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

FAQs

Why stuffing is the best Thanksgiving food? ›

There is nothing that better represents the holiday, and nothing else ties together all the different parts of the meal like stuffing does. It is a reminder that, no matter how many mistakes get made with each different contribution to the feast, it's still all better together than apart.

Eggs: Two lightly beaten eggs help hold the dressing together and add moisture. Water: You can add a few tablespoons of water, if you'd like, to achieve your desired consistency. Seasonings: This turkey dressing recipe is seasoned with salt, pepper, rubbed sage, and garlic powder.

What is dressing? 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.

Sourdough, Italian, and white bread are standard choices for stuffing; however, journeying beyond your comfort zone can produce excellent results.

Typically, baking the stuffing inside the bird helps keep the mixture moist. “I prefer stuffing (in the bird) to dressing (outside of the bird) because all those delicious drippings that come off the turkey gets absorbed right into the stuffing,” Bamford says.

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.

It's a matter of preference, but adding a beaten egg to your stuffing mixture acts as a binder and keeps the bread moist.

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.

It Could Give You Salmonella Poisoning

If that stuffing doesn't reach 165 degrees F, the bacteria won't be killed off, meaning you're passing it on to your guests.

Here's an important Thanksgiving food safety tip that will surprise many: USDA doesn't recommend stuffing a whole turkey. The practice increases the risk of cross-contamination and takes the turkey longer to cook. Cook stuffing separately instead.

Is it OK to make stuffing a day ahead of time? ›

No matter where you fall, getting a head start on what can be prepared before the big day is essential. One question that always crops up: Can you make stuffing ahead of time? The short answer to whether you can making stuffing ahead of time is yes.

In England, a stuffing is sometimes made of minced pork shoulder seasoned with various ingredients, such as sage, onion, bread, chestnuts, dried apricots, and dried cranberries. The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish. This may still be called stuffing or it may be called dressing.

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.

The word “stuffing” dates back to 14th Century English, when it was used synonymously with the more uncomfortable sounding forcemeat. Soon after, Anglos borrowed the slicker French word, farce (from the Latin verb facire or “to stuff”).

Stuffing is a mix of edible ingredients such as herbs, bread and a binder such as egg, traditionally stuffed into a meat cavity before it is cooked. Other ingredients in stuffing might be meat, nuts, butter, chopped vegetables and even fruit or oysters.

Stuffing is a side dish consisting of dried bread, such as cornbread, croutons, or breadcrumbs, mixed with meat, onions, celery, and sage. The mixture is then inserted into the cavity of the turkey and roasted.

"Stuffing may be made from bread, rice or other grains, vegetables or fruit. They can be coarse or fairly fine in texture and are usually well flavored." As Google Search shows, Northerners still call this side dish stuffing, even though it's usually made separately from their big bird for health-safety reasons.