What’s the best bread for stuffing?

November 19, 2025 by
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With holiday dinners fast approaching, home cooks are preparing the menus for their family feasts. For many, this means a turkey and stuffing/dressing as a side dish. There are many decisions to be made regarding the stuffing, and chief among them is what bread to use. Food & Wine brings us chefs’ top choices for this important stuffing ingredient.

Kish family two-bread stuffing from Food & Wine Magazine

Sourdough bread was the consensus choice, valued for its “complex flavor and robust structure.” Some chefs prefer to mix another bread such as a rich challah or brioche to provide richness. To make the texture more interesting, chef Rosie Mitchell prefers to tear the bread into pieces instead of cutting it with a knife. “Those uneven edges toast up differently, so you get some soft, custardy bites and some golden, crispy ones,” she says.

If you are not a fan of sourdough, there are other excellent options such as the previously mentioned brioche, which makes for a decadent stuffing, baguette, focaccia, and the perennial Southern favorite: cornbread. Chef Christian Gill says that the “touch of tang from the buttermilk and the natural sweetness and texture of the cornmeal give you something both nostalgic and highly functional.” What is your go-to bread for stuffing? I am a heathen and prefer wild rice-based stuffing, but my husband likes bread stuffing so I’m eager to learn about your favorites.

Category: Cooking Tips

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7 Comments

  • franniepie  on  November 20, 2025

    Our old, beloved stuffing recipe used Uneeda Biscuits. Thick, plain crackers which are no longer made. Had to start using Goya crackers as a dupe but they’re near impossible to source now, too. I’m looking forward to hearing what y’all have to say as I may have to start a new stuffing tradition!

  • LeilaD  on  November 20, 2025

    Stove Top.

    All my effort goes into the vegetables, the potatoes, and the dessert, and I’m not a big turkey fan. The meat is always whatever looks good in the store that can sizzle away while I’m concentrating on the goodies I love best. I get nostalgic for my family’s out-of-the-box carbs.

  • anya_sf  on  November 20, 2025

    Sturdy white sandwich bread (see Cook’s Illustrated’s stuffing) or that otherwise awful supermarket “French” bread (see J. Kenji Lopez-Alt’s stuffing). But I also like more artisanal breads, moreso than challah or brioche (just personal preference). Last year I made Kristen Kish’s 2 bread stuffing using both white bread and corn bread and we really enjoyed it.

  • redbird  on  November 20, 2025

    Cornbread. And not the Northern kind that includes flour. Anything other than cornbread stuffing has a gloppy, gluey texture that I just can’t get past.

  • vickster  on  November 21, 2025

    Right after we got married my husband took me to his Texan Grandma’s house to learn how to make stuffing and gravy. She makes stuffing with cornbread and white bread. And she makes white giblet gravy. Both those dishes are still my favorite to this day, 48 years later!

  • demomcook  on  November 21, 2025

    Homemade cornbread. I make it a few days ahead, toast and let dry out well to hold up for the stuffing.

  • rm31knitter  on  November 22, 2025

    I use half sourdough and half cornbread, both toasted. This satisfies everyone!

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