Forget The Pumpkin Pie – It’s All About the Turkey Stuffing
Everyone can name their favorite holiday dish. Especially on Thanksgiving. Ours has always been a trifecta of tender, perfectly-cooked turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, and, the crown jewel: stuffing.
That may surprise some of you, with such highly praised holiday competitors as pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, and roasted sweet potatoes.
Yet there is something incredibly comforting about a bread-based dish saturated in butter and herbs. Stuffing also provides what we’re all about at Schenck Foods: incredible variety, with crowd-pleasing variations and recipes for everyone. As Troy Gentile once said:
“Homemade stuffing is my favorite thing about Thanksgiving. I wish people served it more than just once a year.”
So whether you’re a caterer ordering Thanksgiving ingredients once a year for holiday menu specials, or you’re a restaurant looking at daily and weekly orders of your house favorite ingredients, we’ve got you covered with wholesale pricing, an easy ordering process, an extensive online catalog, and a $5 flat delivery fee.
7 Game Changing Turkey Stuffing Recipes
Now before you turn your nose up at stuffing, let’s agree that it’s come a long way since the days when it was just a bag of croutons. With a little attention and gourmet treatment, it can (and should!) turn into one of the best Thanksgiving sides at your table.
1. Bacon Wrapped Sage and Sausage Stuffing
Bibbity, bobbity, bacon! We love this surprisingly easy recipe from Erren’s Kitchen. It’s perfect for stuffing in the bird, but the extra can be served as a centerpiece at any holiday feast. Using sausagemeat, celery, onions, butter, and herbs combine to make a flavorful stuffing you’ll want to make again and again. Erren uses a loaf pan to make a stunning dish that can be sliced at the table. Not only does the bacon wrap add flavor, but the fat from the pork helps keep the stuffing from drying out. (Because I think we can all agree, dry stuffing is the worst…)
2. Apple Pecan Stuffing
So, we just said that dry stuffing is the worst–however, a close second-worst is stuffing that is complete mush. The key to avoiding something resembling a sticky porridge is including contrasting textures. We love this recipe from Kat & Melinda at Home Made Interest loaded with onions, carrots, tart Granny Smith apples, crunchy pecans, and fresh herbs–all baked together with buttery bread cubes and a rich chicken broth.
3. Mexican Thanksgiving Cornbread Stuffing
We love cornbread stuffing, and there’s a way to do it that not only keeps texture, but will add a little kick to your holiday stuffing. This recipe from A Spicy Perspective is packed with flavor and may well be your new Thanksgiving or Christmas favorite. It incorporates lots of classic Mexican food ingredients including fresh veggies and just the right amount of spice. It’s zesty and indulgent. Bold and comforting, and a super-star on any table.
As a bonus, you can make this easy stuffing a day or so before your holiday dinner, and keep it wrapped in the fridge until you’re ready to heat and serve. It is also an easy one to make gluten free–simply verify that the cornbread or dried cornbread stuffing is labeled as gluten free.
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4. Herbed Sausage, Cranberry and Apple Stuffing
This recipe from Sally’s Baking treats traditional elements with an elegance and gourmet attitude–resulting in a flavorful medley of herbs, sweet apples, dried cranberries, browned sausage and mushrooms, and whole grain bread.
What you end up with is a big plate of Thanksgiving hugs. And not just Thanksgiving. This one can be a cold-weather staple, full of herby comforting flavors, contrasting textures, and oodles of meaty mushrooms, whole grain bread, sweet dried cranberries, peppery sausage, and warm apples. All of this stuffed in the turkey or baked together in your favorite casserole dish, then finished with a sprinkling of fresh rosemary.
Nothing can outshine the flavor, texture, and comfort-food-level. If you were looking for a swoon-worthy stuffing, you found it.
5. Gluten-Free Walnut and Kale Quinoa Stuffing
Our favorite wheat-free twist on Thanksgiving stuffing comes from Healthy Seasonal Recipes.It sports traditional flavors with celery, sage and dried cranberries, but there’s no bread or gluten–also, no eggs, for those with egg allergies. If you really want to show off for the family, show up with one of the above recipes and this vegetarian and gluten-free option. Your health-conscious aunt will be happy, which means everyone’s happy.
6. Paleo Butternut Sausage Stuffing
This scrumptious Paleo stuffing boasts apples, sage, sausage, and cranberries all together with the butternut. And tell you what–we don’t miss regular stuffing at all. It comes from Get Inspired Everyday, and guess what–we’re inspired. It’s perfect for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, or alongside a simple roasted chicken. It adds variety to the table, while still providing a beautiful dish that everyone will love.
7. Cranberry and Sage Stuffing
The last one on our list of favorite turkey stuffing recipes is packed with crispy apples, tart cranberries, fresh herbs, onions, celery, and of course butter, chicken broth plus a couple eggs to give the dressing all the moisture it needs. Aberdeen (of Aberdeen’s Kitchen) uses an unsliced, artisan sourdough bread loaf. She tears it up the night before and lets it sit out overnight to stale up, and it makes all the difference. (If your whole family fights over the corner pieces of the stuffing, make it in a muffin tin and everyone can have their own).
Crowd-Pleasing Turkey Stuffing Recipes
If you’re a stuffing lover and you’re ready to give it another shot, we think any of these will shake up your holiday menu.
As a restaurant owner or caterer, we get that you’re not just cooking—you’re also planning everything from the layout of the chafing dishes to the placement of food and utensils. You’re constantly reviewing your menu and offerings. And when it comes to Thanksgiving, Christmas, or holiday menu ingredients (or any other ingredients), we’re ready to help.
Check out Schenck Foods’ wholesale catalog to save on your holiday ingredients, serving supplies, and paper goods for all your restaurant and catering gigs.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to ask a question, request special ingredients, or take advantage of our full-service paper products program.
Scrumptious turkey stuffing recipes all around–and the best part? The absolute lack of boxed stuffing croutons.