Porcini Bread Stuffing
Updated December 10, 2025
Melina Hammer for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
5 tablespoons butter
1 cup dried porcini or morel mushrooms
1 cup Calvados or Cognac
3 onions, thinly sliced
Salt and black pepper
10 to 12 cups torn sourdough bread (1 large loaf)
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons finely chopped sage
1 cup applesauce
¾ cup raisins or dried cherries
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 to 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)
62 grams carbs; 16 milligrams cholesterol; 434 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 12 grams fat; 6 grams fiber; 522 milligrams sodium; 11 grams protein; 16 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees, and butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. (The oven can be anywhere from 350 to 400 degrees, if you need to cook both the stuffing and the turkey in it.)
- Step 2
Soak mushrooms in 2 cups warm water about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. Thickly slice mushrooms. Meanwhile simmer Calvados in a saucepan until reduced to about 5 ounces.
- Step 3
Melt remaining butter in large pan, add onions, and saute until transparent. Sprinkle with salt if onions are browning too fast. Add sliced mushrooms, and saute 2 minutes. Add bread, mushroom liquid, chopped parsley, rosemary and sage. Stir in reduced Calvados, applesauce, raisins, nuts and enough stock so mixture is moist but not wet. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Step 4
Turn into buttered baking dish. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour, until firm and crusty.
Private Notes
Comments
WEDNESDAY Toss bread with onion mixture and herbs, plus stock and mushroom liquid as needed. Dot with butter. Bake in same large pot @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Refrigerate. THURSDAY Move stuffing to shallow dishes and dot with butter. Bake and serve.
Made this with the rye loaf I happened to have on hand and it was amazing. Made it again with the white sourdough called for by the recipe and it was underwhelming. Definitely use a more flavorful bread base if you can.
I make this every Thanksgiving adding roasted wild mushrooms as well. The quality of the bread makes all the difference.
Bland. Would not make it again.
It was good, not great and I follow several suggestions like using a higher flavored bread. Honestly, I think the larger issue in my circle is that bread dressing has just fallen out of favor. I think that next Thanksgiving I will just skip it and make a different side disk.
Why mix cups and ounces in step 2?