos), but you do you.

Step 3

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 4

Add 2 sticks of butter (1 cup) to a large skillet and set over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add all the celery and onions. Saute over medium heat for about 7-10 minutes, until they are soft but not browned. Normally when you're sauteing, you only need a little bit of fat, but here we've got a full cup, so it's practically swimming in it. That's okay. We need all that butter to soak into our toasty bread!

Step 5

Meanwhile, chop up all your herbs. Chop 1/3 cup parsley, 1/4 cup sage, and 1 tablespoon each rosemary and thyme. **

Step 6

Add all the toasted bread pieces to a large bowl. Add the chopped herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Add all the onion and celery mixture to the bowl with the bread.

Step 7

Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons kosher salt (use about 1 and 1/2 teaspoons if you have table salt) and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Stir it all together and make sure all that butter is distributed. Give it a taste and adjust seasonings if you like.

Step 8

In another bowl or large glass measuring cup, add 2 cups high quality chicken broth. Whisk in 2 eggs. Slowly pour this mixture over the bread in increments. Use your hands to squeeze and moisten the bread, making sure it all gets absorbed and mixed together. The bread should be moist but not soaked. There should not be liquid pooling at the bottom of the bowl. You may not need to use all of the liquid; it depends on how much bread there is and how toasty it is. Stuffing is an art my friends, so use your best judgment. Add 1/2 cup more broth if necessary.

Step 9

Meanwhile, grease the sides and bottom of a 9x13 inch pan* with about 1 tablespoon softened butter. Pour the stuffing into the pan and spread to the edges.(At this point you can cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. See notes!)

Step 10

Cover the stuffing with foil and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for another 25-35 minutes until it is as brown and crispy as you like.

Step 11

Store leftovers in the fridge. Baked leftovers can also be successfully frozen, see notes!