Thanksgiving Stuffing Tips and Recipes

 Thanksgiving, Holidays
on November 26, 2013

When Thanksgiving dinner comes around, we find ourselves stuffing our plates and stomachs chuck full of holiday favorites—so it’s no wonder one of the most steadfast and savory holiday staples was named “stuffing”. Watch the videos above for stuffing ideas, follow the below tips to make yours plate-perfect, then get cooking with a recipe from our long list of favorites.

Shy away from fresh or soft bread. it will be too moist and make the mix mushy. Instead use a stale and highly dense variety or bread that has been pre-dried in the oven.

Get your ratios right. for every pound of turkey, you’ll need a little less than a cup of stuffing. Loosely pack it in to ensure that the stuffing safely cooks through as the bird roasts.

Stuff your turkey immediately before baking. Doing this will avoid bacterial growth and possible salmonella contamination. Once the bird is out of the oven, remove all stuffing before carving.

Allow your turkey to strut its stuff(ing) in this dressing studded with dried cranberries. While only a few cups will actually fit in the bird, the rest can be baked on its own in a casserole dish.  Get the Recipe:  Classic Bread Stuffing

Cook meats and vegetables thoroughly before stuffing. Again, this is to avoid undercooked stuffing and contamination. If you are still worried about achieving perfect doneness, or just hate the process of stuffing the bird, we suggest skipping that step altogether and baking your dressing in a low-sided baking dish at 350F until done. We know many chefs who actually prefer this method.

Try new ingredients to liven up your old stand-by stuffing recipe. Oysters, shrimp, raisins, fresh chestnuts, winter greens, dried apricots, dried figs, basil, walnuts, or pecans all make great additives.