Old Fashioned Stuffing (2024)

FAQs

Should I put an egg in my 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.

You can use either stock or broth for keeping dressing moist or as a basis for gravy, but a strong flavor will give you better results.

Some people insist that it should be called dressing when it hasn't actually been stuffed inside a bird. But many people insist on one term or the other regardless of how it's prepared or what's in it. The term dressing is most commonly used in the South, but it's popular in pockets throughout the US.

Any attempts to make stuffing with soft, fresh baked bread will result in a bread soup with a soggy texture. Follow this tip: Stale, dried-out bread makes the best stuffing.

The stuffing should be moist but not wet. If there is a puddle of broth at the bottom of the bowl, you've added too much. Add more bread to soak up the excess moisture. If the mix is still dry and crumbly, add more liquid and toss gently until it starts to clump together.

In most cases, stock and broth are interchangeable. If you're in the soup aisle and can't remember whether the recipe called for stock or broth, either will do for making soup, gravy, or a flavorful pot of rice or grains. Keep in mind that stock is unseasoned, and broth is seasoned.

Stock has a richer, deeper flavor and mouthfeel, making it better at adding body to a dish, whereas broth might be a better choice when you want to let other flavors to shine.

You haven't said whether you are going to cook the stuffing inside the bird or out, but it's fine to make almost any stuffing a few hours before you'll need it. The important thing is to keep it properly chilled so that bacteria won't have a chance to grow in it.

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.

Dressing Is For Midwesterners

Generally, in the Midwestern states, it's called stuffing regardless of the ingredients or whether it's cooked inside a turkey.

Is stove top stuffing the same as dressing? ›

Stove Top first began marketing its instant mix 40 years ago, and now sells roughly 60 million boxes for Thanksgiving alone. For those vexed by the difference between stuffing and dressing: stuffing technically refers to anything cooked in the cavity of an animal, whereas dressing is cooked on the side.

"If you're using stale bread and adding liquid, there will be nowhere for the liquid to go," says Seixas. "It's like when you're trying to cram more people into a fully booked flight. There's no space for extra moisture to fill." As a result, your stuffing will have a soggy texture.

You can use any kind; store-bought white bread works well and would probably be my #1 suggestion for stuffing. You could also try using cut up dinner rolls, sourdough bread (actually this would be my personal first pick), challah, or anything else you want to experiment with.

If you don't want to take up space in the oven, you can always leave the bread out on the counter to dry. A day or two before you assemble your stuffing, cut the bread into cubes. Then, lay the cubes onto sheet pans and let them dry out at room temperature for 24 to 48 hours.

But there are plenty of good reasons to skip the raw egg in the classic dressing. For some, the risk of foodborne illnesses such as salmonella is a deterrent. For others, there's an "ick" factor to eating raw eggs.

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.