The Best Oyster Dressing Recipes

Steps:

• The day before making the stuffing, bake the cornbread: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven. In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Whisk to combine well. In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs and creamed corn, whisking to combine thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine. If the batter will not pour, add more buttermilk.
• Swirl the vegetable oil in the hot cast-iron skillet. Pour the batter into the skillet and bake until the cornbread is golden brown and springs back upon the touch, about 20 minutes. Let cool in the skillet, then crumble 6 cups of the cornbread and spread out on a baking sheet. Let the cornbread dry out at room temperature, uncovered, about 24 hours.
• Make the stuffing: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the vegetable oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion and celery are semitranslucent, about 15 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat; add the crumbled cornbread, oyster crackers, thyme and sage and stir well. Next, add the oysters with their liquor and the eggs; stir until combined. Pat the mixture down into an even layer.
• Put the skillet on the middle rack of the oven and bake until golden brown and crisp around the edges, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by 13-inch baking dish.
• Crumble cornbread into a large bowl. Tear toasted white or wheat bread into very small pieces, add to cornbread, and toss to combine
• Melt 8 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and bell pepper; sauté, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Cover pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove cover, add broth, and cook, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, for 2 to 3 minutes. Continue to cook mixture for 1 more minute, then remove from heat, add to bread mixture, and stir to combine.
• In a medium bowl, stir together oysters, lemon juice, hot sauce, parsley, sage, salt and white pepper. Add to bread mixture and stir well to combine. If dressing seems too dry, add a little oyster liquor and up to 1/2 cup more chicken broth; mixture should be very moist.
• Pour dressing into greased baking dish. Cut remaining 4 tablespoons butter into small pieces and scatter over top of dressing. Bake until top and sides are browned, 40 to 45 minutes.

Steps:

• Melt butter in a skillet. Saute onions and celery until transparent.
• Soak the bread in water. Drain and squeeze water out of bread. Tear into small pieces and add to onion mixture.
• Add egg, parsley and oysters.
• Season with salt, pepper and spices.
• Simmer until oysters begin to curl.
• If the mixture is soggy, add bread crumbs; it should be very moist but there should be no excess liquid.
• Turn into a 2 qt casserole.
• Dot with butter.
• Bake 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 8 muffin cups.
• In a bowl, beat the corn muffin mix, egg, and milk together until moistened; batter will be slightly lumpy. Allow the batter to rest 3 to 4 minutes, stir again, and spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them halfway.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the muffins have risen and are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean. Remove the muffins, let cool, and coarsely crumble the muffins into a very large bowl.
• Increase the oven heat to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Place the biscuit mix into a bowl, and lightly stir in 1/2 cup of water to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and gently knead 2 or 3 times; pat the dough out 1/2-inch thick. With a 2-inch floured cutter, cut the biscuit dough into rounds, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
• Bake the biscuits in the 450-degree oven until lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove biscuits, allow to cool on a rack, and coarsely crumble the biscuits in the bowl with the muffin crumbs.
• Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C); grease an 11x15-inch baking dish.
• Melt 1/4 cup of unsalted butter in a large skillet; cook and stir the onion and chicken livers in the butter until the onion is translucent and the chicken livers are no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Press a fork into the chicken livers to mash them as they cook. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Place the herb stuffing mix into the large bowl with the crumbs. Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of butter with 1 1/2 cup of water in a saucepan over medium heat. If stuffing mix comes with a separate packet of herbs, empty the herb packet into the saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour the mixture over the dry stuffing mix and crumbs.
• Pour in the turkey gravy and mix in the cooked chicken livers with onions and butter. With a large wooden spoon, begin stirring in turkey broth until the stuffing is moist but not soggy. Stir in sage, thyme, salt, and black pepper, and lightly spoon the dressing into the prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes; remove from oven, and gently stir in the oysters and their juices. Cook for an additional 15 minutes. If you need to hold the stuffing for a short while, cook for 10 minutes after stirring in oysters, remove from oven, cover the dish with aluminum foil, and serve as soon as possible.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a pot, add the giblets, neck bone, onion and stock. Simmer and cook on low for 20 minutes. Discard the onion and neck bone. Remove the remaining giblets and chop. Place back in the stock and set aside. Strain the oysters over the pot of stock and set aside the oysters.
• In a large bowl, mix all the stuffing cubes with the parsley and set aside.
• In a saute pan on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons butter, celery, onions, sage, thyme and garlic. Season with a pinch of salt and a nice grind of pepper. Cook until the onions and celery are tender, but the garlic is not browned. Remove to the bowl of bread cubes. In the same pan, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and the oysters. Saute until the edges begin to curl on the oysters. Remove to the bowl of stuffing cubes and stir to combine with everything. Pour the stock over the mixture and stir. This is a wet dressing, so it will be very moist. Pour into a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Press down to make it compact, and then cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, then raise the temperature to 400 degrees F and bake uncovered until golden brown on top, about 15 minutes more.

Steps:

• Spread the bread cubes out onto baking sheets or a work surface, and allow to dry for 24 to 48 hours (longer for a drier dressing).
• Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion, garlic, and celery until the onions become translucent, about 8 minutes. Pour the vegetables and butter into a large bowl. Lightly mix in the bread cubes, and stir in the oysters and their liquid until thoroughly combined.

Steps:

• In a LARGE black cast iron Dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat and saute' the smoked sausage, onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and green onion tops until all of them are tender.
• The one thing you want to remember is to keep the butter hot, but don't let it burn (and don't let the garlic burn either or it will turn bitter).
• I also suggest that you keep stirring the mixture to cook it uniformly.
• Next, stir in the parsley.
• Then gradually stir in the chopped oysters, the oyster liquor, and the turkey pan drippings. Notice I said to gradually stir. The reason for this is that you do not want to reduce the heat, lowering the cooking temperature will cause excessive water to be released from the oysters and you'll have to add too much bread to the finished dish.
• Now cook the oysters gently over medium high heat for about 4 minutes, stirring all the while.
• And when all the ingredients are well mixed, drop in the poultry seasoning, basil, thyme, seafood seasoning, black pepper and salt. About the salt; taste your raw oysters to see if they are naturally salty before adding the prescribed amount.
• You may have to reduce additional salt if nature has provided her own.
• At this point, cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer the mixture for about 5 minutes to allow time for the flavors to marry.
• This is one of the secrets to making a really good oyster dressing. Don't rush or skip this step!
• After the simmering process is done, remove the pot from the fire and begin adding the bread chunks a few at a time.
• Note that you do not have to add all four cups.
• If you want your dressing moist, stop adding bread when you get to the texture you desire.
• If you want a drier stuffing, add all four cups, even a little more if your taste and needs dictate.
• Now taste the dressing again and make your final seasoning adjustments.
• The objective is to get the bread to absorb all the pan liquor, thereby binding everything together.
• When, in your estimation, the dressing is ready (it shouldn't be soupy, but it shouldn't be dry either), allow it to cool slightly. Then rapidly stir in the raw egg to tie everything together and cover it for a few minutes to let it set up.
• This is where the richness comes in and it's how the final blending brings out full flavor.
• Oh, and if by chance you've miscalculated and made the mixture a bit too dry, just pour in a little extra turkey drippings.
• The only thing left to do is to transfer the dressing right from the Dutch oven to a buttered casserole dish, generously sprinkle the top with the buttered cracker crumbs, drizzle on a little extra melted butter, and bake it for about 25 minutes uncovered in a 375°F oven.
• Fresh bread chunks are better than dried crumbs in your oyster dressing because they tend to cook up fluffy rather than pasty. So to make fresh bread chunks, just take fresh sliced bread or French bread and pull apart small bite-side pieces.
• To make your buttered cracker crumb topping, simply drop regular saltine crackers into the processor and, while the blades are spinning, pour in a couple of tablespoons of melted butter.

Steps:

• Melt butter and olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add onions, celery, and carrots; cook, stirring, for 15 minutes. Add thyme and sage; cook, stirring, for 3 minutes more.
• Place bread in a large bowl. Add vegetable mixture, parsley, oysters and their liquid, and turkey stock; season with salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Keep at room temperature until ready to use.