Turkey Dressing

The backstory

This recipe is one of Grandma’s signature recipes–the ones she either developed herself or adapted from dishes she grew up with in England–and has been enshrined in our family lore. No matter where we ate for the holidays, no matter who was cooking what, Grandma always made the dressing. 

She did have some help from my mother and my two aunts. Throughout the year, they would tear the ends of their bread loaves into crumbs and place them in the freezer. Then, when it was time to make the dressing, they would bring their stash to Grandma’s house and add the crumbs to her large Tupperware bowl. When Grandma was older, my dad would also help by tasting the uncooked dressing and telling her if it had enough sage. Her tastebuds had dulled with age, which was a real shame because this dressing was one of the best things about Thanksgiving. 

So, since this recipe is tried and true, what is there to test? Not a thing. However, I would like to share a minor adjustment I’ve made to the process. We’ll get to that in a minute.  

How to make Grandma’s Turkey Dressing

As stated above, the recipe begins with crumbs. Lots of them. Grandma always filled a big Tupperware bowl, but that was a double version. For a regular batch, one loaf, or about 12 cups of crumbs, is sufficient. The recipe specifies a loaf of homemade bread–and maybe that's one of the secrets to its deliciousness. However, if you’re not lucky enough to have a mother who bakes homemade bread for you every week . . . 

 . . . then you can buy a good quality loaf and tear it into crumbs.  Notice that the crumbs below vary in size. In other words, they don't need to be perfectly uniform. However, you don't want huge hunks, either. I recall Grandma grumbling because one of my aunts didn't tear her crumbs small enough.  

Next, add the herbs and salt to the crumbs. This part can be done the night before. Just cover the crumbs and let them sit until you’re ready to add the rest of the ingredients. 

The preparation of the vegetables is where my process diverges from Grandma’s. She added the raw onion, carrot, celery, and apple directly to the crumbs. I like to saute them with some margarine (or butter) first to make sure they are thoroughly cooked. I often do this the night before as well. 

I chop and grate everything as Grandma specified. 

I then saute it all with two tablespoons of butter until the onion is clear and the vegetables soften. This mixture can then be placed in the fridge, which makes putting everything together on Turkey Day a cinch.   

On the big day, the only thing left to do is melt the 1/2 cup of butter, add the beaten egg, and stir this and the sauteed vegetables into the crumbs. If you are stuffing a turkey with this dressing, feel free to pack it fairly tightly. If, however, you are baking the dressing in a pan, you might want to add a little chicken broth if it seems dry. Just add a quarter cup at a time until the dressing is uniformly moist but not gloopy. 

Grandma says to bake it in a loaf pan for one hour. However, if you are baking all of the dressing outside the turkey, you’ll need a bigger dish, such as a 9 x 13-inch. 

Cover with foil and bake it at 325 - 350 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour. If you like it a bit crispy, remove the foil for the last 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can cook it in a crockpot by placing it on high for the first 30 minutes, then turn it to low for 4-5 hours. 

The verdict

Try it and let me know what you think. I already know what I think and that is that Grandma’s Turkey Dressing is simply the best.

Click on the link below the recipe card to download and print it out.