7 Stuffing Recipes—the Real Star of Thanksgiving


Hi Reader,

Come on, 'fess up. You think that stuffing is the star of Thanksgiving dinner. I know I certainly do.

Sure, turkey is great. Smothered in gravy, it's even better. But it's the carb-loading of stuffing that makes me oh so happy on Turkey Day.

I love it so much that in my cookbook, The New Portuguese Table, I offer up two stuffings for Thanksgiving. You'll find both at the bottom of this newsletter.

Also, some of you were asking more about turkey stock. Here's a video I made a few years ago. I didn't have a recipe. I bought some turkey necks and chicken gizzards and tossed in stuff from the fridge and pantry. A great stock is really that easy.
​

video preview​

My Best Thanksgiving
Stuffing Recipes

​Stuffing with Bacon, Apples, and Onions​

This stuffing with bacon, apples, sage, and onions is classic Thanksgiving fare and can be cooked inside or outside the turkey.
​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Wild Mushroom Stuffing​

The One and I love this so much, we make it all autumn and winter. Earthy flavors combine with slightly sweet brioche bread to create this beautiful brioche and wild mushroom stuffing.
​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Sourdough Dressing with Sausage and Prunes​

This sourdough dressing with sausage and prunes pairs pork with prunes for a savory and sweet side that goes well with Thanksgiving turkey.
​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Herbed Bread and Celery Stuffing​

This herbed bread and celery stuffing, made with celery, onion, thyme, basil, and parsley, is a sort of basic blank canvas of a stuffing that will satisfy you as-is or make a terrific foundation for your other embellishments. Lovely with chicken as well as turkey.
​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Homemade Cornbread Sausage Dressing​

This homemade cornbread sausage dressing is southern style Thanksgiving in a dish. Homemade cornbread is tossed with pork sausage, onions, celery, chicken stock, and herbs and baked until crisp on the surface, soul-satisfyingly tender underneath. Thanksgiving comfort food.
​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Roast Turkey with Stuffing and Vegetables​

We stuff our turkey with a simple bread stuffing flavored with lots of herbs, sauteed onions, garlic, and crunchy celery and surround it with chunks of peeled carrots, parsnips, and onions.
​☞ ​Try this recipe​

​Portuguese Turkey with Two Stuffings​

Portuguese turkey with two stuffings is a duet of beloved and traditional Portuguese stuffings: a chouriço-bread dressing with spicy sausage, onions, garlic, crushed red pepper, and paprika and another dressing with sweet sausage, potato, butter, nutmeg, and spices.
​☞ ​Try this recipe​

Leite's Culinaria

Why, hello! Leite's Culinaria is the James Beard Award-winning site that helps home cooks and bakers put dinner on the table and laughs in the kitchen. Hungry for more? Join 40,000 food lovers and subscribe.

Read more from Leite's Culinaria

Hi Reader, I’ve always believed a roast in the oven makes a house seem more civilized than it is.The One and I can have newspapers scattered everywhere, a laundry basket glaring at us from the stairs, and absolutely no idea where I put my glasses. But slide a chicken, pork shoulder, leg of lamb, or gorgeous hunk of beef into the oven, and for an hour, we’re people who have our lives together.That smell has a lot to do with it.You know the one. Fat sputtering in the pan. Garlic and herbs are...

Hi Reader, Every October, I buy winter squash as if preparing for a small agricultural apocalypse.The One watches them accumulate on the kitchen counter: butternut, delicata, spaghetti, kabocha. Soon we have what looks less like dinner and more like a still life entitled Man Who Cannot Control Himself at the Farm Stand.I can’t help it.I get more out of squash for less work than anything else at the market right now. Split one open, wrestle out the seeds, add some olive oil, salt, and heat,...

Hi Reader, Monday has never inspired much ambition in me.By late afternoon, I’m usually staring into the refrigerator as if the answer to dinner might reveal itself between the mustard and a jar of olives. It never does. What I am really doing is stalling.But curry can rescue a Monday.It starts innocently enough. An onion hits the pan. Then garlic, ginger, and spices. Within minutes, the kitchen smells warm and complicated, as if someone far more organized has been cooking all afternoon....