What Is the Difference Between Stuffing and Dressing?

Stuffing is a mixture of stale bread cubes (usually sourdough or white bread), butter, celery, onion, herbs, poultry seasoning, and chicken broth cooked into a rich, starchy mixture usually inside of a turkey. After the bread is dried, the celery and onions are sauteed in butter and mixed all together with the chicken broth and seasonings. This mixture is then placed inside the cavity of the turkey, then cooked with the juices and infused with flavor. There are different variations of stuffing such as chestnut stuffing, oyster stuffing, cornbread stuffing, or apple stuffing.

Dressing is a mixture of bread cubes, butter, celery, onion, herbs, poultry seasoning, and chicken broth that is usually cooked in a separate baking dish outside of the turkey (or poultry) either on the stovetop, in a slow cooker, or in the oven. The interior of the bake is moist and succulent with lightly crispy edges on top and on the sides. Various Thanksgiving dressing recipes change up some of the ingredients, such as cornbread dressing, cranberry and sausage dressing, oyster dressing, or even vegetarian dressing.

Along with mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce, stuffing and dressing are beloved Thanksgiving side dishes with various recipes between them. Generally, they both use a blend of herbs such as fresh sage, thyme, parsley, and rosemary. Some recipes may even call for eggs. Some cooks differentiate stuffing and dressing by how they are cooked. For some, stuffing is typically cooked inside of the poultry to soak up all of its juices, and dressing is cooked outside of the bird in a casserole dish or skillet.

However, these two terms are often used interchangeably and mean the same thing in different regions of the US. For instance, those living in northeastern states like Pennsylvania and New York usually refer to the combination of ingredients as stuffing. Southerners—those living below the Mason-Dixon line, in states like Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia—more often refer to the mixture as dressing.

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