These Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipes Will Make the Feast Legendary (2024)

FAQs

What's the best kind of stuffing? ›

The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (a cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other organ meat.

By bringing so much together into one dish, stuffing offers a preview of the leftovers, the best part of the Thanksgiving meal, when you Frankenstein's-monster up a plate of whatever happens to have made it into the fridge the next day. If you like Thanksgiving, you like stuffing, and vice versa.

The most important ingredient of stuffing may be the binder, which keeps all the other elements in place. For a fluffy texture, use eggs. Stock is the most-used binder. Less conventional possibilities include fruit juice (such as apple or orange) and alcohol (wine or liqueur).

Any attempts to make stuffing with soft, fresh baked bread will result in a bread soup with a soggy texture. Follow this tip: Stale, dried-out bread makes the best stuffing.

Stove Top is a stuffing that was introduced by General Foods in 1972.

African American Heritage

The earliest ancestor of cornbread dressing as we know it is a dish called “kush.” Food writer and historian Michael Twitty says the word hails from Islamic West Africa and is related to the term “couscous,” a popular dish made from tiny balls of grains like semolina wheat or millet.

In the context of Thanksgiving, the word dressing is commonly used to mean the same exact thing as stuffing—including when it's cooked inside the bird.

I love using sourdough bread, but really any neutral bread will work fine. White sandwich bread from the grocery store is the most common choice, and it works perfectly here!

When stuffed, the turkey's raw juices come in direct contact with the stuffing. This means that in order to be safe to eat, your stuffing has to reach 165°F. But by the time the stuffing is safe, the rest of the turkey will be well over 180°F, and will basically have turned into tough, dry turkey jerky.

Do you actually put stuffing inside turkey? ›

Should I stuff my turkey? Stuffing cooked inside the turkey cavities is delicious, but it does slow down the cooking time and could be a potential health hazard if done incorrectly. For perfect no-worry results, opt for "dressing" instead – stuffing cooked alongside the bird instead of inside.

Stuffing is not strictly a healthy food, because it is typically high in calories, fat, sodium, and refined carbohydrates. 1 But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it, All foods can fit into a healthy diet in moderation.

But for the Thanksgiving side dish in the South, the term dressing was adopted in place of stuffing, which was viewed as a crude term, during the Victorian era. Although dressing and stuffing are interchangeable terms, the signature ingredient of this Thanksgiving side dish in the South is cornbread.

That's because the turkey and stuffing might cook at different rates, often leaving the stuffing uncooked and unsafe to eat by the time the turkey is ready. Both the turkey and stuffing need to reach a minimal internal temperature of 165°F in order for harmful pathogens in the stuffing to be killed, explains Baker.

The Foodie picked: Homemade. "The texture of the homemade is really superior, mostly moist and tender but with those crispy, crunchy, buttery edges, almost like French toast.

Stuffing / dressing is the most popular side dish in Ohio, according to Campbell's. It's also the most popular side in neighboring Indiana, as well as Wisconsin, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine and Alaska. Nationally, however, stuffing / dressing ranks the second-most popular side dish.

The difference is that stuffing goes inside the cavity of the turkey, chicken, duck or whatever. Dressing is cooked in a separate casserole or similar dish. Taste-wise, stuffing will absorb the turkey juices and add those flavors; it is more moist than dressing when made by many.

Speaking of texture, that's what stuffing is all about--you want a mix of crispy and soft pieces. We recommend adding stock a little at a time--1/2 cup to 1 cup, depending on how much stuffing you're making--and waiting for the bread to absorb the liquid before adding more.