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

FAQs

What is another name for stuffing Thanksgiving? ›

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.

Stuffing, according to Merriam-Webster, is "a seasoned mixture (as of bread crumbs, vegetables, and butter) that is typically placed inside the cavity of a turkey, pepper, etc. and cooked." In other words, a mixture that is "stuffed" inside your poultry.

Although experts are not clear on when or where stuffing was first made, the first recorded history of the dish comes from Apicius de re Coquinaria, a Roman collection of popular recipes from the first century AD.

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.

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.

To understand the difference between the two, all you have to do is look at the cooking method. Stuffing is stuffed (literally) inside the cavity of the turkey, while dressing is roasted in a separate casserole dish.

Nutrition Notes

Stuffing is essentially bread, salt, and butter, so it probably comes as no surprise that it isn't the healthiest food served on Thanksgiving. But you can cut its sodium and saturated fat, and pump up its nutritional profile.

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.

There is no particular reason why stuffing is eaten at Christmas, other than it is a traditional accompaniment to turkey, the most popular Christmas meat.

What culture is stuffing from? ›

Well, experts aren't exactly sure, but the first official mention of it can be found in a Roman cookbook called “Apicius de re Coquinaria,” which dates back to the first century AD.

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.

USDA recommends that you never refrigerate uncooked stuffing. Why? Remember, stuffing can harbor bacteria, and though bacteria grow slower in the refrigerator they can cause problems because stuffing is a good medium for bacteria growth, therefore a higher risk food in terms of cooking safely.

Stuffing is full of flavor; it has a lot of zip to it.” Other companies at the time had already developed their own stuffing, but the crumbs in Stove Top stuffing were just the right size.

soft material that is used to fill the hollow parts of something never heard of using goose down as stuffing for comforters until she moved to a cold climate. filling. packing. fill. padding.

This is known as channel stuffing or trade loading. Discounts or special incentives at the end of the quarter can be used to drive sales beyond what would normally be purchased.

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.