The Great Thanksgiving Debate about one of America’s favorite holiday side dishes.
My aunt Gwen(middle), me(right), and my little sister(left) in May 2021
The time for thankfulness has come. But most importantly the time to stuff our faces with savory and delicious foods.
According to Delish, Pennsylvania’s favorite thanksgiving food is Turkey. However, that is not true for every resident of Pennsylvania.
Personally, my favorite Thanksgiving food is dressing.
Yes, I said dressing.
A dish made with love, consideration, blood, sweat, and tears. Locally, a more popular name for it is stuffing, however, in my family we call it dressing.
A dish that no one can make better than my Aunt Gwen with arecipe passed down from generation to generation.
We traditionally eat it once a year for Thanksgiving, but sometimes my aunt will make it and save some for my sister and I.
In Pennsylvania, some people even call it filling.
What people may not understand is that there is a difference between all three.
Dressing is a Southern term for stuffing however it is not used to stuff a turkey.
Unlike stuffing, dressing is made with cornbread and baked in a casserole dish.
Stuffing is usually made with white bread or a baguette.
Although there are differences both stuffing and dressing are made with the majority of the same ingredients: spices, an assortment of vegetables, a type of starch,and herbs.
When stuffing is cooked the idea is it will gain more flavor from the juices of the turkey.
This poll has ended.
What Do You Call This Side Dish?
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But when dressing is cooked it needs an extra component in order for it to taste just as good or even better than stuffing.
Although most people in America debate on whether the dish should be called stuffing or dressing the people of Pennsylvania call it filling.
Essentially filling is the same as stuffing or dressing.
The name suggests that it will fill something like stuffing does.
Dallastown science teacher Lori Riddle says otherwise.
“It is definitely filling in my house. We do not “stuff” it into the turkey, so it is filling”.
The Dallastown staff had many varying opinions on what it should be called.
To me dressing is the correct way to say it when it is not being used to stuff or fill something.
A big reason my family calls it dressing is because contrary to many American families we do not eat a big turkey
We prefer to eat turkey wings, often bought separately.
There’s nothing like soft, tasty, hot and just a little salty dressing drizzled in gravy.
Whether you call Dressing, Stuffing, or Filling everyone should enjoy the delicious baked dish this Thanksgiving!
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FAQs
"Stuffing is cooked in the cavity of the turkey, so the juices soak into the ingredients, making it more flavorful. Dressing gets cooked on its own and needs extra liquid to make it flavorful." So stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked outside the bird, usually in a casserole dish.
Why do people say dressing instead of stuffing? ›
The term dressing, per the History Channel, originated around the 1850s, when the Victorians deemed stuffing too crude for the dish to be named. This happened around the same time that the term “dark meat” began to refer to chicken legs and thighs.
Why do southerners call it dressing? ›
But for the Thanksgiving side dish in the South, the term dressing was adopted in place of stuffing, which was viewed as a crude term, during the Victorian era. Although dressing and stuffing are interchangeable terms, the signature ingredient of this Thanksgiving side dish in the South is cornbread.
Do Texans say stuffing or dressing? ›
Dressing is more commonly used to refer to the dish in the South, while stuffing is the more frequently used term in the North, Southern Living reported.
Is stove top stuffing or dressing? ›
Stuffing is made with stale white bread, perhaps studded with bits of sausage or plump oysters, and stuffed inside a turkey. Dressing is made with cornbread, and is baked in a pan instead of inside the bird. I view Stove Top stuffing as a totally distinct entity from this most beloved of holiday dishes.
What is the difference between stuffed and filling? ›
If it's to be put inside a whole vegetable, it also will be called stuffing, but may be called filling in some circ*mstances. If it's to be put inside anything else, it's filling. This is all style based, though - "stuffed ravioli" is a common idiocy.
Who says stuffing and who says dressing? ›
People in the South say dressing, people in the North say stuffing. That's really the tall and short of it. I've heard some southerners decry the name stuffing, saying that the word itself is unpleasant.
What do British people call stuffing? ›
In England, a stuffing is sometimes made of minced pork shoulder seasoned with various ingredients, such as sage, onion, bread, chestnuts, dried apricots, and dried cranberries. The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish. This may still be called stuffing or it may be called dressing.
What do they call stuffing in Pennsylvania? ›
Here in the PA Dutch and Coal Region area, we (especially us “Dutchies”) refer to “stuffing” as “filling”. There is no real debate about whether it's “stuffing” if it is made/baked one way versus “filling” another way in MY kitchen.
Do Southerners eat stuffing or dressing? ›
This is down to a science: A 2015 survey conducted on behalf of the poultry company Butterball revealed that, regardless of how the dish was cooked, most of the country—including 100 percent of New Englanders—refers to the side as stuffing, while Southerners are devoted dressing fans.
The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish, in which case it may still be called 'stuffing', or in some regions, such as the Southern US, 'dressing'. This is from Wiki. Basically, everyone except a tiny percentage of Black people with family in Alabama calls it stuffing.
Do southern people say dressing or stuffing? ›
In the South, it's called dressing. In the Northeast, it's called stuffing.
How do Texans say welcome? ›
“Howdy” is typically muttered as a polite greeting as opposed to a garish welcome, and its use as a friendly salutation is one of many cultural traditions taught at Texas A&M University.
What is a Texan thing to say? ›
The most common phrases are: "Hi y'all," "How y'all doing?" or "what are y'all up to?" It can also refer to a single person. For example, "Hi y'all" can be spoken to a single person instead of a group. If it is a large enough group, then Texans will say, "All y'all.
What do Texans call themselves? ›
Texians were Anglo-American residents of Mexican Texas and, later, the Republic of Texas. Today, the term is used to identify early Anglo settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of that era are referred to as Tejanos, and residents of modern Texas are known as Texans.
Is stuffing and dressing the same thing on Reddit? ›
Dressing has meat/seafood whereas stuffing is only bread based and is always put inside the bird prior to roasting?
What is dressing made of? ›
Some dressing is basic: a combination of dried bread, aromatics, and dried herbs. Other loaded versions can contain oysters, mushrooms, and even dried fruit and nuts.
Why is stuffing not stuffed? ›
Stuffing was originally made, and often still is, by stuffing it into the cavity of the turkey, and letting it cook inside the turkey, absorbing its flavors while adding some of its own to the turkey. It is then served as a side dish once removed from the turkey.
Is it better to make stuffing with fresh or dry bread? ›
Any attempts to make stuffing with soft, fresh baked bread will result in a bread soup with a soggy texture. Follow this tip: Stale, dried-out bread makes the best stuffing.
