How Much Would You Pay For Marilyn Monroe's 1954 Stuffing Recipe? Here's What It Sold For At Auction

The world's fascination with actor Marilyn Monroe remains decades after her tragic death at age 36, with her memory holding glamor-icon status like no other. That's why it's hard to imagine the film star in a kitchen at all, much less scribbling down a personal recipe for stuffing. But, as fate would have it, there's physical proof that Marilyn Monroe did just that — and more than 60 years after her passing, somebody paid $16,000 for that home-kitchen remnant of her life. 

On June 4, 1926, Julien's Auctions rolled out a collection dubbed "100 Years of Marilyn," which offered 186 of Monroe's personal items to the highest bidder. And those bids were indeed high, including the handwritten stuffing recipe. The pre-auction estimate was $2,000 to $3,000, making the final bid far exceed expectations. Written in pencil, the recipe sprawls across both sides of a simple sheet of memo paper bearing a headline of "City Title Insurance Company" and a Sutter Street address, likely associated with the city of San Francisco. 

Monroe provides ingredients and directions for making stuffing to accompany a "chicken or turkey / ...or phesant [sic]," though it appears, by the many side-scribbles and notations, that the recipe was intended solely for her own personal use. As noted in Tasting Table's look at the unique stuffing Marilyn Monroe loved to cook, the recipe approach was unique and complex, involving sourdough bread, ground beef, turkey liver, raisins, hard-boiled eggs, three types of nuts, Parmesan cheese, aromatics, and seasonings. Peculiarities include things like shredding sourdough bread and soaking it in water, plus a "no garlic" notation in the upper left corner. The recipe likely dates to 1954, per auction notes, which would have coincided with her brief marriage to Joe DiMaggio — who reportedly disliked garlic.

If you consider $16,000 astoundingly high for a handwritten stuffing recipe by Marilyn Monroe, hold for another shocker. Her personal collection of two well-used cookbooks first sold in 1999 for $45,000, then appeared again in 2021 at Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries, where they were auctioned for a whopping price. Though final results were not revealed, the pre-auction value fell between $50,000 and $75,000, with potential for it to go much higher.  

The two cookbooks in Monroe's possession, which were obviously put to good use, are now classic culinary guides for chefs as well as for collectors: "The New Fanny Farmer Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" and "The New Joy of Cooking." Both reflect upgrades and revisions from the much older first editions. The allure and value, however, weren't in the cookbooks alone, but also in Monroe's personal annotations throughout, which say a lot about her reported love for cooking. Along with food stains, scribbled thoughts, and handwritten notes, the pages of the cookbooks also held things like grocery lists, recipe clippings, and a typed eating schedule revealing her strict daily routines and food choices. 

In addition to the stuffing recipe and cookbooks, other culinary items sold at the 2026 Julien's auction include two cookware items — a brass saucepan and a pair of copper salt and pepper shakers — sold for $5,760, and a 1950s silver-plate wine caddy for $10,240. 

Few people will ever hold a fragment of the iconic star's culinary history in their hands, but it's still possible to enjoy some of her favorite dining spots. Check out these 10 restaurants Marilyn Monroe loved in California, which include The Original Pantry Cafe in Los Angeles, The Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood, and Melvyn's Restaurant in Palm Springs.