A buttery Pennsylvania Dutch stuffing that’s filled with as much nostalgia as there are carbs. It wouldn’t be the holidays without it.

Growing up my Grammy would make this buttery potato stuffing anytime the family would gather. Every holiday we could count on this stuffing being at the table to accompany any ham or turkey. Now that my Grammy has passed on I’ve really started to miss this carb loaded treasure. However there was one problem, my Grammy took her recipe with her to the grave. So over the years I’ve continuously tried to recreate my Grammy’s stuffing and I think I’ve finally cracked it. It smells like my Grammy’s stuffing, it looks like my Grammy’s stuffing, it must be my Grammy’s stuffing or at least something that’s pretty darn close. I would like to think that she would be proud of my resurrecting her iconic recipe.

Potato Stuffing

1 loaf of stale Italian Bakery Style Bread

4 large russet potatoes

8 TBSP unsalted butter

1 large yellow onion, grated

1 tsp celery seeds

2 tsp sour cream

¼ cup whole milk

1 TBSP dried parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°F and clean your potatoes. With a fork, pierce the skin of the potatoes and roast in the oven. Bake the potatoes until they are very tender when poked with a knife, let the roasted potatoes cool. This step could be done a day or two in advance. 

In a large skillet, melt the butter on medium heat and add the grated onion. Add the celery seeds, cook together until the onions become very fragrant and the onions are a light golden brown. Mash the potatoes into the butter and onions.  Add the sour cream and milk until the potatoes are completely mashed. Mix in the dried parsley, salt and pepper to taste. 

Tear up the stale bread into bite-sized chunks and fold the bread into the potatoes. Make sure the bread is evenly distributed. Taste to make sure there’s enough salt and pepper. Once seasoned to your liking, put aside. 

Preheat the oven to 350°F and butter a large casserole dish with unsalted butter. Place the stuffing in the dish and press down making sure it’s evenly distributed. Add a couple pats of unsalted butter on top of the stuffing making sure that it’s dotted all over, about 3-4 tablespoons total. 

Bake the stuffing for 45-50 minutes or until the top is a lovely golden brown. Serve warm alongside your Thanksgiving turkey and enjoy. 

*Notes:

For this recipe, if you can’t find celery seeds you can easily substitute it for fresh celery. My grandmother used celery seeds because they have a much stronger celery flavor than fresh. Honestly the use of celery seeds versus fresh celery is pure preference. 

For the bread please use the Italian bread you would buy in your bakery section and not Italian sandwich bread. The sandwich bread is always too soft and it simply doesn’t make for a good hearty stuffing.

It is very important to use stale bread for this recipe. The stale bread absorbs all the butter much better than fresh. If you don’t have stale bread simply tear your bread and toast it in the oven until they are dry but not yet toasty. You don’t want to brown the bread because it will brown when you’re baking the stuffing. 

I highly recommend sticking to the recipe and tearing up the stale bread. You get a lot of toasty nooks and crannies that you wouldn’t get by cubing it with a knife.

If you're pinched for time on Thanksgiving day you could easily mix the stuffing in advance, place it in your buttered casserole and store it in the fridge. Then all there is to do is bake it until golden brown, easy peasy!