Best Gluten Free Dressing Recipe for Thanksgiving

This homemade gluten-free dressing is a delicious crowd-pleaser! It’s also easy to make, crispy on the top and soft inside. You can bake it the day before and it reheats like a dream on Thanksgiving Day.

Once you see how easy it is to make gluten-free dressing for the holidays, you may never buy a box of gluten-free stuffing mix again. 😀

This is my mom’s gluten-free dressing recipe for Thanksgiving. She makes the best dressing and it was always my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. And Christmas too, in my family we have turkey and stuffing for both holidays. Anyone else?

Her recipe is perfect if you have a family member on a gluten-free diet. And if you don’t mention it, no one else should notice the difference between gluten-free stuffing and regular stuffing.

I made a couple small changes to her original recipe – adding fresh parsley and using individual dried herbs, rather than the poultry seasoning she uses. Poultry seasoning is a combination of marjoram, sage, thyme, rosemary, pepper and nutmeg. I use all of those, except the nutmeg.

Now let’s dive into mom’s recipe for the best gluten-free stuffing for the holiday season!

(Teaser…I made it this Thanksgiving for a friend who is gluten-sensitive, and she said it’s the best stuffing she has ever had.)

Ingredients to Make Gluten Free Dressing

This gluten-free recipe is made with simple ingredients and none of the preservatives and additives you’ll find in stuffing mix from the grocery store.

Gluten-free bread – One loaf of stale gluten-free bread. The bread can be sliced, or unsliced and should be dry and stale when you use it to make dressing. Fresh bread absorbs too much liquid, resulting in mushy dressing. Read my tips in the FAQ section for how to dry out bread to make stuffing, and my tips for the best bread to make gluten-free stuffing.

Celery – one cup of diced celery (small pieces)

Onion – one cup of finely chopped onion

Parsley – two cups of rough-chopped fresh parsley (smells sooo good when you chop it!)

Dried herbs – marjoram, sage, thyme, rosemary and black pepper bring delicious flavor to this dressing. See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities of each.

Butter – one stick of unsalted butter (half a cup)

Gluten-free chicken broth – 3 cups of a good low-sodium chicken broth

How to Make Gluten Free Dressing

Homemade gluten-free stuffing is surprisingly easy to make from scratch. Yes you can buy a box of gluten-free stuffing mix. Or, you can make it from scratch with the additional step of softening up some fresh onion, celery and parsley on the stove top.

1. Prepare the ingredients

Cut the stale bread into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes. One loaf of gluten-free bread will yield about 10 cups of bread cubes.

Have the other ingredients measured out and within easy reach.

2. Make the stock mixture

Warm a large pot or dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the warm pot.

When the butter is partly melted, add the chopped celery and onion. Stir often until the celery and onion are softened. This will take about 10 minutes.

Add another tablespoon of butter to the pot along with the fresh parsley. Stir until the parsley is soft, about 2 minutes.

Add the rest of the butter to the vegetable mixture along with the dried herbs.

Use a wooden spoon to break up the butter and stir well for about 3 minutes until the butter is melted and the herbs are moistened.

Pour just 2 cups of the chicken stock into the pot and stir to integrate. This is your stock mixture.

3. Combine the stock mixture and bread cubes

Next, remove the pot from heat and add all of the gluten free bread cubes to the stock mixture.

Stir gently to incorporate the bread into the stock mixture until every piece is moistened. If needed, add a little more more chicken broth just until the bread is moistened – but not soggy.

Don’t worry if some of the bread crumbles into pieces, it will firm up again as it bakes.

If you accidentally add a little too much broth, that’s OK, it will just take longer to bake.

4. Bake the dressing

Carefully transfer the stuffing mixture to a casserole dish. You can use a round CorningWare dish, or a rectangular casserole dish. Do not cover dressing while it bakes.

Bake the dressing initially for 25 minutes in an oven that’s preheated to 350 F. After 25 minutes the top of the stuffing will be turning golden brown and crisp, but the inside will still be moist.

Remove the baking dish from the oven and gently stir to bring the moist dressing to the top. Place it back in the oven for 15 minutes.

Secret Trick for the Best Dressing:

Continue to stir and bake at 15 minute intervals until the dressing is just right based on your personal preference. Expect this to take up to an hour and a half. To keep that delicious texture on the top, do not stir before serving!

This little hack of stirring the dressing while it bakes is my mom’s secret trick for the best stuffing. It ensures the middle is light and fluffy, while the top is crispy. It’s also a great trick to prevent the top of your dressing from burning while the middle is still cooking.

Dressing can be served straight out of your baking dish, or spooned into a large bowl and placed on the Thanksgiving table.

Leftover gluten-free stuffing should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It reheats well in the oven or microwave the next day.

Tip: Before reheating, sit the dish at room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes.

Recipes to Serve with Dressing

Savory dressing is a pairing made in heaven with cranberry sauce, turkey and all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings. But it also goes well with chicken and veggies any week of the year.

I mean it’s nice to have dressing as a once a year treat – but why limit ourselves?!

• Homemade Organic Cranberry Sauce
• Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
• Simple Roasted Acorn Squash

And if you want to try dressing made with sourdough bread, I have a delicious sourdough stuffing recipe for you.

More Gluten Free Recipes

Here are a few more easy recipes that are gluten-free.

• Gluten-Free Beef Stew on the Stovetop
• Grass-Fed Meatballs without Breadcrumbs
• Gluten-Free Apple Crisp

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best bread for making gluten-free dressing?

My favorite gluten-free bread for making dressing is millet bread. Millet bread it made with millet flour, rather than all purpose flour, which is naturally gluten-free. I avoid gluten-free bread with added sugars, gums and unhealthy oils (ex. canola, soybean).

You’ll find millet bread (and other types of gluten-free bread) at healthy grocery stores and food co-ops. In the area where I live, Sami’s Bakery is an easy to find brand of gluten-free bread. My friend Kevin uses DeLand Bakery millet bread and my Mom uses Udi’s gluten-free sandwich bread. They all make delicious dressing that I’ve tasted.

How to dry out bread for stuffing?

Here’s a hack to dry out bread in a pinch when you need it to make stuffing.

Chop the bread up into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes and spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Use more than one baking sheet if needed. Leave the bread cubes on the counter overnight, for at least 12 hours until they are dry and no longer squishy to touch.

What’s the difference between dressing and stuffing?

The term dressing and stuffing are often used interchangeably, but they are actually a little bit different. Per it’s namesake, stuffing is stuffed inside the turkey and cooks while the turkey roasts. Whereas dressing is baked in a separate dish.

How to fix soggy dressing?

If you’re concerned because your dressing is too moist, here’s a trick to dry it out. First, be sure to try my mom’s trick of stirring and baking the dressing in intervals – as I explain in the recipe card below.

If that isn’t working fast enough, remove the dressing from your baking dish and spread it out on a large rimmed baking tray. Place it back in the oven for about 10 minutes. Exposing more of the dressing to the dry heat of the oven will help pull out the moisture more quickly.

Can I use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth in this dressing recipe?

I do not recommend using veggie broth instead of chicken broth, but I also haven’t tried it. My hunch is that because veggie broth is seasoned differently than chicken broth, the combination of flavors may not taste as delicious.

Vegetable broth is also seasoned with some of the same herbs we add to this recipe, so it may create an overly strong combination of certain flavors. If you need a vegetarian or vegan dressing recipe, I recommend searching for one that has been tested.

Best Gluten Free Dressing Recipe for Thanksgiving

This homemade gluten-free dressing is a delicious crowd-pleaser! It’s also easy to make, crispy on the top and soft inside. You can bake it the day before and it reheats like a dream on Thanksgiving Day.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 8

Ingredients

  

• 1 loaf gluten-free bread
• 1 stick unsalted butter i.e. 1 cup
• 1 cup celery cut into small pieces
• 1 cup onion finely diced
• 2 cups parsley rough chopped
• 2.5 tsp dried sage
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 3 cups gluten-free chicken broth you'll use 2-3 cups of it

Instructions

 

• Cut the stale bread into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes. One loaf of gluten-free bread will yield about 10 cups of bread cubes.

  Have the other ingredients measured out and within easy reach.
• Warm a large pot or dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the warm pot.

  When the butter is partly melted, add the chopped celery and onion. Stir often until the celery and onion are softened. This will take about 10 minutes.
• Add another tablespoon of butter to the pot along with the fresh parsley. Stir until the parsley is soft, about 2 minutes.
• Add the rest of the butter to the vegetable mixture along with the dried herbs.

  Use a wooden spoon to break up the butter and stir well for about 3 minutes until the butter is melted and the herbs are moistened.
• Pour just 2 cups of the chicken stock into the pot and stir to integrate. This is your stock mixture.
• Next, remove the pot from heat and add all of the gluten free bread cubes to the stock mixture.

  Stir gently to incorporate the bread into the stock mixture until every piece is moistened. If needed, add a little more more chicken broth just until the bread is moistened – but not soggy.*
• Carefully transfer the stuffing mixture to a casserole dish. You can use a round CorningWare dish, or a rectangular casserole dish. Do not cover dressing while it bakes.
• Bake the dressing initially for 25 minutes in an oven that’s preheated to 350 F. After 25 minutes the top of the stuffing will be turning golden brown and crisp, but the inside will still be moist.

  Remove the baking dish from the oven and gently stir to bring the moist dressing to the top. Place it back in the oven for 15 minutes.

  Continue to stir and bake at 15 minute intervals until the dressing is just right based on your personal preference. Expect this to take up to an hour and a half. To keep that delicious texture on the top, do not stir before serving!

Notes

* If you accidentally add a little too much broth, that’s OK, it will just take longer to bake. And don’t worry if some of the bread crumbles into pieces, it will firm up again as it bakes.

Keyword gluten-free, thanksgiving

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