Store-Bought Stuffings Taste-Test

Serious Eats:

It's that time of the year again. For those of you who missed last year's tasting, here's a summary of the results.

We tried the following nationally available brands: Stovetop, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods 365, Martin's Potato Rolls, Pepperidge Farms (both Herb-Seasoned and Cornbread), and Canterbury Organics.

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Comments

[No1 ILoveLucyFan]

09:37 AM on 11/10/2010

Does anyone have a good family friendly (the kids can help make it) recipe that I can use? No peppers (green, jalapeno, etc) - we have allergies to those. If you could post it, that'd be just swell! :)

[BlueZoo]

11:36 AM on 11/10/2010

I can't imagine children doing anything with the stuffing, unless it is mixing the cornbread (if you're using cornbread) with their hands. The stuffing has to have chopped vegetables (onions, etc.) and that isn't child-friendly. Take any basic stuffing recipe in a cookbook and make it your own. Leave out the things your family is allergic to and incorporate what you love. That is basically what stuffing is. I believe you'll find that no two people ever make the same stuffing, as tastes vary around the country. I prefer a bread stuffing, using day-old cubed French bread with a lot of vegetables, and I use eggs as a binder and then drizzle butter over the whole thing and mix it up. I also use lightly sauteed chicken or turkey liver in mine but, once again, that's a personal preference.

[tombollocks]

09:34 AM on 11/10/2010

I would rather eat sewer sludge that go near Stove Top. I can "enjoy" the same flavor if I were to eat celery on toast. There was no reason to even have a taste test. Any stuffing/dressing that is bought is not worth the money.

I duplicate my mom's recipe, which she made up, because her mother-in-law's recipe was said to have the texture of cement (or sand, at least), so she came up with something that was more important than the turkey. I can't tell you how many times I made pans and pans of it for co-workers and friends. It really was that good (and I am the only one who could duplicate it--I have the talent for cooking, unlike my older sister heh heh heh).

[BebeLush]

05:57 PM on 11/10/2010

I couldn't agree more. Store bought stuffing mix is an abomination in my house.

[Finnegans Wake]

09:31 AM on 11/10/2010

So let me get this straight.

You buy stuffing mix for the convenience, but then it's so dull and predictable that you need to add ingredients to perk it up (leeks, apple, etc.)

Now, tell me again, why is this any darned easier than just making your own?

[Imzadi]

07:26 AM on 11/10/2010

Homemade from scratch is still best, but this list is helpful if you need stuffing in a pinch.

[BlueZoo]

03:09 PM on 11/09/2010

Good gravy, people! Next to the turkey, the stuffing is by far the easiest dish to prepare! Why on earth would you buy store-bought stuffing? Yuck!

[Silver How]

08:46 PM on 11/09/2010

Agree!

[willclower]

07:42 AM on 11/10/2010

People just don't know what to do. They have forgotten the basic habits of healthy eating that we used to know as a country, and allowed that knowledge to slip away. We traded it in for convenience.

You're absolutely right, BlueZoo. Making stuffing is dirt simple, and a matter of dumping stuff into a pan and baking it. Plus, the flavor whips the pants off anything you'll get in a box!!