Is It Stuffing Or Dressing? Real Southerners Know The Difference
The difference between stuffing or dressing isn't as much about technique or ingredients as it is about whether you say y'all, you all, or youse.
Fact checked by Jillian Dara
Medically reviewed by Carolyn O'Neil, MS, RDN
Greg DuPree, Food Stylist: Micah Morton, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner
When Thanksgiving rolls around, Americans love to dish about the essential sides that make up our holiday feast. Stuffing ranks in the No. 2 spot behind mashed potatoes as the most popular Thanksgiving side. But is stuffing the same as what we call "dressing" down South?
Some claim the distinction is whether the dish in question is stuffed inside the bird or baked in a casserole dish, but some Southerners do indeed stuff their birds with cornbread dressing and Northerners bake white bread stuffing in a dish.
What Is Stuffing?
The term stuffing comes from the practice of filling the cavity of a bird with a mixture of ingredients before cooking. Stuffing is "a mixture used as a filling for an ingredient," according to the Larousse Gastronomique Culinary Encyclopedia. "Stuffing may be made from bread, rice or other grains, vegetables or fruit. They can be coarse or fairly fine in texture and are usually well flavored."
As food safety and standards have taken hold in our home cooking practices over the past few decades, stuffing turkeys for Thanksgiving is highly discouraged. "USDA does not recommend stuffing your turkey because it can be a breeding ground for bacteria if not prepared carefully," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture website.
Many Northerners still call this side dish stuffing, even though it's usually made separately from their big bird for health-safety reasons. The main ingredient used for stuffing outside of the South is bread.
Jennifer Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christina Brockman
Related: Get the recipe
What Is Dressing?
In the culinary world, dressing is "the preparation of fish, poultry and game for cooking," as the Larousse Gastronomique Culinary Encyclopedia describes when for example a whole bird is plucked, gutted, trussed, and larded (where extra fat is added to keep it moist).
Although dressing and stuffing are interchangeable terms, the signature ingredient of this Thanksgiving side dish in the South is cornbread.
"For Southerners, the foundation of dressing is cornbread, and the variations are endless from there, depending on what part of the South you call home," explains Southern Living Deputy Editor Lisa Cericola.
VICTOR PROTASIO; PROP STYLING: GINNY BRANCH STELLING; FOOD STYLING: EMILY NABORS HALL
It Depends On Who's Eating It
If you're a Northerner heading to your Southern in-laws, you should make an effort to call it dressing, and if you're a Southerner heading up North for Thanksgiving, don't be surprised if everyone looks at you like you might as well be from Mars for not calling it stuffing. As for the Southern Living Test Kitchen, we're solidly on team dressing.
Still, no matter where you are and what it's called, the most important thing should be that it tastes great. So whether you're "stuffing" it into the turkey or "dressing" your sliced turkey with it, just make sure it's delicious!
Solve the daily Crossword
