I Tested 6 Different Breads for Thanksgiving Stuffing – Here’s the One I’ll Use Forever – Serious Eats

I Tested 6 Different Breads for Thanksgiving Stuffing—Here’s the One I’ll Use Forever

The winner didn’t just soak up stock beautifully—it produced a stuffing that held its shape, stayed moist, and tasted just as good the next day.

By Namrata Hegde, Published November 20, 2025

Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

In This Article

• The Tests
• Brioche
• French Bread
• Soft White Sandwich Bread
• Sourdough
• Cornbread
• Challah
• The Takeaway

To find the best bread for stuffing, I prepared six versions of former Serious Eats editor Kenji’s classic sage and sausage stuffing, each with a different bread: brioche, French bread, white sandwich bread, sourdough, cornbread, and challah. Challah bakes into a rich, custardy stuffing, and holds its shape well for up to three days, making it the ideal loaf for make-ahead stuffing and delicious leftovers. 

I’ve seen debates rage among friends and family over the best kind of bread for stuffing: Some swear by challah for its richness, others enjoy sourdough for its tang and structure. Brioche lovers find its butteriness unmatched, while cornbread enthusiasts claim it’s not Thanksgiving without it. Just because you love a certain loaf, however, it doesn’t mean it’s the best bread for stuffing. With so many flavors and textures in play, it’s important to consider which is best for absorbing stock and complementing the other ingredients—such as sausage and aromatics—in a stuffing.

The Tests

To find the best bread for stuffing, I prepared six versions of former Serious Eats editor Kenji’s classic sage and sausage stuffing, each with a different bread: brioche, French bread, white sandwich bread, sourdough, cornbread, and challah. Per the recipe instructions, I oven-dried each bread, then incorporated it into the stuffing, taking detailed notes on the flavor and texture of each stuffing on the day it was made and each of the two days after.

Brioche

Serious Eats / Debbie Wee

Brioche is an enriched bread made with eggs and plenty of dairy, giving it a fluffy texture and buttery flavor. It has a good structure and is also incredibly tender, making it a popular choice for French toast and bread pudding. But how would it hold up in stuffing? 

Oven-drying the brioche took less time than any of the other breads. The bread was also the most crumbly: It broke apart easily, instantly absorbed most of the liquid when tossed with the stuffing ingredients, and, after baking, the stuffing was rather mushy. The bread, however, was quite delicious and absorbed the flavor of the stock, sausage, and aromatics well. The flavors of the stuffing were more pronounced the next day, but its texture was still just as soft as it was when it was freshly made, offering little structure. On the second day, the bread began to dry out, but remained dense and pasty in the center.

The Verdict: Brioche makes a delicious stuffing, but it becomes far too soft when combined with wet ingredients in a stuffing. If you plan on using brioche for your stuffing, be mindful of the amount of liquid you add—stop when the bread has absorbed most of it—and toss gently to combine with the other ingredients.

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: I Tested 6 Different Breads for Thanksgiving Stuffing—Here’s the One I’ll Use Forever

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