Slow Cooker Stuffing Recipe – free up oven space! [VIDEO]
This slow cooker stuffing recipe will free up valuable oven space on Thanksgiving — and it will quickly become a favorite. No more dry stuffing!
Stuffing, dressing, whatever you want to call it…it’s hands-down my favorite part of Thanksgiving. (I mean, in terms of food. Because obviously I like my family more than stuffing. Most days.)
There are a thousand different variations of stuffing. Some like it with sausage, some with cornbread, some with apples, some with giblets, some like it gluten-free and made with quinoa.
I love quinoa, but no…just no. This is no place for quinoa.
The verrrry best part of this stuffing? It’s made in a slow cooker. So technically since it isn’t stuffed inside a turkey, it should be called dressing, but to me, stuffing is stuffing…it the bird, or in the slow cooker. Anyways, stuffing in a slow cooker. Each time I make this, I’m more and more convinced it is THE WAY to go. Here’s why:
- Slow cookers are amaaazing. But that’s not really a real reason.
- Turkeys are BIG. Right? They take up tons of space in the oven. So until I have that dream kitchen with six ovens (ha!), I want to free up that valuable oven space for the bird and other delicious sides.
- Have ya ever had dry stuffing? Ick. What a waste of calories. In the slow cooker, you’ll end up with super moist and perfect stuffing.
- End time is pretty flexible. Things are harder to screw up when you’re using a slow cooker. So if your turkey isn’t quiiiiite ready yet, no worries! The stuffing will be juuuust fine.
It takes a little time to prep this stuffing, but it’s not difficult. Just a little time consuming to chop the vegetables and herbs. But you could do the chopping the night before if you want. And once you get it all thrown together, you can completely forget about it for 6+ hours and focus on other parts of the big dinner.
Make sure to hit play to watch the short video for step-by-step directions of how to make this slow cooker stuffing recipe!
Slow Cooker Stuffing Recipe
This slow cooker stuffing recipe will free up valuable oven space on Thanksgiving — and it will quickly become a favorite. No more dry stuffing!
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups diced celery
- 3 cups chopped onion
- salt & pepper to taste
- 12-14 ounces finely chopped fresh mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cut up into pieces (a tablespoon each or so is fine)
- 1 sprig rosemary leaves, finely chopped
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 7 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
- 4 cups reduced sodium chicken stock
- 2 eggs
- 1 and 1/2 12 ounce bags herb seasoned cubed stuffing
Directions:
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add celery and onion, season with salt and pepper, and saute for about 5 minutes or until they begin to soften. Add mushrooms and garlic and continue to sauté until mushrooms are cooked.
- Remove from heat, add butter and let the butter melt, stirring as needed. Stir in herbs, pepper and chicken broth.
- In a large bowl, beat the two eggs. Add cubed stuffing and pour the vegetables and broth over the stuffing. Stir to combine and put into a 7-quart slow cooker that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Cook on high for 1 hour, and then reduce heat and cook on low for 4-6 hours.
Verdict: Love this recipe. You don’t even want to know how much I ate.
Husband’s take: He’s less of a carb-lover than I am, but I heard no complaints.
Changes I would make: None!
Difficulty: Easy.
Looking for more Thanksgiving side dishes like this slow cooker stuffing recipe? Check out some of these:
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Gruyere
Butternut Squash in the Slow Cooker
Maple Mustard Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Shallots
Hi, I'm Rachel! This site features a wide variety of recipes with one common thread: easy preparations. I love creating accessible and delicious food that will please the whole family. Hope you enjoy! (
Your first couple of paragraphs had me laughing! Totally agree, I just couldn’t do quinoa stuffing on Thanksgiving! I love that you made this in the slow cooker. It looks so moist and flavorful!
We are huge fans of homemade stuffing here! LOVE that this one is made in a slow cooker! Pinned!
huh! i never thought about it that way–stuffing in the bird, dressing outside of it. we’re totally a “let’s call this stuffing” family but we never put it in the turkey because of food safety. i don’t know if i can call it dressing though! this is a genius idea! i may have to steal it :)
You are a godsend. I already do my mashed potatoes in a crockpot (we do a family potluck). Stuffing in a crockpot is beyond awesome. Thank you! Can’t wait to try it.
Good call on freeing up the oven space! And this looks fabulous, and I’m with you, please save the quinoa for the Black Friday cleanse and keep it out of the stuffing.
Slow-cooker stuffing. Whhaaaa??! Love how much more I can stuff into my oven with this in the slow-cooker!
What a great idea! I love all the fresh herbs you added. Can’t wait to try this. Are you in charge of making the stuffing this year?
yummy
This sounds pretty similar to a stuffing I make! Love the herb seasoned bread cubes :)
Wonderful selection of spices. What I like about slow cook dressing is that they are moist. Often the ones in the oven get over baked because everyone is in a frenzy to mash the potatoes and make the gravy and and and—-
What a great way to make Thanksgiving a little less stressful!
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Question, which brand of herb stuffing do you like? I always buy plain because I am fearful the herb seasoning may be too salty. I usually add all the seasoning myself. Love to try this and thanks in advance. I plan a trial run this week before the holidays
This has a ton of fresh herbs in it so you’d probably be just fine with the plain if you’re weary of salt. You could always add a few more fresh or dried herbs too. But to answer your question, I typically buy Pepperidge Farm.
Looks like a great recipe that I’ll surely try! The thing is, my
family loves sage. Lots of sage. Not sure how much I could
add to this and should it be rubbed or ….can’t think of the
other! Anyway, any ideas?
Between the herbs in the bread cubes and the fresh sage in the recipe (7 leaves), there is quite a bit of sage flavor but if you can’t get enough, I’d just add a few more leaves.
I made this over the weekend for Friendsgiving and it was a HUGE HIT. People took some home as leftovers. I was a little short on time, so I cooked it on high for an hour and a half, and low for three hours. It turned out amazingly!! Thanks, Rachel!
So happy you liked it! Thanks for coming back to give your feedback!
The stuffing is always my favorite part! And a crock pot? Genius!
This stuffing looks super moist and delicious!
This stuffing looks good!!
Looks great! Do you think would work with ground turkey in stead of mushrooms?
I haven’t tried it that way (although turkey sausage would also be great!) – but it should work! The mushrooms do add some moisture but the slow cooker keeps it super moist so I think it should be fine! If you try it, let us know how it goes!
I tried it with the ground turkey and it was amazing! Everyone loved it!! I was in a crunch so I left mine on high for 4 hours. It was so easy! Thanks for the recipe!!
So happy to hear it! I need to try it that way next year. Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know!
This was so delicious! My family does a pot luck style Thanksgiving, so a crock pot recipe was perfect! I swapped chicken stock for veggie stock to make this vegetarian friendly, and my grocery store was all out of sage, so I had to substitute with dried, but it turned out so great. One of my sisters said it was “seriously the best stuffing I have ever had.” I didn’t even get any leftovers because my sisters nabbed them all! I will definitely be making this one again!
I’m so happy to hear you love it as much as we do! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!