Challah Bread Stuffing

Ingredients

1.5 pounds challah bread cut into generous 1-inch cubes

0.5 cup turkey drippings or melted unsalted butter plus more for greasing pan

2 cups celery small-diced, from about 3 large ribs

2 cups leeks or yellow onions small-diced, from about 2 large leeks or 1 large onion

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary minced

1 tablespoon fresh sage minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme minced

0.5 cup flat-leaf parsley packed, chopped

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

3 cups vegetable, chicken, or turkey broth

6 tablespoons melted butter for drizzling

Equipment

Baking Dish

Frying Pan

Baking Sheet

Foil

Directions

One day, two days, or even the night before: You can either spread your challah cubes on a large pan or even loosely pile them in the baking dish you’ll use for the final stuffing and leave them to dry anywhere you can find a surface. If you didn’t do this and need to make the stuffing right now, spread them on a baking sheet and dry them in the oven at 300°F until firm but not brown.

Heat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add challah cubes to the dish.

In a large frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter over medium heat. Add celery, leeks, half the salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the celery is mostly tender and onions are translucent and sweet, about 10 minutes. Add sage, rosemary, and thyme and cook for one minute more.

Sprinkle over challah cubes along with parsley. Use your hands to gently disperse the vegetables through the challah, being careful not to let all the vegetables fall through to the bottom.

Add remaining salt and pepper to the broth. Pour it over the challah. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Increase the oven heat to 425°F. Remove the foil and drizzle challah with remaining 6 tablespoons of melted butter. Return the pan to the oven and bake the stuffing for another 15 minutes, until the top edges are crisped and it’s nicely browned on top.

Serve right away or reheat when needed at 350°F with foil on.