Easy Crock Pot Stuffing
Take your bread stuffing to the next level with this easy Crock Pot Stuffing! It’s a delicious Thanksgiving side dish that’s made completely from scratch, it frees up precious oven space, and it can be prepped entirely in advance!
The only stuffing I knew growing up was from a red box. You may know the brand I’m talking about. 🙂
I was never a huge fan of it, and basically smothered it with homemade turkey gravy to try and make it better.
A reader asked me a while back to do a twist on homemade stuffing in the slow cooker, and I was intrigued. I never stuff my turkey, so it made perfect sense to try it.
I also figured that my Crock Pot mashed potatoes worked wonderfully, so I had nothing to lose.
I was truly amazed by how much we all loved this Crock Pot Stuffing recipe. It was completely demolished (without gravy!), and it instantly became my go-to stuffing recipe.
If you’re hankering for a lower carb option, be sure to try my low carb riced cauliflower stuffing. It’s full of flavor and I promise you won’t miss the bread. 🙂
Why you’ll love this recipe:
- This Crock Pot Stuffing is golden brown, flavorful and made completely from scratch.
- It cooks in the slow cooker, freeing up precious oven space.
- It’s easily customized with your favorite bread and herbs.
- It makes a special Thanksgiving side dish or Sunday dinner.
Recipe ingredients
- Bread. This homemade stuffing is elevated with fresh bread that’s cut into cubes. It’s important to use stale bread, so the bread cubes can be baked until crispy or left out at room temperature for a day or two until it’s stale. Use your favorite variety of bread such as country loaf, sourdough or french bread.
- Aromatics/veggies. This stuffing includes leeks, garlic, celery and fennel, which add flavor and texture. You can customize this recipe by using a variety of your favorite chopped veggies.
- Herbs. I love using fresh herbs for maximum flavor, but if you don’t have any on hand, use half the amount of dried herbs. This recipe includes sage, rosemary and thyme, but you can customize this stuffing with your favorite herbs.
- Eggs. The eggs act as a binder for the stuffing.
- Stock. This is essential to moisten the stuffing. Use chicken, turkey or vegetable stock to make it vegetarian.
- Butter. The butter adds nice flavor and richness. It may be substituted with oil to make this recipe dairy-free.
How to make slow cooker stuffing
This bread stuffing recipe is made completely from scratch, and everyone will taste the difference.
It starts with fresh bread, which is cut into cubes and left out to become stale.
Pro tip: Prep the bread cubes 1-3 days in advance, or in a pinch bake in the oven until toasted.
See the recipe card below for full instructions.
- Cut the bread into cubes and leave out at room temperature 1-3 days or until stale. Or bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until crisp. Place in a large bowl.
- Sauté the leeks, celery and fennel in butter on the stove top for about 5 minutes or until softened, then add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and cook 30 seconds more.
- Whisk the vegetable stock with 2 eggs until combined.
- Stir the vegetable mixture into the dried bread cubes and toss well.
- Add the egg-stock mixture to the bread mixture and toss well to coat.
- Place the bread mixture into the greased slow cooker and cook on high for 30 minutes, then on low for 1-2 hours until heated through.
Recipe FAQs
The key to great stuffing starts with a good loaf of bread. I used country loaf, but crusty french, sourdough, whole grain or even white bread would work as well.
Making your own bread cubes takes a little extra time than using boxed stuffing, but it’s so worth it! And since Thanksgiving only comes once a year, we may as well make the stuffing count.
The bread must be stale to achieve the right texture in your stuffing, and this can be done a couple of ways.
Cut the bread into cubes when you get home from the store and let it sit out at room temperature for a few days until nice and stale, or bake it in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or until dried.
From there, the bread cubes can be left out at room temperature for a day or so until your ready to make your stuffing.
I prefer to cook the stuffing on high heat for at least 30 minutes to get it nice and hot quickly and get the edges a bit crispier. After 30 minutes, I decrease the heat to low and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until cooked through.
Recipe notes
- Pro tip: Prep the bread cubes 1-3 days in advance, or in a pinch bake in the oven until toasted.
- Be sure to check the stuffing for doneness after about 1 1/2 hours as all slow cooker temperatures vary. The edges of the stuffing will burn if it’s overcooked.
- Customize the stuffing with your favorite bread, herbs, veggies and stock.
- The stuffing may be cooked in advance and left in the slow cooker on warm until ready to serve, just be sure to check that the edges aren’t burning.
More delicious Thanksgiving side dishes!
- Homemade dinner rolls by The Stay At Home Chef
- Fresh cranberry orange sauce
- Homemade green bean casserole
- Instant pot mashed potatoes
- Sweet potato casserole
- Yukon gold mashed potatoes
Did you try this recipe? If so, be sure to leave a review below and tag me @flavorthemoments on Facebook and Instagram
Easy Crock Pot Stuffing
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 ounces bread such as country, sourdough or french cut into 1" cubes; no need to remove the crust
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large leek halved and sliced into half moons
- 2 stalks celery coarsely chopped
- 1 small fennel bulb chopped (optional)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable stock use another 1/2 cup if needed
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
Prepare the bread:
- The bread must be stale for this recipe. Either leave the bread cubes out on the counter for a few days until stale, or bake at 300 degrees in the oven for 30 minutes or until crisp.16 ounces bread such as country, sourdough or french
Prepare the stuffing:
- Spray the inside of the slow cooker with cooking spray and place the bread cubes in a large bowl.
- Heat the butter in a sauté pan over medium low heat until melted. Once melted, increase the heat to medium and add the leek, celery and fennel. Cook 5 minutes or until softened, then add the garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and cook 30 seconds longer.6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 large leek, 2 stalks celery, 1 small fennel bulb, 4 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pour the vegetable herb mixture over the bread cubes and mix well to combine.
- Place 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock in a 2-cup measuring cup and add the eggs. Whisk or mix together with a fork until well combined and pour it over the bread mixture. Stir until the bread is coated with the stock-egg mixture and add more of the remaining 1/2 cup stock as desired — I only needed 1 1/2 cups.1 1/2 cups low sodium vegetable stock, 2 large eggs
- Pour the bread mixture into the slow cooker and spread evenly. Cook on high heat for 30 minutes to get the outer edges crispy, then decrease the heat to low and cook for 1 – 2 hours longer or until heated through. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Pro tip: Prep the bread cubes 1-3 days in advance, or in a pinch bake in the oven until toasted.
- Be sure to check the stuffing for doneness after about 1 1/2 hours as all slow cooker temperatures vary. The edges of the stuffing will burn if it’s overcooked.
- Customize the stuffing with your favorite bread, herbs, veggies and stock.
- The stuffing may be cooked in advance and left in the slow cooker on warm until ready to serve, just be sure to check that the edges aren’t burning.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
**This recipe was originally posted in November 2018. The photos have been updated, step by step photos have been added, and the text has been modified to include more recipe information.
8 Comments on “Easy Crock Pot Stuffing”
I’m lucky enough to have two ovens but I still think using a slow cooker for the stuffing is a great idea…especially if it does get brown and crispy.
Extra oven space is ALWAYS a good thing on thanksgiving! I have never tried making stuffing in a crockpot before – such a good idea!
This is a genius idea! There is never enough room in my oven or on my stove top to make all the dishes I want, so I’m always looking for ways to use my slow cooker to free up space. Making the stuffing in the slow cooker is such a great idea. And I love how it still gets the crispy edges. I’ll be trying this one for sure Marcie!
I never thought to cook stuffing in the slow cooker…I’m so glad one of my readers gave me the idea! Thanks so much Leanne!
Marcie, I love that you got this idea from a reader’s suggestion! It is a really good idea – hosting those big dinners always means scheduling oven space so if you can free it up by using the slow cooker, you’ve got a win!
I really wondered if the texture would suffer by cooking stuffing in the slow cooker, I was amazed by the results! Thanks Katherine!
This stuffing looks absolutely fabulous, Marcie!! 😍
Thank you so much Arpita!