Give Thanks To These Thanksgiving Stuffing Hacks

Can we have a moment of total honesty? While the turkey is definitely the centerpiece of a traditional Thanksgiving feast, doesn't everyone secretly just crave the stuffing? Whether you cook it in the bird or not, make it with meat or vegetarian, there's nothing like finding a stuffing that you love and sharing it with family and friends. Stuffing came about because adding a filling to the bird was a practical way to cook some extra goodies. Since early Americans cooked their turkey on a spit, and modern ovens and stoves were non-existent, it only made sense to take full advantage of the cooking methods they had available. The reason there are so many different types of stuffing is because people simply used what they had available. Culinary historian Andrew Smith credits Mrs. Cubbison's for making the first commercial stuffing in 1919, which paved the way for Stove Top and many more (via Yahoo! Movies).

Find out how to create crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside stuffing, as well as ways you can enhance packaged stuffing mix. With a hack or two, you can upgrade your usual recipe by changing the bread, or even using a different carb altogether. What about a stuffing that's indulgently inspired by a pizza, or how you can turn leftovers into stuffing cupcakes? That's just a taste of what you'll get and more, thanks to these Thanksgiving stuffing hacks. 

What makes stuffing such a Thanksgiving must-have is not only the herby taste, but the texture. Think of it now — crunchy bits mixed with soft pieces that melt in your mouth. However, if you cook stuffing inside the turkey, which you should be weary about doing because of food safety, it's going to be soft. One way to get crispy stuffing is to cook it on a sheet pan so that it's spread out in a thin layer. 

Another great method, which not only creates crunch but also individual portions, is to make stuffing muffins, as Delish discusses on TikTok. Being able to offer a stuffing muffin means you can make sure everyone gets an equal share of stuffing, too. To do this, fry sausage meat in butter and, once browned, add chopped onion and celery. Sprinkle in dried rosemary, sage, and thyme, along with some minced garlic. Mix the ingredients with cubes of bread in a bowl and add chicken stock and a whisked egg. Put your stuffing mix into a muffin tray and bake at 375 F for 25 minutes, or until the bread pieces brown up and look lovely and crispy on top. 

What everyone loves about stuffing is the taste and the texture. It's got to be flavorful, crispy, and also soft and chewy. While it's not the most complex dish on the Thanksgiving menu, getting it just right isn't so simple. It's a lot easier if you have a great tip to add into the mix, and who better to inspire a sensational stuffing than the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten? The secret to her stuffing can be found in two things: the sausage and the bread she uses (via Food Network).

Tip one is to use a French boule in place of ordinary bread. Cut into cubes and toast in an oven for 7 minutes at 300 F.  That way, they soak up the other ingredients, but also have a wonderful crunchy texture. Tip two is to use a mixture of sweet and spicy Italian sausages. You can adjust your ratio of sweet to spicy depending on how much of a kick you want. Garten also uses Granny Smith apples in her stuffing recipe, sautéed with onions and celery stalks until soft. Add 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley and 1 tablespoon of salt and cook for 10 minutes. Combine all that with the cubed bread, along with 1 cup of dried cranberries and 1 cup of chicken stock. Lastly, fry up the sausage and add it to your mix. Bake in a dish for 30 minutes at 300 F, so it's lovely and brown on top.

Don't you just love it when you come across a recipe hack that basically turns a classic dish into something totally different? This tip, courtesy of New York Times food writer Eric Kim, gives you permission to make a cheesy pizza stuffing without feeling as if you're lowering the tone of Thanksgiving tradition with a fast-food-style element. Actually, there's a practical reason behind the concept. Not only is this stuffing innovative, but it also conveniently cooks at the same temperature as your other dishes, which makes cooking so much easier (via NPR).

Sauté a chopped onion, and then add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 1 teaspoon of oregano. Sounding like pizza yet? A cup of vegetable stock goes in next. Beat an egg and a cup of milk in a bowl and pour over pieces of a brioche loaf that have been dried overnight or in the oven. Add in the tomato stock as well. Next mix in 2 cups of grated mozzarella. After the bread has absorbed the liquid, put it in a greased oven-safe dish. All this can be done way in advance, just refrigerate it until you're ready to cook. Bake at 350 F for about 15 to 25 minutes, sprinkle oregano on top, and serve.

There's more than one way to prepare stuffing, from a vegetarian 20-minute stovetop stuffing to an easy sausage stuffing. Many recipes include eggs too, which no doubt bind the ingredients, as well as add some richness to the flavor. However, if you want to make sure that eggs don't become scrambled when they're added to the mix, then follow a culinary technique highlighted by Justin Chapple of Food & Wine. Using his hack, you're going to temper your eggs to make a rustic bread stuffing with Swiss chard and chestnuts. Here's how:

Infuse vegetable stock with dried porcini mushrooms to add an umami boost. Tear bread into pieces and let them dry out or toast in the oven. Sauté chopped onion and celery in butter and add chopped Swiss chard stems. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the Swiss chard leaves and thinly sliced sage. Combine the cooked veggies, bread, and roasted and peeled chestnuts, and chopped parsley in a large bowl. Make sure your broth is strained and ready to use. Now comes the egg tempering part. As you beat eggs in a bowl, slowly pour in your mushroom-infused broth until you've added about half. Then add this eggy broth to the rest of the stock. Whisk together and pour into the bowl with stuffing. Season and leave for 45 minutes in a greased oven-safe dish that's covered with foil, so everything soaks in. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes, taking the foil off halfway through to brown the top.

If you love sourdough — and what bread-lover doesn't? — then you could celebrate its tangy taste by adding it to your Thanksgiving meal. Instead of a standard loaf of bread, use sourdough bread to make cubes for your stuffing instead. If you're from Northern California, then this isn't news to you, as sourdough is a common ingredient for stuffing in the region (via HuffPost). If you're a fan of making life easier, especially during the holidays, then you may want to cut some corners and avoid having to cut-up and dry-out bread, and use a packet stuffing mix instead. This doesn't have to be a compromise either, as people — especially Costco shoppers — are just loving the Boudin Sourdough Classic Herb Stuffing mix.

The mix is filled with sourdough bread cubes with parsley, sage, garlic, salt, and thyme to give that Thanksgiving stuffing flavor everyone knows and loves. All you need to do is sauté onion and celery and add it to the mix, along with stock, parsley, and lemon juice. Simply bake in the oven and that's it! Of course, there's nothing stopping you from adding some extra ingredients like spices or other vegetables, but with the unique sourdough flavor, it's a winner all on its own. 

Even if your stuffing was a hit, chances are you'll still have plenty leftover after Thanksgiving dinner. Of course, you could just heat it up and enjoy it the same way as you've already done, or you could try other ways to use leftover stuffing. One of the most creative ways involves turning it into a breakfast dish for the following morning. Stuffing for breakfast? That's right, and the stuffing cup eggs posted on TikTok by Tastemade look pretty tasty, and are so easy to make. 

Grab yourself a muffin tin and a bowl to start. Mix a ½ cup of gravy into 3 cups of stuffing and add 6 slices of chopped up bacon. Once this is mixed together well, divide the mixture between the muffin cups. Crack an egg on top of each, without breaking the yolk. Bake at 350 F for 12 minutes. Serve hot, and add a sprinkling of chives on the top. The yolk should be cooked but still soft and a little runny. This is the perfect way to wake up the day after Thanksgiving, and a lovely stuffing surprise for all.