Here's a Thanksgiving question for you: does your family make stuffing or dressing? Then again, if you're wondering whether there's even a difference between the two Thanksgiving sides, you wouldn't be alone! The confusion has been an age-old question that's left holiday tables divided year after year. So, to get to the bottom of it once and for all, we looked at everything you need to know about stuffing versus dressing. Even Ree Drummond weighed in on the matter!
According to The Pioneer Woman, "Some people stuff their roasted turkey with dressing, in which case the dressing is called stuffing. Others are dead set against stuffing the bird and opt for baking their stuffing in a baking dish, which means it's called dressing." In other words, "This dish is a wildly personal one," she says.
In fact, for many families, the words stuffing and dressing are used interchangeably, but there's more to it than you might think. The debate is also fueled by where you live. Read on to find out more about stuffing versus dressing, including the history of this Thanksgiving food.
What is Thanksgiving stuffing?
Just as the name implies, stuffing is a mixture of dried bread, herbs, and other flavorful mix-ins that's literally stuffed in your holiday bird. If you want to be precise, just take a look at the dictionary! According to Merriam-Webster, stuffing is "typically placed inside the cavity of a turkey." By placing the stuffing inside the turkey, the bread steams to help maintain moisture and also soaks up all that turkey flavor while it cooks.
What is Thanksgiving dressing?
Unlike stuffing, Thanksgiving dressing is a little harder to define. The dish is made of similar ingredients but is often baked in a casserole dish instead of inside the turkey. It also happens to be Ree's preferred method, too. "It's less complicated, and produces a better textured dressing," she says," I love a crunchy topping on my dressing, and you just don't get it when it bakes inside the turkey!"
Why is it called stuffing vs. dressing?
This has a bit to do with the history of stuffing. These days, most families enjoy some kind of mixture consisting of drying bread (whether it be cornbread, sourdough, or white bread), herbs, veggies, and sometimes meat. But there's no evidence that suggests it was actually served at the original Thanksgiving dinner. According to History.com, the Pilgrims most likely added "herbs, onions, or nuts" to their Thanksgiving turkey and as the years went on, ingredients like oysters, chestnuts, and—yes—bread were added to stuffing recipes.
The term "dressing" didn't appear until the 1850s, when Victorian nobles took offense at the vulgar word "stuffing." So, it’s easy to see why many dressing and stuffing recipes consist of the same ingredients. To understand the difference between the two, all you have to do is look at the cooking method. Stuffing is stuffed (literally) inside the cavity of the turkey, while dressing is roasted in a separate casserole dish.
Who says 'dressing' and who says 'stuffing'?
Despite cooking techniques, the name game usually splits along regional lines, with cooks from the Northeast and Pacific Northwest sticking to stuffing, while the South and Midwest prefer the more proper dressing (and, to make matters even more confusing, our Pennsylvania friends use the term "filling"—not to be confused with the stuff that goes in pies!).
This is down to a science: A 2015 survey conducted on behalf of the poultry company Butterball revealed that, regardless of how the dish was cooked, most of the country—including 100 percent of New Englanders—refers to the side as stuffing, while Southerners are devoted dressing fans.
Whether you're a die-hard Thanksgiving dressing fan or a staunch stuffing supporter, we can all agree on one thing in the stuffing vs. dressing debate: It's incredibly delicious!
