Homemade Stuffing Cubes -- A Simple Way to Elevate your Thanksgiving Meal

Name: Bread Cubes for Stuffing
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 10 cups Bread cubes; 2 tablespoons olive oil per sheet pan of cubes; 1 teaspoon dried thyme per sheet pan of cubes; ½ teaspoon dried sage per sheet pan of cubes; ½ teaspoon salt per sheet pan of cubes; ½ teaspoon pepper per sheet pan of cubes

by Beth Lee · Published: Nov 19, 2016 · Modified: Sep 28, 2021

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Once I started drying my own bread cubes for my stuffing, it took my Thanksgiving stuffing recipe to new heights. Learn how to dry your own bread for DIY stuffing cubes, and win Thanksgiving this year and every year.

Cornbread and challah stuffing cubes in a white bowl with a herb decorated towel and fresh herbs on the side.

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Why you’ll love this recipe!

If you think those crunchy stuffing cubes only come from a bag or box from the market, I’m here to tell you they are so easy to make yourself. Once you give it a try, you’ll never go back to store-bought again. I promise.

When you read the package on many prepared, store-bought bread cubes for stuffing you’ll find ingredients you may not want to eat. For example, no need to add preservatives to your dried bread cubes.

If you bake your own stuffing cubes, you can choose what breads you use, how you want to season them, how toasty you want them to be, what size bread cube you prefer. You can even use up leftover bread scraps if you want to avoid waste.

See my homemade bread cubes for stuffing web story for a quick visual guide to making this recipe!

Ingredients you’ll need

These are the ingredients I use for my stuffing recipe. Use this technique, but feel free to change the seasonings and bread type to fit your stuffing recipe. I've adjusted my bread mix over the years and really love this challah and cornbread combination. But you can make bread cubes out of whole wheat bread, white bread, sourdough bread and more.

Ingredient shot showing all recipe ingredients including bread, seasonings and olive oil with labels.

Cornbread: I make a sage and olive oil cornbread for my bread cubes but you can purchase pre-made cornbread or make a boxed-mix and that will work too!
Challah: Bake one of my challahs (this recipe for the rolls minus the filling and formed into one loaf is perfect) or grab a pre-made loaf at the store. Whatever works best with your schedule and skill set!
Sage: I happen to grow sage in my garden but dried sage is just fine. Remember around Thanksgiving time, the popular dried herbs like sage and thyme often sell out at the store so stock up early! Remember that dried herbs are more flavorful than fresh and you will use a bit less.
Thyme: Dried thyme or fresh will work - just follow the same advice I mentioned above under sage. Also remember you may adjust the choice of seasonings to fit your recipe and flavor profile.

How to make this recipe

Drying bread for stuffing is more of a method than a hard and fast recipe. I give you lots of guidelines and tips and tricks but as I mentioned above, you can change the bread you use and match the seasonings to your stuffing recipe and menu. Here are the basics – the rest of the details are in the recipe card below.

1. Cut your bread into ½ - 1-inch cubes and place the cubes on parchment-lined sheet trays.

Two trays of unbaked and unseasoned challah and cornbread bread cubes at an angle.

2. Add some olive oil and seasonings and mix (I do this right on the sheet tray to avoid another bowl to wash).

Two trays of challah and cornbread cubes with seasoning added shown at an angle.

3. Put in preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, checking frequently and mixing around to ensure even cooking.

Two trays of baked stuffing cubes - cornbread and challah - shown at an angle.

4. Let them cool and store in an airtight container or even freeze for 2-3 months.

Expert Tips and FAQs

How many cubes will your loaf of bread yield? My sage sausage stuffing recipe asks for 16 cups of cubes. Many stuffing recipes ask for 10 cups of cubes. Extra cubes will last in a sealed container or in the freezer so if you make more than you need, that's ok!
- One medium-sized 16-ounce loaf of challah yields about 10 cups of cubes.
- One 8X8 pan of cornbread yields 9 - 12 cups of cubes.
- Six slices of sourdough bread yields about 4 cups of cubes.
I line my sheet trays with parchment for easy clean-up. I also mix my bread cubes with the seasoning and olive oil right on the parchment-line sheet tray. One less bowl to wash.
If you make your own bread, feel free to make it a couple days ahead if that helps you space out your cooking. You're going to be drying the bread out anyhow - doesn't have to be fresh from the oven - in fact, it's better if it's not. It's easier to cut and handle dryer bread.

What types of bread can I use for stuffing cubes?

Our family stuffing started as the Cornbread Sausage Stuffing from The Silver Palate Cookbook. Over the years, I've used white bread, challah bread, whole wheat bread and sourdough bread in addition to cornbread. The only restriction is your imagination and your personal preferences.

Can you freeze bread cubes for stuffing?

Yes, you can freeze stuffing bread cubes. Either use two freezer bags or preferably an airtight re-usable storage container. Just take them out when you are ready to make your stuffing.

If by chance you stuff the actual turkey, be sure to defrost them so you don’t slow down the cooking of the stuffing in the bird. But if you are cooking the stuffing outside of the bird, you should be able to go straight from freezer to stuffing mixture.

Are bread cubes the same as croutons?

In many ways, seasoned bread cubes for stuffing are very similar to croutons. One of the key and important differences, though, is the amount of oil or butter used in croutons. Croutons are meant to stand on their own in a salad and are therefore more heavily seasoned including the added oil or butter.

Bread cubes for stuffing are flavored but need less added oil and butter and are not meant to stand on their own. They become part of the stuffing mixture.

Large white bowl with baked stuffing cubes with fresh herbs and a striped napkin nearby.

More great Thanksgiving recipes on OMG! Yummy

For ease of browsing, find all of my Thanksgiving recipes here and lots of menu ideas and planning tools here.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Looking for a unique way to use leftover stuffing? How about this Turkey Shepherd's Pie with Stuffing Crust!

See my seasoned bread cubes web story for a quick visual guide to making this recipe!

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Bread Cubes for Stuffing

Beth Lee

Once you learn how to dry bread for stuffing, you'll never go back to store-bought! So easy to make your own stuffing cubes seasoned just the way you want with the bread that you love.

4.41 from 47 votes

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Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings servings

Calories 147 kcal

Ingredients

10 cups Bread cubes (check your stuffing recipe for how many cups you need and see notes below for how many cubes each type of bread yields)
2 tablespoons olive oil per sheet pan of cubes
1 teaspoon dried thyme per sheet pan of cubes
½ teaspoon dried sage per sheet pan of cubes
½ teaspoon salt per sheet pan of cubes
½ teaspoon pepper per sheet pan of cubes

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees regular or 325 degrees convection.
Slice your bread into approximately ½ inch cubes. Spread the cubes on parchment-lined cookie sheets, not too tightly packed. I usually fill up about 4 large sheet pans but it really depends how big a crowd you are feeding.
Pour about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over each tray of cubes and sprinkle your dried herbs - thyme, sage, salt and pepper or whatever flavorings you have chosen. Mix the cubes all around to distribute the flavors. If your corn bread is really crumbly, be gentle and don't mix too much but I personally like some of those bread crumbs in my stuffing too.
Bake for about 15 minutes, checking at about 10 minutes for doneness and to mix around. Cubes should be browned but not completely dark. They will firm up when you take them out.
These can be made several days in advance and stored in a bag or container on the counter or in the pantry.

Video

Notes

How many cubes will your loaf of bread yield? My sage sausage stuffing recipe asks for 16 cups of cubes. Many stuffing recipes will ask for around 10 cups of cubes. Extra cubes will last in a sealed container or in the freezer so if you make more than you need, that's ok!

- One medium size 16 ounce loaf of challah will yield about 10 cups of cubes
- One 8X8 pan of cornbread will yield 9 - 12 cups of cubes
- Six slices of sourdough bread will yield about 4 cups of cubes.
I line my sheet trays with parchment for easy clean-up. I also mix my bread cubes with the seasoning and olive oil right on the parchment-line sheet tray. One less bowl to wash.
If you make your own bread, feel free to make it a couple days ahead if that helps you space out your cooking. You're going to be drying the bread out anyhow - doesn't have to be fresh from the oven - in fact, it's better if it's not. Easier to cut and handle dryer bread.
These are my approximations and choice of seasonings - don't be afraid to experiment with other herbs and spices and don't be concerned if you under season them or even over season a bit. When you mix all the stuffing ingredients, you can adjust the flavor again.

Nutrition

Calories: 147kcalCarbohydrates: 23gProtein: 5gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 339mgPotassium: 87mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 5IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 66mgIron: 2mg