The holiday season is right around the corner, and if theres one thing you can depend on eating, its dressing, or, err, stuffing. Dressing and stuffing have been engaged in a drawn out battle over which is a better word since the dawn of time. And while Im sure you have your own preference for which to use on Thanksgiving, for some people, theres not even a difference between the two. After all, arent they pretty much the same thing? The short answer is no. The long answer is below.
We chatted with Jason Goldstein of the cooking blog Chop Happy to find out what the real difference between stuffing and dressing is. We also asked a few chefs which they prefer and how they serve dressing and/or stuffing on Thanksgiving.
Stuffing, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a seasoned mixture (as of bread crumbs, vegetables, and butter) that is typically placed inside the cavity of a turkey, pepper, etc. and cooked.” In other words, a mixture that is “stuffed” inside your poultry. Makes sense right?
Dressing, on the other hand, is a little less obvious. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a seasoned mixture usually used as a stuffing (as for poultry).” So that makes them the same thing, right? No, not exactly.
Stuffing and dressing are commonly used as different names for the same thing—a dish consisting of bits of bread (or other starchy things) and various seasonings. The dish can be made by stuffing it (hence the name) inside a turkey or other bird that will be roasted, or by baking or cooking it separately.
The Differences Between Stuffing And Dressing
So what is the difference? “Technically, dressing and stuffing can have the same ingredients, but what makes them different is how they are cooked,” Goldstein said. “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. Additionally, dressing, especially in the American South, is often made with cornbread instead of pieces of a baguette or plain ol white bread.
2) Dressing is also a name given to a variety of seasoned ingredients, such as bread cubes, eggs, nuts, dried fruits, sausage bits, and herbs that are made as a side dish to be served with meat, poultry, fish, or seafood. Dressing may also be referred to as stuffing, which typically includes the same ingredients, but is baked by placing the ingredients into the body cavity of poultry, or into pieces of meat, seafood, or vegetables and then baked within the food it is stuffed into.
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FAQ
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