My Grandma's Best Stuffing Recipe. Over 60 years old! (2024)

FAQs

Is stuffing better with or without eggs? ›

You'll never make stuffing with dried herbs again! Vegetable broth – To moisten the bread. Eggs – They add richness and moisture, helping to create the stuffing's irresistible gooey center.

Slightly stale bread absorbs meat juices and other ingredients better than moist, fresh bread. Some people simply use old bread for stuffing, while others prefer to dry out new bread as needed. Manually drying bread takes less time than waiting for the bread to dry on its own.

Absolutely. Most Thanksgiving stuffing recipes can be made at least partially in advance since: A) They're easily assembled a day or two ahead of Thanksgiving Day; and B) They're often baked using a two-step process (once covered with foil to cook through, then uncovered to achieve a crispy top).

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Best Bread for Stuffing

Many types of artisan-style bread will work, from sourdough and rye to whole-grain and garlicky herb. Check out your grocery store or local bakery to see what's in stock.

Fully cook raw meat, poultry, or seafood ingredients before adding to stuffing. Combine the ingredients and place them in your bird immediately before cooking. Don't stuff whole poultry with cooked stuffing. In addition to the turkey, the stuffing's center needs to reach 165 F.

Can I refrigerate stuffing overnight before baking? ›

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.

Use a Food Thermometer

For safety and doneness, check the internal temperature of the turkey and stuffing with a food thermometer. If the temperature of the turkey and the center of the stuffing have not reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F, further cooking will be required.

Bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165 degrees that could then cause food poisoning.

Coconut oil, olive oil, safflower oil, and coconut butter are some of the most used butter alternatives. Depending on temperature, coconut oil can be both a solid and a liquid.

The traditional turkey-day feast, replete with fatty, high-cholesterol, high-fat, and starchy foods like drumsticks, mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing, is generally anything but heart-healthy.

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.

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.

"Stuffing is cooked in the cavity of the turkey, so the juices soak into the ingredients, making it more flavorful. Dressing gets cooked on its own and needs extra liquid to make it flavorful." So stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked outside the bird, usually in a casserole dish.

If stuffing a whole turkey, chicken, or other bird, spoon the stuffing in loosely - about 3/4 cup of stuffing per pound. The stuffing should be moist, not dry, because heat destroys bacteria more rapidly in a moist environment.