The Best Turkey Stuffing Recipes

Steps:

• In a large, heavy skillet over medium heat melt the butter, then sauté the onion and celery (and mushroom, if using) until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the salt, pepper, and sage and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
• Place the bread cubes into a large, deep bowl.
• Pour 1/4 cup of the butter/celery mixture over the cubes and toss well, then repeat steps until all of the butter mixture is used.
• Toss the cubes thoroughly to coat.
• (Regarding the optional chicken broth: for dry stuffing, add little or no liquid; for moist stuffing mix in lightly with fork just enough chicken broth to moisten dry crumbs.) Let cool and use as stuffing for the turkey.
• We've made this stuffing in the crockpot, as well, adding the chicken broth for moistness.
• Adapted from Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book, circa 1950.
• Note: regardling the amount of salt - yes, the amount listed above is correct and is what is listed in the original Betty Crocker recipe. When the butter mixture is first added to the bread, if you taste it at this point it might seem salty (because it is sitting right on the surface of the bread) but remember that the liquid and butter soaks into the bread and redistributes evenly. Also, this recipe, being from the 1950s, is specifically for cooking *inside* the turkey, which a lot of people no longer do, and again the salt will redistribute from the juices in the meat. If you use a crockpot for cooking your stuffing, I'd recommend reducing the amount of salt.
• Note #2: again, regarding the salt. You're going to have to decide for yourself about the salt. Having eaten this recipe for every year of my life I know it tastes wonderful as it's written. But that's just me.

Steps:

• Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large frying pan. Add onions. Cook over medium heat until onions are quite soft and tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer onions and butter to a large mixing bowl. Set aside. Melt another 6 tablespoons butter in the same frying pan. Add apple. Cook over medium heat, until lightly colored but not mushy. Transfer apples and butter to mixing bowl with onions.
• Crumble sausage into frying pan. Cook over medium heat, until lightly browned. With a slotted spoon, transfer sausage to mixing bowl. Reserve fat. Add remaining ingredients, except eggs and stock, to mixing bowl. Mix well. Add eggs. Mix. Add enough stock to bowl to make a moist, but not runny, mixture. Add fat to stuffing if desired. Stuff a 20-lb. turkey. If cooking dressing separately from turkey, pour fat over dressing in casserole. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked through.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place the turkey into a deep, high-sided bowl on its end with the stuffing end up. Set aside.
• Heat the chicken broth in the microwave in a large microwave-proof container. Place mushrooms in a glass bowl and pour heated broth over them. Cover and allow to sit for 35 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl toss the onion, celery, and green pepper with the oil and salt. Place the vegetables on a sheet pan and roast for 35 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, spread the cubed bread over the vegetables, return to the oven, and continue cooking.
• Drain mushrooms, reserving 1 cup of liquid. Chop the mushrooms and place in a large
• microwave-proof bowl with the vegetables and bread, reserved chicken stock, cherries, pecans, eggs, sage, parsley and black pepper. Stir well in order to break up pieces of bread. Use your hands to combine, if necessary. Heat the stuffing in a microwave on high power for 6 minutes.
• While the stuffing is heating, rub the bird with oil. Working quickly, place the stuffing into the cavity of the turkey to avoid losing heat. Place the turkey into a roasting pan, on a rack, and season with salt and pepper. Place the roasting pan on the middle rack of the oven. Roast for 45 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and cook for another 60 to 75 minutes or until the bird reaches an internal temperature of 170 degrees F. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• For the turkey: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Transfer the turkey to a roasting pan, fitted with a roasting rack if desired, and soak the cheesecloth in the butter. Season the bird with salt and pepper. Brush any remaining butter on top of the bird and cover the breasts with the cheesecloth to prevent the top skin from burning before it is cooked. Place the celery, onions, garlic, sage, bay, and rosemary in and around the turkey in the roasting pan - these will be used to make the stuffing when everything is roasted.
• Place the roasting pan in the center of the oven. Cook for about 12 minutes per pound. After about 2 hours of cooking, remove the cheesecloth from the top of the breasts and return the turkey to the oven to cook for 1 more hour. If the tips of the wings start to get too dark, cover with foil to prevent them from burning.
• For the gravy: Place the neck and the chicken stock in a pot and simmer gently on top of the stove as the turkey finishes cooking. The stock should reduce by about half. Season with salt and pepper.
• How do you know when the turkey is done? The temperature of the thigh meat (where the meat is thickest and takes the longest time to cook) should register 165 degrees F when tested with a thermometer. When done, remove the bird from the oven, transfer it to a flat surface (or serving platter), and allow it to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before removing the vegetables for stuffing and carving the meat.
• For the stuffing: Heat a large skillet and add half a stick of butter. Add the sausage and cook until brown and crispy. Reserve any grease and set the sausage in a large bowl with the roasted vegetables from the turkey tray. Add the remaining butter to the pan. Add the cubed sourdough bread and cook, stirring, until they toast golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Toss and season with salt and pepper before adding to the bowl with the vegetables. Stir everything together and taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary.
• For the gravy: Unless the bottom of the roasting pan is burned, you can make delicious gravy. Place the roasting pan over the burners of the stove, add the mustard and marsala to the pan, and warm it over low heat. Scrape the bottom to get the drippings and tasty bits off of the pan as the marsala reduces. Strain the neck out from the stock and pour about 1/2 cup into a small bowl. Whisk the flour into the bowl, taking care there are no lumps. Reduce the marsala until there is almost no liquid. Add the remaining chicken stock and the flour mixture to the roasting pan. Whisk to blend. Taste for seasoning. Reduce until the mixture thickens. Transfer to a gravy boat.
• Allow the turkey to rest for 15 to 20 minutes before carving. Serve sliced turkey with stuffing (dressing) on the side.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon and breaking up any clumps, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer the sausage with a slotted spoon to a large bowl.
• Add the wine to the skillet and cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated, scraping up any browned bits, about 2 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the skillet, and then add the mushrooms. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms brown and have cooked down to about half their original volume, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms with a slotted spoon to the bowl with the sausage.
• Melt the remaining 7 tablespoons butter in the skillet. Then add the celery, onions, sage and thyme and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer.
• Beat the eggs and parsley in another large bowl. Add the bread cubes and toss. Add the reserved sausage and mushrooms and toss together. Pour in the vegetables and broth and toss again until evenly coated. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and continue to bake until golden, about 30 minutes more. Garnish with celery leaves if using.

Steps:

• Prepare stuffing according to package directions, and set aside in a large bowl.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, and stir in the onion, celery and sage. Boil 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Stir into the prepared stuffing.
• Rinse turkey, and pat dry. Loosely fill the body and neck cavities with the stuffing mixture.
• Place turkey in a large roasting pan and cook 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the preheated oven, or until the internal temperature of the thigh meat is 180 degrees F (80 degrees C) and the stuffing is at least 165 degrees F (75 degrees C).

Steps:

• If cooking a turkey, make the dressing after the bird is done, so you can use the drippings. Use a turkey baster to capture as much of the drippings as you can. Separate the fat. Substitute the drippings for the canned broth (ounce for ounce). The total broth mixture should be the same--approximately 60 ounces. You may want to save some of the drippings for gravy. Also, if stuffing the bird, stuff it first, then use the drippings in the remaining dressing or to make gravy.
• Brown hamburger and sausage (I use Jimmy Dean Hot) separately, seasoning the hamburger with salt and pepper. Drain and set aside.
• Saute onions and celery using one stick of the butter (1/4 lb) until onions are translucent and celery is soft.
• Add all remaining butter to the 4 cans of broth (or broth and turkey drippings), the poultry seasoning, and bring to a light simmer, then remove from heat.
• In a large mixing bowl, empty contents of all five boxes of stuffing mix, add celery/onion mixture, hamburger, and sausage. Gently toss.
• Gradually add in the chicken broth/butter mixture, stiring as you go until you get to the desired consistency. You may or may not use all the liquid. Do not add so much as to make the dressing wet and mushy. If you stuffed the bird, you should definitely have some liquid left--so be careful.
• Transfer to a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, uncovered, at 350 F, and/or stuff your bird as usual. When I'm making this for a pot luck; I do it all the night before and put it all in a large crock pot. The dressing will warm quite nicely on High for about 2 hours (stirring once or twice) then reducing to Warm until the event begins. If I have any left over fluid, I take it along to add during the warming to keep the dressing moist. This is a large recipe designed to serve a crowd, but can be cut in half to make a smaller amount, but left-over dressing never goes to waist.

Steps:

• Place the raisins in a small saucepan, and cover with 1 cup of liqueur. Bring to boil, remove from heat, and set aside.
• In a large skillet, melt 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Saute the celery and onion in the butter for 10 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
• In the same skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat until crumbled and evenly brown. Drain.
• Combine the sausage and stuffing mix with the celery and onion mixture. Stir in the raisins and liqueur, pecans, and apples. Mix in melted butter, chicken broth, 1/2 cup orange liqueur; the stuffing should be totally moistened. Season with sage, salt, and pepper.

Steps:

• In a large bowl place the bread cubes; set aside. In large skillet, melt butter. Add bacon and sauté until bacon is cooked but not crisp.
• Add onion and celery, cook until the onions are almost translucent and bacon starts to crisp. Do not drain. Remove skillet from stove; allow 10 minutes or so to cool.
• Pour over bread cubes (with optional gizzards) and toss. It should be cool enough now to mix with hands (squishing like making a meatloaf). Stuff and tie turkey or chickens.
• Cook as directed for STUFFED turkey or chicken.