It’s been more than a decade since we were introduced to Kristen Kish, and her recipes have continuously impressed us. While she’s usually gracing our screens with top-notch recipes that we try our best to recreate at home, this holiday season, the celeb chef is giving us something deliciously simple to create—and it’s one that the entire family will love.
The Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing is a crowd-pleasing recipe that Kish’s mom created as a way to satisfy both their family from the Midwest and Texas. Combining two classic stuffing flavors that we all know and love, the Two-Bread Stuffing is an internet favorite.
To see if the recipe lived up to the hype, I grabbed the ingredients I needed and headed to the kitchen. Here’s how it went.
Get the recipe: Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing
Ingredients for the Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing
For Kish’s stuffing, you’re going to need olive oil, yellow onions, celery, sage, garlic, cornbread, day-old white sandwich bread, flat-leaf parsley, kosher salt, black pepper and chicken stock.
How to Make the Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing
Preheat the oven to 350° and coat two 9 x 13 baking dishes with butter or cooking spray. Heat up the olive oil in the largest skillet you have and soften the onions and celery for about 10 minutes. Add the sage and garlic and stir for another two minutes or so.
Place your cooked veggies into a large bowl and add both the cornbread and sandwich bread, along with parsley, salt and pepper. Stir that all together, then pour in the chicken broth, ensuring everything is evenly coated. Divide the stuffing between the baking dishes and bake until lightly browned, about 30 minutes.
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Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
What I Thought of the Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing
Everyone knows that Thanksgiving is really all about the sides, so if you don’t have exceptional stuffing on your table, it could put a damper on your Turkey Day festivities. I grew up eating Pepperidge Farm stuffing until I discovered Ina Garten’s recipe with apples and spicy Italian sausage after college. What a revelation! Until now, that one has been the winner on my Thanksgiving table, but Kristen Kish’s stuffing might just change my mind.
The addition of cornbread is brilliant and frankly, one that I can’t believe I didn’t think of before now. And I’ve been a fan of the Restaurants at the End of the World host ever since she won Top Chef season 10 way back in 2012. I even got the chance to meet her on the Top Chef cruise in 2013 (yes, there was a Top Chef cruise, and no, I wouldn’t do it again), so I was really excited to see her family recipe come across my desk. But beware: it is a bit time-consuming, and you’ll need both the biggest frying pan and the biggest mixing bowl you own.
The recipe specified for day-old white sandwich bread, so I grabbed two loaves from my local bakery, and let it sit out, uncovered, overnight so that it would become a bit stale. Then, I stacked them in slices of two or three and cut with a serrated knife. It did take quite a bit of time, but cooking everything down and mixing it together made my house smell absolutely amazing. If there was a Thanksgiving-scented candle, this would be it.
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The stuffing, fresh out of the oven or reheated, is bready, herby and delicious with that classic warm medley of celery, onions and black pepper we all know and love. A delectable mild sweetness from the cornbread was there too.
I added extra fresh sage because the herb holds a special place in my heart. My mom used to grow sage in her garden, so it reminds me of my childhood and being home with my family. And what’s more Thanksgiving-ish than that?
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
Tips for Making the Kish Family Two-Bread Stuffing
1. Get creative. I couldn’t find premade cornbread at my grocery store, so I bought two boxes of Jiffy mix and made my own. It took no time at all and I didn’t need a lot of extra ingredients.
2. Be prepared for a lot of stuffing—or halve the recipe. I was a bit nervous when the recipe said two 9 x 13 pans. That’s when I knew I was in it for a boatload of stuffing—which is not a bad thing. But, be prepared for the fact that you’ll have more than enough for a crowd. If you’re cooking for a smaller number of people or don’t want leftovers, I would halve this recipe.
3. Break out your largest skillet. My 12-inch skillet was not big enough to hold all of the onions and celery (there were 8 cups of chopped veggies!), so I had to cook the vegetables in batches. My largest mixing bowl also wasn’t quite large enough, so you’ll want to make sure you’re prepared ahead of time with the right equipment.
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