Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Filling

I gave this recipe 1 star for the following reasons..... 1. The season salt. 3 TBS is a ton of salt in the first place and real PA Dutch filling doesn't have season salt in it. Just salt and pepper. 2. The fact that the bread is just to be added soft into the potatoes as they are in the mixing stage. This is very odd. The bread should be cubed and browned in more butter then added after the potatoes have already been mashed. 3. The lack of eggs 4. The crazy amount of butter on top. The top should be dotted with a TBS or 2 of butter but 1/2 cup is way to much. The majority of butter should be in the dish not on it. You are already cooking the celery onions and bread in butter not to mention making the mashed potatoes with butter. 5. The veggies should be softened but not browned. 6. This should be made the day before to allow the flavors to really meld together 7. This dish should NOT be covered while baking. When putting the filling in the dish do not smooth the top down all the little peeks and the top will get a yummy brown top. And last but not least even more season salt on top.

Grew up with this--it wouldn't be a holiday meal without it. The secret ingredient is eggs. Both my grandmothers always mixed in several raw eggs as they were mashing the potatoes. Gives it a little color and "crustiness" when baked. (5 stars if you go easy on the salt and saute the bread cubes with the onions and celery.)

SAGE is the "secret" ingredient -large pinch of SAGE. It is not Thanksgiving without this dish- this WAS our stuffing growing up. I just always thought it was a Yankee recipe. Mom must have learned it in Home Ec.

I have been making this particular dish for 30 years. It is a nice alternative to just plain mashed potatoes or plain bread stuffing. My only comment is that I find that for some reason, the tatse is better if the mashed potatoies are a day or even a few days old.

It is interesting when this recipe receives a bad review based on when someone else suggests adding in "fun" alternatives to it. This is the bare bones recipe. Please only review it based on that, not on what others added or didn't add. These are amazing potatoes.

This is a wonderful "comfort food" !!! Excellent with the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. My family has made this for every holiday dinner for over 40 years. Everyone we have shared this dish with has loved it and asked for the leftovers :)

I make a version of this recipe every holiday. The only difference is that I fry the bread cubes also. It adds a little crunch to the filling.

hi , this is an update to my review.this is so awesome i make it at least once or twice a month because of requests.new story for u. i mentioned before my son drives truck he is here once or twice a week. i always make meals for him to take w/him.he has been sharing some of his food with other drivers.they love this dish. i went with him on a trip.when i met some of his co-drivers, they said ur the one that makes that delic potato thing.some even offered me money to make it. i told them to go to allrecipies to get the recipe so their wives could make it for them.. thanks again shuanaR for sharing. its a stand by for me now.and it freezes great thanx again

i grew up in lehigh county pa. we always had this at holiday meals. my mother would put several eggs into mixture and parsley. make extra and freeze. sarah krout

I, too, grew up with this stuffing and there is nothing like it! The only differences in my mom's recipe was that she used mashed potatoes from the start, she added an egg, added parsley, and she sauteed the bread cubes in butter before adding them. Not much difference in taste in any of those changes. There is absolutely no other 'stuffing' like it! By the way - it's delicious as a left over - my mom used to make "patties" and fry them for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving or Christmas!

I grew up with this "stuffing" in Southern New Jersey--I never knew it was Pennsylvania Dutch!(We just called it Mom's Potato Stuffing.) I make my own version with browned ground turkey and dried cranberries added for a one-dish meal. This is so popular at church suppers/family buffets that the last time I brought it -it was gone before I got up to it in line! It makes a big difference to use real potatoes (even day-old as mentioned) and fresh bread(french is best without the crust) but you can take short cuts and use instant potatoes and stuffing mix--but I wouldn't! (My guesses for the "secret" ingredient would be either ground sage or nutmeg...)

Been eating this since I was old enough to eat.. my mother always added Marjoram..

The secret ingredient is poultry seasoning.

These are Great just the way they are, but for a change of pace try adding 1 cup of shredded cheese and 8 strips of crisp crumbled bacon. I have used both Velvetta Cheese and Blue Cheese (depends on your family's taste buds) All three ways make goooooooooood taters!!!

Taste great even making it with gluten free bread family loved it

This is it! This is the same recipe that my Grandmother made!! I believe that marjoram is the "secret ingredient" that you are missing. THANK YOU for submitting this recipe!!

My family has been making this for decades. We always boil the potatos with a tablespoon of saffron.

Great recipe that we enjoy at family gatherings. We make ours with bacon, onion, celery and lots of parsley. We use less bread.

The secret ingredient that's missing is Marjoram. I'm 63 and have enjoyed this during the holidays since I was a kid. Use Marjoram to your taste.

I love potato filling and was looking for a recipe similar to family's because I was unable to locate it. I agree with the other reviewers that the addition of an egg or two prior to baking is a must! I also always add 1-2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning to the recipe and add the bread slices to the butter/celery/onion mixture! Delicious! Thanks for the great recipe!

This is amazing!

I have not made this recipe yet, so cannot rate it, but I grew up eating potato filling as my dad and his heritage was Pennsylvania Dutch. Born and raised in Lebanon, PA. I believe your secret ingredient is saffron. A very expensive spice but only takes a few threads soaked in water. At least, I know my dad always added it! P.S. I had to give rating to leave comment but again, I have not actually made or tasted this particular recipe so it is a curtesy rating.

The Penna Dutch women in the HS cafeteria make this type dressing.They put some poultry spice in it to give it more of a turkey taste (poultry spice on the turkey also). I think this may be the secret ingredient.

This is a fantastic recipe! I added a pinch of saffron to the celery/onion mixture about 1-2 minutes before it was done sautéing. I also added a bit more milk it because it was slightly dry.

The secret my Nan Nan always used was saffron!! Boil the potatoes with it.

The secret is eggs. my family's recipe called for 5lbs potatos and we add three eggs when mixing potatos.

This is my Grammy's recipe for potato patties! I've searched and searched for it but all the recipes I found were with flour and egg and very runny. My Grammy and my Mom are both dead and I was sure I remembered them tearing soft white bread into it. Today I was inspired to look for Pennsylvania Dutch potato cakes, and there it was! They made individual patties, not a casserole but that was enough to re-create the cakes and the flavor of my childhood on Grammy's sunny kitchen! Thank you, thank you!

I make this and use Bells seasoning as the secret ingredient. Fabulous!

My Dutch grandmother made this filling at Thanksgiving instead of stuffing. I like your recipe a lot, too! I'm not sure what the secret ingredient is but in addition to the celery and onion, Nannie added sweet baby peas and evaporated milk instead of regular milk and no cubed bread, just the bread crumbles on top in her recipe. She garnished it with paprika after it came out of the oven with peaks of filling blanketed in a delicious golden crust, served with her homemade gravy. Now that we're health conscious, we use skim milk and skip the gravy but is still delicious and a pleasant change from stuffing.

Growing up in Lancaster Co., PA, my grandmother always added 2-3 raw eggs, beaten, to the mashed potatoes. She also put 5-6 strands of saffron into 1/2 c. of boiling water and let is steep for about ten minutes. She would then add the saffron water to the potatoes, eggs, sauteed onion and celery before adding the cubed bread. Skip the seasoned salt and marjoram, as some suggested, and use just salt, pepper and saffron.

I grew up on this in PA. I agree you need eggs in it to make it fluffy but also parsley. Saute celery, onion, parsley in equal amounts then add in bread cubes to toast them. fold this into the mashed potatos. We didn't add sage but I've added thyme to mine sometimes.

The missing ingredients that you mention are egg and turkey drippings. We add the turkey drippings to top instead of butter just before baking (uncovered) Also, to make a smooth, mashed potato-like consistency, my mother in law Puts the chopped celery and onion in a food processor with a little water to Get it like a baby food consistency. Than we fry that in butter. Sound weird but if you don't like chunks but like the flavor it works. She also dries the bread out ahead of time, crumbles it in a large bowl, and adds milk until it's wet. Thanks for the amounts of ingredients. My mother in law eyeballs everything!