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

FAQs

Why stuffing is the best Thanksgiving food? ›

In other words, all the best things in any Thanksgiving meal. Best of all, stuffing stands on its own; it never needs a blanket of gravy or a cloud covering of marshmallows. Even dry stuffing—unlike, say, flavorless mashed potatoes—will taste and smell distinctly like Thanksgiving.

The primary difference between stuffing and dressing is that stuffing is cooked inside a bird and dressing is made on the side.

There's no specific date for when stuffing was first invented, but there is evidence of stuffing made from spelt, herbs, and vegetables in an ancient Roman document, according to Tasting Table. And while it's not clear whether or not stuffing was on the first Thanksgiving menu, it did become more popular in the 1800s.

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.

Bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165 degrees that could then cause food poisoning. After removing the bird from the oven, wait for 20 minutes before taking the stuffing out of the turkey's cavity; it will cook a little more this way. Learn more about our editorial process.

One popular dish is turkey. Turkey is usually the main dish of Thanksgiving. It is roasted and served with stuffing, gravy, and cranberry sauce.

Many foods may be stuffed, including poultry, seafood, and vegetables. As a cooking technique stuffing helps retain moisture, while the mixture itself serves to augment and absorb flavors during its preparation.

Stuffing Facts:

Stuffing dates back to the Roman Empire, where the ancient cookbook "Apicius de re Coquinaria" had recipes for stuffed chicken, rabbit, pork, and more.

Juices from the turkey soaked into the stuffing, infusing it with fat and flavor. "You've got those juices, and those juices taste great,” Smith said.

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.

What do the French call stuffing? ›

Farce is still the word for stuffing in French, and up until "stuffing" replaced it in the 16th century, that was its English name, too.

Easy stuffing

Starting with dried sourdough bread, celery, onion, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, chicken broth and eggs. A whole stick of butter goes in the pan adding onions, herbs and garlic (sausage is optional). Eggs combine everything together before going in the oven on a baking dish.

As the turkey cooks, its juices drip onto the stuffing, infusing the bread and vegetables with extra flavor. Some people also think the practice yields a moister stuffing, while others "do it to save space in the oven," says Baker.

As a cooking technique stuffing helps retain moisture, while the mixture itself serves to augment and absorb flavors during its preparation. Poultry stuffing often consists of breadcrumbs, onion, celery, spices, and herbs such as sage, combined with the giblets.

There are a couple of reasons why you may want to stuff a turkey before cooking, chief of which is to add some additional flavours to the turkey meat. However, don't assume that it will make the meat more moist. The fact is that stuffing a turkey brings the stuffing into contact with the raw inside of the beast.