Make Perfect Turkey Stuffing & Dressing with a Simple Recipe Ratio

In this video, I teach you how to make a perfect turkey stuffing or dressing using a no-fail ratio of bread, liquid, and egg. What's great about this approach is as long as you stick to the ratio given, you can add any other ingredients you like to customize this recipe and make it your own.

STUFFING & DRESSING RATIO

100% Bread
100% Liquid
20 -25% Whole Egg

Cube bread and allow it to dry, either by toasting in the oven which will give it a roasty, toasty flavor, or allow to stale on your counter overnight. This will allow the bread to more readily absorb your liquid.

Mix liquid with eggs, and then mix with bread. In the video I separate the egg and liquid step, because I'm using hot turkey stock I just finished making, and didn't want to scramble the eggs. If your stock / liquid is cold, it's easier to combine first, and then toss with bread.

Place mixture in a greased casserole dish, and bake at 350F / 176C for about 1 hour, or until the top is a medium-golden brown, and the internal temp is about 173F.

NOTE ON INTERNAL TEMP

At 173F, the temperature is hot enough to fully set the proteins in the egg, which will keep your stuffing from falling apart. In this recipe, there isn't an excessive amount of egg, BUT, if there was, the egg would start to scramble and negatively affect the stuffing's texture, the higher above 173F it climbed.

STUFFING PUDDING

Another approach I commonly use is the "Stuffing Pudding." It uses the same ratios as above, but instead, the egg is raised to 50%. So the new ratio is:

100% Bread
100% Liquid
50% Whole Egg

Everything is mixed together with flavors of choice, and placed in a terrine mold lined with plastic wrap. I then place a probe thermometer in the middle of the mixture and set the alarm temp at 173F.

The mixture is steamed until it hits 173F internal, and the top, which has now puffed over the top of the terrine mold, is weighted down with a sheet tray and anything heavy, and allowed to chill overnight.

The terrine is then sliced and browned in a pan with clarified butter. This yields an amazingly moist and flavorful play on stuffing, that is extremely versatile.

This same ratio can also be used to make a dessert style bread pudding, by adding sugar to taste, and swapping the liquid for whole milk. Add in any other ingredients, such as butter scotch chips, dry fruit, and shredded coconut to taste, and you're good to go. Cook mixture till it hits a 173F internal.

RECIPE USED IN THIS VIDEO

To completely fill a standard 13" X 9" Casserole Dish, I would recommend doubling the following recipe:

1 loaf Standard French Bread (1 pound, 450g)
6 oz Turkey Fat (Optional, used for toasting bread cubes)
1 Stick Unsalted Butter (4 oz / 110g)
1 Large Onion, Diced
5 Stalks Celery, Small Dice
1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme, Minced
1 Tablespoon Fresh Marjoram, Minced
1 Tablespoon Fresh Tarragon, Minced
2 Cups Turkey Stock (1 lb / 450g)
2 Whole Eggs (About 50g a piece)

SALT SEASONING MIX

100g Kosher Salt
54g Turbinado Sugar
15g Coarse Black Pepper
11g Ground Ginger
10g Garlic Powder (California Brand Preferred)
3g MSG

CUSTOMIZING THIS RECIPE

Again, as long as you stick to the basic ratio given, you can add any ingredients you want to customize the flavor of your stuffing or dressing. Here are some examples:

IF YOU WANT TO ADD ALCOHOL, such as white wine, cognac, or bourbon, add it to the pan at the end of the sweating process, or during the deglazing step if your adding meat, as described in the next paragraph. Reduce alcohol until it's almost gone.

IF YOU WANT TO ADD MEAT SUCH AS GIBLETS, SAUSAGE, OYSTERS, etc ... add it to the pan at the beginning of the process, before your vegetables. Brown the meat (unless it's oysters or other shellfish, I would just poach), and then deglaze with water, wine, alcohol, or other liquid of choice. This will get all the brown nummies (fond) off the bottom of the pan, but also cool the pan so you can sweat the vegetables. If you would rather your vegetables have a roasted flavor, add them in BEFORE deglazing, and brown to your liking.

IF YOU WANT TO ADD DRY FRUIT ... soak it in either the alcohol / liquid you use in the deglazing step, or in the stock / liquid you mix with the bread. Soak until plump and a little soft, about 10-20 minutes.

As you can see, this recipe is highly versatile and customizable. The ACTUAL RECIPE I use in this video is rock solid with amazing, classic flavors, so if you're not feeling creative, just use the recipe given and you'll have a great stuffing or dressing to serve this holiday season.

To round out your Thanksgiving Cooking Game, please check out my video playlist here:    • Thanksgiving Cooking Playlist  

If you want to take a deeper dive into combining flavor structure and technique to create your own recipes, please check out my Culinary Boot Camp Lecture Series here: https://stellaculinary.com/bootcamp