What’s Your Thanksgiving Tradition, Dressing or Stuffing?
Really, what’s the difference, and are they interchangeable? These are long standing questions, and from my experience the terms are pretty much used interchangeably. At my house we have dressing, but it is made pretty much like the official description for stuffing. It’s my Mom’s recipe and of course it does not include exact measurements, so replicating it has eluded me so far. Seems like I can get the taste right but not the consistency, I will definitely keep trying.
What is really the difference? According to the experts, “Officially”, Stuffing is a dish traditionally eaten on the American Thanksgiving holiday. It typically consists of dried cubes of bread and aromatics and herbs such as onions, celery, sage, and rosemary, mixed together with warm vegetable or chicken broth. As the name implies, the dish is commonly (although not always) “stuffed” into the cavity of a turkey as it cooks and then removed for eating afterwards. Although the term stuffing implies that the dish is added into the body of the turkey, many Americans still prepare the dish in a baking dish rather than actually stuffing it into the bird, and still refer to it as “stuffing.” Many people, especially in the South, believe that stuffing only should be labeled as stuffing if it is actually stuffed into a turkey as a part of its preparation, and prepared with any kind of yeast bread, such as sourdough or white sandwich bread.
And “Officially”, Dressing dish consisting of dried bread cubes, aromatics, and broth prepared during Thanksgiving. Many believe, however, that dressing refers to a stuffing-like dish that is literally not “stuffed” into the cavity of a turkey, but baked in a casserole dish. Again, many believe that dressing should always cooked in a baking dish, and indicates a dish made particularly with cornbread in place of a yeast bread.
Bottom line, stuffing and dressing are both a form of starch, such as bread, cornbread, and even sometimes rice, mixed with a variety of possible vegetables, herbs and spices, sometimes even meat like sausage or oysters, either way it is always the perfect Thanksgiving side dish.
Basic Stuffing Recipe
½ cup onions, diced
½ cup celery, diced
6 tablespoons butter
12 cups bread, about a regular sized loaf
2 cups chicken broth
1 ½ teaspoons poultry seasoning
Cube day old bread into bite size pieces. I like to set it out on a sheet pan the night before to help it dry out. Place 12 cups cubed bread in a large bowl. Add 1 ½ teaspoons poultry seasoning and toss to combine.
Heat a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Add 6 Tablespoons butter and melt. Add ½ cup onions and ½ cup celery and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender, about 6 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.
Pour butter and vegetable mixture over the bread cubes and gently stir to incorporate.
Pour half the 2 cups chicken broth over the bread mixture, gently stirring to incorporate. Add more broth as you need it until the bread is just moistened but not drenched.
Transfer to a greased baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until cooked through and set.
Down East Oyster Dressing
1 cup chopped yellow onion (from 1 small onion)
1 cup green bell pepper (from 1 medium pepper)
1 cup chopped celery (from 3 large stalks)
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, divided
1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning (such as Bell's)
1 Tbsp. Old Bay seasoning
8 cups loosely packed cubed day-old white bread (from 4 [3 oz.] hoagie rolls)
1 cup crumbled day-old cornbread
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup fresh oysters, plus 1/4 cup reserved oyster liquor (about 12 shucked or 2 [8 oz.] jarred)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Hot sauce (such as Tabasco), for serving
Lemon wedges, for serving
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease an 8 x 10 or 2 quart baking dish.
Heat ¼ cup butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper and cook until softened and onion is almost translucent, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1 teaspoon of the salt, poultry seasoning and Old Bay. Stir to combine and coat vegetables evenly.
Add 1 ¼ cups of the broth and cook, lifting any brown bits from the pan.
Add bread and cornbread to the broth mixture, stirring to combine and let bread soak up liquid. If some bread pieces are still dry, add remaining ¼ cup of broth. Set aside.
Stir together oysters, reserved liquor, lemon juice, parsley, and remaining ½ teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.
Add oyster mixture and egg to the bread mixture and stir to combine.
Transfer to the baking dish. Cut remaining ¼ cup of butter into cubes and sprinkle over the top.
Bake until brown and set, about 40 minutes.
Garnish with parsley, and serve warm with lemon wedges and hot sauce.
Traditional Holiday Sausage Stuffing
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups day old bread, cubed (like a French baguette)
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 ½ cups chicken broth
1 large egg, lightly beaten
In a large skillet, cook the sausage over medium heat until browned and crumbled. Drain off excess fat.
Add the chopped onion and celery to the skillet with the sausage. Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine the cubed bread, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper.
Add the sausage, onion, and celery mixture to the bread mixture. Toss to combine.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the chicken broth and the beaten egg.
Pour the broth mixture over the bread and sausage mixture. Toss gently until everything is moistened.
Transfer the stuffing to a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and slightly crisp.
Neuse News is a locally-owned small business startup in downtown Kinston. Our goal is to provide free, hyper-local news to Lenoir, Greene and Jones counties. The kind of news our grandparents read in a format fit for today's times.
We provide this by having supportive advertisers and we encourage you to click on their ads, shop with them, and eat with them. Every bit of financial support is important to help us sustain free, hyper-local news.
Please consider supporting Neuse News with as little as $5 one-time or via a monthly option. Every little bit helps us, help you.
