Best Spices for Stuffing: Sage, Thyme & More

Bread stuffing is mostly bread and fat, so the seasoning does a lot of the work. Most recipes follow the same pattern: onion and celery cooked in butter, one or two strong herbs (sage and thyme above all), parsley and black pepper. If your recipe just says “poultry seasoning,” know that there’s no single formula, and two brands can make two quite different stuffings. And whatever herbs you pick, the number that matters most is 165°F.

At a glance

Seasoning	Job in the stuffing	Notes
Onion	Sweet, savory base	Cooked in butter first in the extension recipe¹
Celery	Savory, green note	All three recipes below¹²³
Sage	The signature herb; strong	PROSEA lists stuffings among its main spice uses⁴
Thyme	Sharp, savory herbal note	Co-dominant with sage in New England style²
Poultry seasoning	Sage, thyme and more in one jar	Used in two of the three recipes¹²
Parsley	Fresh, green finish and color	All three recipes¹²³
Black pepper	Mild heat	All three recipes¹²³
Winter savory	Peppery herb; alternative to poultry seasoning	Offered by the Illinois recipe¹

Three recipes side by side

	Illinois Extension¹	Yankee Magazine, New England style²	Chris Kimball / America’s Test Kitchen, via NPR³
Bread	Day-old cubes	Cubes	Cooked grain, cornbread or bread cubes
Onion	Chopped	Diced	Chopped, plus scallions or chives
Celery	Chopped	Stalks, plus minced leaves	Chopped
Herbs	Winter savory or poultry seasoning	Poultry seasoning, more or less	Fresh or dried sage, thyme or oregano
Parsley	Fresh or dried	Minced	Chopped
Pepper	Black pepper	To taste	Freshly ground, to taste

NPR’s version notes that a basic country stuffing was often little more than stale bread, salt pork, an egg, water, sage, salt and pepper.³ Everything else is extra.

The core seasonings and what each one does

Sage: the signature

Sage (Salvia officinalis) is the herb most tied to stuffing. PROSEA lists sausages and stuffings first among its uses as a spice.⁴ It’s a strong herb. The University of Delaware’s extension guide warns that its flavor can be “extremely objectionable” if you use too much.⁵

Fresh, rubbed and ground sage all work. The Delaware guide’s general rule is that dried herbs are stronger than fresh, with 3/4 to 1 teaspoon of dried crumbled herb equal to 2 to 3 teaspoons of fresh.⁵ The NPR recipe uses 2 tablespoons fresh or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried.³ See fresh vs. dried sage, cooking with sage and too much sage.

Thyme: sage’s partner

Thyme has a sharp, savory character. America’s Test Kitchen calls it a hearty herb to add early,⁶ which suits a stuffing that bakes for 35 to 45 minutes like the Illinois recipe.¹ The NPR recipe treats sage, thyme and oregano as interchangeable,³ while New England style uses sage and thyme together.² See fresh vs. dried thyme and too much thyme.

Poultry seasoning: sage and thyme in one jar

Two of the three recipes above use poultry seasoning in place of individual herbs.¹² There’s no single formula. McCormick Culinary’s blend lists thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, black pepper and nutmeg.⁷ US labels list ingredients in descending order by weight, so thyme is the biggest part of that blend.⁸ Bell’s Seasoning, the New England brand, blends rosemary, oregano, sage, ginger, marjoram, thyme and pepper.⁹ Since blends differ, two stuffings made with “2 teaspoons poultry seasoning” can taste quite different. See poultry seasoning and poultry seasoning substitutes.

Onion and celery: the savory base

Every recipe here uses onion and celery. The Illinois recipe cooks them with the parsley in butter for 5 minutes, then adds the herb and cooks until the onions are soft.¹ Yankee’s version adds minced celery leaves along with the stalks.² Onion powder, celery seeds or celery salt can back up the fresh vegetables, though none of these recipes calls for them.

Parsley: color and a fresh finish

In stuffing, parsley mostly brings color and a fresh note, and the fresh leaves are commonly used for garnishing and seasoning. The LSU AgCenter groups parsley with the delicate herbs that lose flavor under long heat and are best added at the end.¹⁰ The Illinois recipe gives 3 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried.¹ See fresh vs. dried parsley.

Black pepper

All three recipes use black pepper, from a measured 1/8 teaspoon to “freshly ground, to taste.”¹³ Freshly ground is a common preference, though these sources don’t test the difference. See cracked vs. ground black pepper.

When to add the herbs

Advice	Source
Cook the dried herb with the onion and celery in butter before mixing with the bread	Illinois Extension¹
Hearty herbs such as sage and thyme go in early	America’s Test Kitchen⁶
Delicate herbs such as parsley go in at the end	LSU AgCenter¹⁰

A good starting point: bloom dried sage, thyme or poultry seasoning in the butter with the vegetables, and stir in fresh parsley just before the stuffing goes into the oven.

Food safety: 165°F

The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends cooking stuffing separately, in a casserole, for safety and even doneness, and checking that it reaches 165°F on a food thermometer.¹¹ If the stuffing goes inside the bird, its center has to reach that temperature too.¹¹¹ FSIS also says not to make stuffing ahead. You can prepare the dry and wet ingredients and chill them separately, then combine them just before cooking.¹¹

“Savory Bread Stuffing”, University of Illinois Extension. extension.illinois.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴
“Bread Stuffing”, Yankee Magazine, 2007. newengland.com · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹
“Poultry Stuffing”, recipe from Chris Kimball and America’s Test Kitchen, NPR. npr.org · Publication ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸
U.A. Dasuki, “Salvia officinalis”, PROSEA. uses.plantnet-project.org · Reference work ↩ ↩²
“Using Herbs and Spices”, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension, revised 2025. udel.edu · Reference work ↩ ↩²
Liz Bomze, “Our Guide to Fresh Herbs”, America’s Test Kitchen, 2019. americastestkitchen.com · Publication ↩ ↩²
“Poultry Seasoning, 12 oz”, McCormick Culinary. mccormick.com · Merchant ↩
21 CFR 101.4, Food; designation of ingredients. ecfr.gov · Regulator ↩
Aimee Tucker, “Bell’s Seasoning: A New England Thanksgiving Classic”, Yankee Magazine, 2021. newengland.com · Publication ↩
“Flavorful Herbs”, LSU AgCenter. lsuagcenter.com · Reference work ↩ ↩²
“Stuffing and Food Safety”, USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, 2013. fsis.usda.gov · Regulator ↩ ↩² ↩³

Also drawn on

Petroselinum crispum (PROSEA), I.B. Ipor & L.P.A. Oyen, Plant Resources of South-East Asia, via Pl@ntUse. uses.plantnet-project.org

Good Stuffing Spices: Sage, Thyme and the Savory Base That Seasons Bread Stuffing