Homemade Traditional Stuffing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What was stuffing originally made of? ›

The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (a cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other organ meat.

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. In addition, stuffing can also be cooked separately in a casserole dish in the oven, which would then be considered dressing.

Make the stuffing, melt butter in a large frying pan and gently sauté onion and garlic for five minutes until soft. Stir in the herbs for one minute then add breadcrumbs to absorb butter. Mix in zest, pine nuts and seasoning and cook over medium heat for about seven minutes until crumbs start to brown and crisp.

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.

Some people make the distinction that dressing is the proper name for the dish when it has been prepared outside of the bird—that is, when it has not been stuffed and cooked inside.

Stuffing consists of a mixture of savoury ingredients such as breadcrumbs, herbs, fruit, nuts, sausagemeat and onion which are bound together with egg or liquid to form a semi-solid mixture. It is usually cooked with roast meat such as chicken, pork or lamb and is served as an accompaniment to the sliced, cooked meat.

It's all about personal preference. If you want a sturdier dressing, eggs can help do that. I don't use eggs in this recipe, though, because I like a lighter, more crumbly texture in my dressing.

The best bread for stuffing is a sturdy loaf with a tight crumb. Bakery French bread, Italian bread, Challah, and Sourdough are all good choices. When you cut up a 1-pound loaf into cubes, it should fit in an even layer on a single half-size rimmed baking sheet.

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.

Preparation. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add apples, pears, onions and celery, and sauté until translucent and softened, about 10 minutes. To a large mixing bowl, add the fruit-aromatics mixture, cubed bread, eggs and Bell's seasoning, and mix to combine.

Do you cook stuffing before putting it in the turkey? ›

Give stuffing a head start by heating it up before placing inside the turkey. Like the turkey, stuffing needs to reach the 165 degree mark. If the bird is done before the stuffing, remove stuffing from the cavities and continue to cook in a baking dish.

Although most people in America debate on whether the dish should be called stuffing or dressing the people of Pennsylvania call it filling. Essentially filling is the same as stuffing or dressing. The name suggests that it will fill something like stuffing does.

Tear the stale bread into small chunks and whiz into breadcrumbs. Add these to the bowl, then crush and crumble in the chestnuts. Place the diced pork into the food processor, pick in the sage leaves, roughly chop and add the bacon, followed by 1 level teaspoon of white pepper and a good pinch of sea salt.

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.

In the "Apicius de re Coquinaria," an ancient Roman cookbook, many recipes used spelt mixed with spices, vegetables, and herbs to create a filling that would be used to stuff inside of any number of animals — whether that be a pig, chicken, rabbit, or even dormouse (via Arcadia Publishing).

The origin of cornbread dressing can be traced to enslaved people in the South who transformed leftover cornbread into a delicious dish. The history of this recipe can actually be traced back to a West African dish known as Kusha.

The Origins of Stuffing

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.