The Fastest Way to Cut Bread for Stuffing

As much as I love eating stuffing or dressing on Thanksgiving, I find the whole process of cutting up a big loaf of bread for it quite tedious, especially when there are so many other cooking tasks vying for my time and attention. Here’s a way I’ve found that helps speed up the process a bit!

I used to cut up the loaf of bread crosswise into slices like you would for sandwiches, then cut each of the slices into little cubes. The trouble with that is you usually have to cut up a large number of slices. Stacking a few slices together does make the job a little faster, but it still takes awhile.

So instead of cutting the bread crosswise, I now cut the bread lengthwise into long planks. I then stack a few of these large planks together and then cut them into the small bread cubes. These long planks mean fewer knife cuts overall and have helped speed up the stuffing prep process. Here’s how to do it:

1. Use a bread knife. Make sure you start with a serrated knife, preferably the longest one you have, so that you’re using the best tool to cut through chewy crust and soft crumb easily.

2. Trim the bread. Trim just a thin slice off each end first for some stability and to make it easier for your knife to start future slices.

3. Cut in half crosswise. Two smaller chunks will be easier to cut through in straight, parallel lines than one big hunk of bread, so halve the loaf.

4. Cut into planks. Stand one half of the bread on a cut end and then cut downward into slices. Repeat with the second half.

5. Cut into cubes. Stack a few of the slices and then cut into cubes.

With this method, there’s less sawing back and forth and wrestling with the bread. Use the length of a loaf of bread to your advantage when cutting!