A cup of bread stuffing is about 350 calories — and it is the heaviest savory dish on the Thanksgiving table, heavier per cup than mashed potatoes. The number swings with the recipe: a plain bread stuffing is about 350, cornbread stuffing about 380, and a sausage-and-butter batch about 460. Use our calorie calculator to see what 350 calories means against your daily target — this guide does the portion math, the butter and sausage breakdown, and the lighter builds that keep the flavor.
USDA data puts bread stuffing at about 195 calories per half-cup, so a full cup is about 350 to 390. A half-cup side — about the size of an ice cream scoop — is about 180. Cornbread stuffing runs a little higher at about 380 a cup, and a rich homemade batch with sausage and extra butter reaches about 460. The bread is the base, but the butter and stock it soaks up carry most of the calories.
Check My Daily TargetStuffing has no fixed recipe, and that is why the numbers range so widely. The same scoop can be a dry boxed mix or a rich batch loaded with butter and sausage, and the difference is more than 100 calories a cup. A plain bread stuffing — bread cubes, onion, celery, herbs, and broth — is about 180 calories per 100 g, which works out to about 350 to 360 per cup. Cornbread stuffing sits a little higher, about 380 a cup, because cornmeal is denser and sweeter than white bread. Add sausage and the cup climbs to about 400 to 460: two ounces of pork sausage add roughly 100 to 150 calories to the cup, plus the fat it renders into the bread. Dry-mix stuffing prepared as directed lands in the same range as homemade, about 195 calories per half-cup, because the mix is mostly bread crumbs — the butter on the box is what moves it.
| Stuffing type | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Bread stuffing (homemade, plain) | 1/2 cup | ~180 |
| Bread stuffing (homemade, plain) | 1 cup | ~350 |
| Cornbread stuffing | 1 cup | ~380 |
| Sausage and butter stuffing | 1 cup | ~460 |
| Dry-mix stuffing, prepared | 1/2 cup | ~195 |
| Whole-grain, vegetable-broth stuffing | 1 cup | ~280 |
| Two cups at the table (plain bread) | 2 cups | ~700 |
The portion is the real story. Nobody eats a measured half-cup of stuffing at Thanksgiving — the serving spoon delivers a heaped cup, and the second helping is another heaped cup, so the dish quietly becomes 700 calories before dessert. A cup of stuffing is also about 40 to 50 g of carbohydrate, 15 to 20 g of fat, and 5 to 7 g of protein — mostly refined carbs and fat, with very little fiber, about 2 g per cup. And the sodium is the hidden number: a cup of stuffing carries roughly 600 to 1,000 mg of sodium, a quarter to nearly half of the 2,300 mg daily limit, because the bread, the broth, and the butter are all salted. Two cups of stuffing can deliver more sodium than a whole day should contain.
Butter is the biggest lever in the pan. One tablespoon of butter is about 100 calories, and a typical stuffing recipe uses 4 to 8 tablespoons for a pan that serves 8 to 10 people — that is 50 to 100 calories per serving from butter alone, before the bread contributes anything. The bread itself is the base load: white bread is about 75 calories a slice, and a cup of stuffing holds roughly two slices' worth of bread once it is cubed and compressed, so the bread alone is about 150 calories. The broth adds almost nothing — a cup of chicken broth is about 10 to 15 calories — which is why broth is the best swap in the recipe: replace half the butter with broth and the stuffing keeps its moisture while dropping about 50 calories a cup. Sausage is the other big adder: it brings protein, about 10 to 14 g per cup, but it also brings 25 to 30 g of fat, which is why sausage stuffing is the heaviest version on the table at about 460 a cup.
The lightest move is the serving: a half-cup of stuffing is about 180 calories, and it is enough to get the flavor — the dish is a side, not a main, and the turkey is right there. The next move is the bread: use half whole-grain bread and half white, and bulk the pan with mushrooms, celery, and onion, which add volume and flavor for almost no calories — the vegetables let you serve the same pan to more people at fewer calories each. Replace half the butter with low-sodium broth and you save about 50 calories a cup while cutting the sodium too. Skip the sausage and save about 100 calories a cup; if you want the savory depth, use a small amount of sausage for flavor rather than a full pound for bulk. The whole-grain, vegetable-broth version lands at about 280 calories a cup — 70 lighter than plain bread stuffing and 180 lighter than the sausage version — with more fiber and a better blood-sugar response. And remember the southern distinction: what the South calls dressing is the same dish baked in a pan instead of inside the bird, and the calories are the same either way — the name changes nothing.
Our calorie calculator sets your daily target — then you can see whether 350 calories for stuffing fits or crowds out the turkey.
Calculate My Daily TargetWritten by the Live Fitness Check editorial team · Reviewed against our calculator methodology · Last updated November 2026
Disclaimer: This guide is for general information only and is not medical advice. Calorie figures are standard averages and published USDA values, and vary by brand, recipe, and serving size. Talk to your doctor or a registered dietitian before starting a weight-loss or restricted diet.
