✔ Updated · new copycat recipe with step photos
This homemade Stove Top stuffing mix tastes like the box: soft, savory, herby and ready in 5 minutes. Make a jar of the dry mix once and it's there whenever pork chops or a weeknight chicken needs a side.
How Do You Make Stove Top Stuffing at Home? (Quick Answer)
Cut 8 ounces of sandwich bread into 1/2-inch cubes and dry them at 300°F for 25 to 30 minutes. Toss with 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder, dried onion, parsley, celery flakes, sage, thyme, garlic powder and pepper. To serve, boil 1 1/2 cups water with 4 tablespoons butter, stir in the mix, cover off the heat for 5 minutes and fluff.
At a glance
The one tip that matters: Dry the cubes all the way through. If the centers are still soft, the stuffing turns gummy instead of fluffy, so break one open before they come out of the oven.
Why You'll Love This Stuffing Mix
- Five minutes to the table once the jar of mix is made.
- Pantry spices no seasoning packet, and you control the salt.
- Tastes like the box small cubes, chicken bouillon, onion and sage.
- Uses up bread the end of a loaf is perfect here.
- Easy to scale double or triple the mix for the holidays.
What Makes Stove Top Stuffing Different?
Stove Top is stuffing for a busy night: tiny, evenly cut crumbs that soak up hot broth in minutes and turn soft and savory, with chicken flavor and a gentle hit of sage and onion. It's not trying to be a rustic, crusty-bread dressing, and that's exactly why people love it.
My test for any copycat is simple: does it taste like the original, can a home cook make it reliably, and is there a shortcut? Here the shortcut is the jar. Ten minutes of cutting once, and the stuffing itself takes 5 minutes forever after.
Stove Top vs Pepperidge Farm Stuffing
They're both classics, but they cook differently. Stove Top is fine and soft, made on the stove in a saucepan. Pepperidge Farm is bigger, herb-seasoned cubes that you usually bake in a casserole dish with sautéed onion and celery for a crisp top. If that's the one your family grew up with, my copycat Pepperidge Farm stuffing is the recipe to make.
| Stove Top | Pepperidge Farm | |
|---|---|---|
| Bread | Small, fine crumbs | Larger herb cubes |
| Cooked | Stovetop, 5 minutes | Usually baked |
| Texture | Soft and fluffy | Crisp top, moist middle |
| Best for | Weeknights, pork chops, chicken | Holiday casseroles |
Ingredient Notes
Exact amounts are in the recipe card below.
- White sandwich bread: any soft, plain loaf. Slightly stale bread dries faster.
- Chicken bouillon powder: this is where the chicken broth flavor comes from. Two crushed cubes work too.
- Dried minced onion and celery flakes: they rehydrate in the hot water, so you get little bits of onion and celery without chopping.
- Rubbed sage and thyme: the classic stuffing herbs. Rubbed sage is fluffier and milder than ground.
- Butter: 4 tablespoons is the box amount. You can use 2 for a lighter batch.
Step-by-Step Photos
Here's how it comes together. Exact amounts, times and temperatures are in the recipe card below.
Tips for Success
- Sandwich bread, not artisan. The soft, tight crumb of plain white sandwich bread is what gives you that boxed texture. A crusty sourdough makes a chewier, more rustic stuffing.
- Small cubes matter. Half an inch is about right. Bigger cubes don't soak through in 5 minutes and stay crunchy in the middle.
- Low and slow oven. At 300°F the bread dries out without browning much. You want crisp, not croutons.
- Taste your bouillon. Brands vary a lot in salt. I start with 1 tablespoon, and if I'm using salted butter I sometimes go with low-sodium broth instead of water.
- Keep the lid on. The 5-minute rest is where the steam does the work. If you peek, add another minute.
- Mum's pairing. In Mum's Ohio kitchen, boxed stuffing showed up next to pork chops on busy weeknights, and that's still my favorite way to eat it.
- Make a big batch. I triple the mix in November and keep it in a big jar, so Thanksgiving week has one less job on the list.
Stove Top Stuffing
6
servings10
minutes35
minutes180
kcal50
minutesA copycat version of Stove Top stuffing mix: small cubes of sandwich bread dried in a low oven and tossed with chicken bouillon, dried onion, celery, parsley and sage. Store the mix in a jar, then simmer water and butter, stir it in and let it stand 5 minutes. Serves 6.
Ingredients
- For the Stuffing Mix
8 oz white sandwich bread (about 8 slices)
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried celery flakes (or 1/4 teaspoon celery seed)
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- To Make the Stuffing
1 1/2 cups water (or low-sodium chicken broth)
4 tablespoons butter
Directions
- Heat the oven to 300°F. Cut the bread, crusts and all, into 1/2-inch cubes and spread them in a single layer on a large sheet pan.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring halfway, until the cubes are completely dry and crisp all the way through but only lightly colored. Let them cool on the pan for 10 minutes.
- Stir the bouillon powder, minced onion, parsley, celery flakes, sage, thyme, garlic powder and pepper together, then toss with the cooled bread cubes until evenly coated. This is your stuffing mix; store it in an airtight jar.
- To make the stuffing, bring the water and butter to a boil in a medium saucepan.
- Take the pan off the heat, stir in all of the stuffing mix, cover with a lid and let it stand for 5 minutes.
- Fluff with a fork and serve right away.
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Easy Ways to Dress It Up
- Sausage: brown 1/2 pound of breakfast sausage to 160°F, drain, and fold it in after fluffing.
- Apple and cranberry: stir in a handful of dried cranberries and a diced, sautéed apple.
- Fresh herbs: a tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley and a little fresh sage right before serving.
- Stuffing casserole: spread the finished stuffing over cooked chicken and gravy, then bake at 375°F until bubbling and the chicken reaches 165°F.
Storage and Make-Ahead
Keep the dry mix in an airtight jar for up to 1 month. Cooked stuffing keeps in a covered container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days; reheat it to 165°F with a splash of broth so it doesn't dry out. You can also freeze cooked stuffing for up to 2 months.
What to Serve It With
It's made for pork chops (see my side dishes for pork chops), roast chicken and turkey. For a full holiday plate, add Popeyes mashed potatoes and my sweet potato casserole, and you'll find the rest of the menu in my Thanksgiving recipes collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Stove Top stuffing made of?
The boxed mix is seasoned dried bread crumbs with chicken broth, herbs and spices. My copycat uses small cubes of oven-dried sandwich bread tossed with chicken bouillon, dried onion, celery, parsley, sage and thyme.
How much water and butter do I use?
For one batch of mix (about 8 ounces of bread), bring 1 1/2 cups of water and 4 tablespoons of butter to a boil, stir in the mix, cover and let it stand off the heat for 5 minutes.
Can I use chicken broth instead of water?
Yes, and it tastes richer. Use low-sodium broth, because the bouillon in the mix is already salty.
How long does homemade stuffing mix keep?
Up to 1 month in an airtight jar in a cool, dry pantry, as long as the bread was fully dried. If it smells stale or feels soft, toss it.
Can I make it in the microwave?
Yes. Put the mix, 1 1/2 cups of hot water and the butter in a covered microwave-safe bowl, microwave on high for 5 to 6 minutes, then fluff with a fork.
Can I stuff a turkey with it?
I bake stuffing in a separate dish. If you do cook it inside a bird, the center of the stuffing must reach 165°F, the same as the turkey.
How do I make it vegetarian?
Swap the chicken bouillon for vegetable bouillon powder and use water or vegetable broth. The herbs carry most of the flavor anyway.
