This Is The Only Stuffing Recipe You'll Ever Need (2024)

FAQs

Why put eggs in stuffing? ›

Broth: Chicken broth keeps the stuffing moist without making it soggy. 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.

Some people make the distinction that dressing is the proper name for the dish when it has been prepared outside of the bird—that is, when it has not been stuffed and cooked inside.

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.

Turkey stuffing was popularized in the early days of Thanksgiving, as it is written in many 16th-century Boston area documents. Stuffing most often uses dried bread, herbs, and vegetables that are reconstituted with liquid, stuffed into the turkey cavity, and baked until it is firm and finished cooking.

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.

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”).

It probably comes as no surprise that stuffing isn't the healthiest addition to your Christmas or Thanksgiving plate, but that's no reason to omit it. Typically high in fat, carbs and salt, stuffing can be made fresh or purchased chilled, frozen or dehydrated.

The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish, in which case it may still be called 'stuffing', or in some regions, such as the Southern US, 'dressing'. This is from Wiki. Basically, everyone except a tiny percentage of Black people with family in Alabama calls it stuffing.

What do they call stuffing in Pennsylvania? ›

Despite cooking techniques, the name game usually splits along regional lines, with cooks from the Northeast and Pacific Northwest sticking to stuffing, while the South and Midwest prefer the more proper dressing (and, to make matters even more confusing, our Pennsylvania friends use the term "filling"—not to be ...

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.

Breads such as sour dough, French bread or Italian loaves are for the best bread for stuffing. Their soft-but-sturdy interiors are the perfect texture for stuffing. The pieces retain their shape without crumbling.

But stuffing is soft and porous by nature. That's the main reason to cook stuffing inside a turkey: The bread cubes soak up roasting turkey juices and transform into incredible-tasting flavor bombs. That means the stuffing needs to reach a safe temperature (165°), so it won't make you sick.

Most commercial stuffing brands use animal products like milk, egg whites, butter, and chicken broth to bind the stuffing together. Some brands also use cornbread, which uses egg in the mixture. Homemade is the way to go if you want to incorporate only plant-based ingredients in your vegan stuffing mix.

Egg yolks: Raw egg yolks add richness, flavor, and help to bind the dressing together. Pasteurized egg yolks — which have been briefly heated to kill off any harmful bacteria — are readily available and can be used here.

Boiled egg yolks can thicken a dressing without breaking or clumping while creating a silky consistency that thoroughly coats your salad ingredients. Plus, the buttery richness of the yolk can help temper overly acidic or spiced dressings without muting them.

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.