Copycat Stove Top Stuffing

Halloween 2023. The annual tradition continues in this kitchen that has held every holiday since I started cooking through cancer and came out the other side with a cast iron skillet and a refusal to stop. I am 40 and Halloween means what it has always meant: too much food, the right people, and the gratitude spoken aloud because life taught me that gratitude unspoken is gratitude wasted.

The table is full. Mason (12) and Lily (10) are here, growing taller and more themselves with each passing year. Tom is here, beside me, where he has been since the day he showed up with wildflowers and patience and the quiet understanding that love is not a grand gesture but a daily one.

Brett is here — always here, every holiday, every Wednesday, the constant brother in the wheelchair who has been my anchor since we were children on a ranch that no longer exists. Kyle calls from wherever the Army has him, and his voice on the phone is the voice of the brother who left and came back and left again, and the leaving and returning is the rhythm of this family.

I made butternut squash soup this week, because Halloween demands the food that says: I am here, you are here, we are together, and together is the only word that matters. The recipe is the same as last year and the year before and all the years stretching back to the ranch kitchen where Diane stood at 6 AM making cinnamon rolls for a family that ate them without knowing they were eating love. I know now. I've always known. And I make the food and serve it and watch my family eat and think: this. This is why I survived. For this table. For this food. For these people. For this.

The butternut squash soup is the soul of the Halloween table, but no bowl of soup goes alone in this kitchen — it needs something alongside it that says celebration, something that fills the house with the smell of butter and sage and all the things that make a house feel like home. This Copycat Stove Top Stuffing has been that something for years now: it’s fast enough that I can make it while the soup simmers, familiar enough that the kids ask for it by name, and warm in the way that only bread and broth and a little patience can be warm. It’s the recipe that sits beside the soup and tells the table: you are fed, you are loved, stay as long as you want.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

8 cups day-old white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and dried
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup celery, finely diced (about 3 stalks)
1 cup yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 medium)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus more as needed
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Dry the bread. Spread bread cubes on a baking sheet and let them sit out overnight, or toast them in a 300°F oven for 20 minutes until dry and firm. Set aside.
Cook the vegetables. Melt butter in a large skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Add celery and onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened and translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Season the base. Stir in sage, thyme, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the broth. Pour in 1 3/4 cups chicken broth and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Combine with bread. Add the dried bread cubes to the skillet and stir gently to combine. Fold until the broth is absorbed and the bread is evenly moistened. If the stuffing seems dry, add additional broth 2 tablespoons at a time until it reaches your preferred texture.
Steam and serve. Reduce heat to low, cover the skillet, and cook for 3–5 minutes until the stuffing is heated through and slightly fluffy. Taste and adjust salt and pepper. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Copycat Stove Top Stuffing — The Holiday Table That Means We Made It