Herby Croissant Stuffing

Herby Croissant Stuffing- Leftover croissants, fresh herbs, and a special shortcut ingredient makes this homemade stuffing simple and delicious.

November 23, 2025 by Nicole Collins

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Today, we’re making Herby Croissant Stuffing!

I think we can all agree that the sides are the best part of any holiday meal, so today we’re kicking things off with the first of three this year…the stuffing (which is technically dressing because we’re not stuffing it inside the bird, but you know what I mean).

If I’m honest, I actually LOVE a boxed stuffing. Aldi puts out a Hawaiian bread and onion stuffing that is absolutely divine. I crave it all year long. But this year, has been tough. So, I thought we deserved an extra special homemade version this year.

Let’s talk bread choice. We’re using some nice buttery croissants for this one. We need to chop them up and lightly toast them in the oven for a few minutes to dry them out. Using croissants almost makes the stuffing feel lighter thanks to the light and airy bread cubes.

We’ll set the toasted croissants aside in a bowl for a second while we work on the aromatics. We’ll start by sauteing some diced celery in some butter until it starts to soften. Then, we’re adding in a secret ingredient: caramelized onion jam.

I actually saw another blogger (JZ Eats) use caramelized onion jam as a substitute for caramelized onions in a pasta recipe, and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. The caramelized onion jam gives you all the sweet flavor and soft texture of caramelized onions without an hour of extra work. I get mine from Amazon, and I’ve found that I go through it faster than I ever thought! The jam is a little oily, so try to drain some of that off before adding it to the celery. We don’t even need to do any extra cooking to it…just mix it into the celery, then pour it over the bread cubes.

Next, we’re going to add some fresh herbs to the bread bowl. We’re using the exact same herbs in the stuffing that we used for the chicken: parsley, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Mince it up and add it to the bowl. This is one of those times where I really would not recommend trying to swap out the fresh herbs for dried. Not only do we need the freshness from the herbs to break up the richness of the meal, we also need the color and texture to add to the visual appeal (for both the stuffing and the chicken).

The last thing we need to do is make a little chicken stock/egg mixture. We’re using Better than Bouillon to make our chicken broth for this one for a couple reasons. 1. You guys know this has become one of my favorite cooking for one ingredients, and it’s a great way to make a small batch of stock without waste. And 2. we’re going to use the BTB again to make the gravy! Just a quick note…I typically halve the amount of BTB paste called for to make the equivalent to low sodium stock. But for this recipe, we’re going in with the full amount. We need the extra flavor in our stuffing to balance out the fact we don’t have actual drippings from the bird.

So, we’ll whisk our homemade stock with an egg and a couple spices until that egg has completely broken down. Then, we’ll pour that mixture all over our bread mix. We need to mix mix mix until the bread absorbs all of the liquid. It’s going to take some constant tossing, but it must be done to make sure there’s no liquid left in the bowl.

Then, we’ll transfer the mix to a greased casserole dish and pop this in the oven (at the same temp and for about the same time as the chicken) until it’s nice and golden brown on top. That’s it! It’s really so easy!

This stuffing is so decadent. It’s buttery from the croissants. It’s bright from the herbs. It’s a little sweet from the onions. It’s just so yummy!

Next up, we’re moving on to what just might be my favorite recipe of the series. So, stay tuned!

Until then, enjoy! And, let’s eat!

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Herby Croissant Stuffing             

Serves: 4          Print

Ingredients:

• 4 croissants, cut into 1 inch cubes (about 4 cups total)

• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

• 2 stalks celery, minced (about 1 cup)

• 2 tbsp caramelized onion jam (I used Divina)

• ¼ cup fresh parsley, minced

• 4 tsp fresh sage, minced

• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

• 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced

• 1 cup hot water

• 1 tsp Roasted Chicken Better than Bouillon paste

• 1 egg

• ¼ tsp salt, plus more to taste

• ¼ tsp pepper, plus more to taste

• 1/8 tsp garlic powder

• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 mins until bread has dried out and become golden and crisp. Transfer bread to a large mixing bowl. 

2. Heat butter in a small nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add celery plus a pinch of salt and pepper, and saute for 7-8 minutes until it starts to soften. Add onion jam, and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute more. Remove from heat, and transfer to the bowl with the bread. Also, add parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme to bowl. Toss gently to combine.

3. Add hot water and Better than Bouillon paste to a measuring glass. Stir vigorously until the paste dissolves. Allow to cool for 5 mins. Add ¼ tsp each salt and pepper, garlic powder, and egg to the measuring cup. Beat well with a fork to break up the egg and completely combine. Pour the mix over the bread mix, and toss until the bread has completely absorbed the liquid.

4. Spritz a 2 qt casserole dish with cooking spray. Transfer stuffing mix to the prepared dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes until stuffing is crisp and golden. Serve!
   

Recipe notes:

*If you’re making a single serve version, divide all ingredients by 4 but omit the egg completely. Bake in a 9 oz ramekin for 30-35 mins.

*This recipe works better with fresh herbs as opposed to dried herbs. I wouldn't recommend swapping them out for dry.

*I get the onion jam from Amazon. It’s such a great shortcut for caramelize onions!

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