Chicken & Stuffing Bread

This chicken and stuffing bread machine loaf is exactly what it sounds like: an entire Thanksgiving plate folded into a sandwich loaf. Stuffing mix, cooked chicken, celery, mushrooms, and poultry seasoning all bake into the bread itself, producing slices that taste like the traditional holiday flavors in portable form.

The addition of gluten flour (vital wheat gluten) is the unsung hero. With heavy add-ins like chicken and stuffing weighing down the dough, regular bread flour alone won’t produce enough rise. The extra gluten gives the loaf the strength to lift around the inclusions instead of collapsing into a dense brick.

Adding the chicken at the “beep” before final kneading is the classic add-in technique for bread machines. Earlier addition shreds the chicken into mush; later addition leaves chunks unevenly distributed. The beep window is precisely the moment to fold in delicate ingredients.

Using chicken broth instead of plain water for the liquid gives the bread a savory backbone right from the start. Combined with poultry seasoning, the loaf actually tastes meaty and herbal in every bite, not just where you find chicken pieces.

Pro Tips

• Use leftover roast or rotisserie chicken. Boiled chicken breast lacks flavor for a bread where the chicken is a star ingredient.
• Dice the chicken small (¼ inch pieces) so it distributes evenly through every slice.
• Don’t skip the gluten flour or whole wheat flour. The recipe is balanced for these and substituting all-purpose alone produces a poor rise.
• Slice for sandwiches with cranberry sauce and turkey for ultimate Thanksgiving leftover energy.

Variations

• Swap chicken for diced cooked turkey or ham, depending on what’s leftover in the fridge.
• Add 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped sage or rosemary with the dry ingredients for a more pronounced herb flavor.
• Stir in ¼ cup of dried cranberries with the chicken for a sweet-savory holiday twist.