Stouffer’s comes in second.
There’s a part of me that wants to suggest recipes to save you from this nightmare, but your ignorance is your bliss and it comes from a readily available, cheap and easy to prepare cardboard box.
Truly, a conundrum.
In my 40 years, I have had many home made recipes. I have never found them comparable for one weirdly indulgent reason - salt. I think the salt content for better or worse is what drives me to the boxed stuff, especially now with the huge (and reasonable!) drive toward low sodium broth. I don’t know why, but boxed stuffing/dressing is my favorite food.
I think that’s totally fine, as much as some might want to turn this into a “Ketchup on Steak” kind of holy war.
I grew up on StoveTop and I do think it’s yummy.
My mother in law makes a stuffing that’s essentially potatoes, bread, onions, whatever other seasonings, and yes a good bit of salt. (I haven’t helped make it I admit, so I could be doing it a disservice to describe it that way)
She even cooks some of it inside the turkey and some of it outside, though it never really gets soggy.
As far as I’m concerned, you could throw out the entire rest of Thanksgiving dinner and just give me a big bowl of that.
You’re damn right that a lotta stuffings end up undersalted. And I’m not gonna tell you the boxed stuffing isn’t tasty. (My “nightmare” comment is totally hyperbolic and flippant, but we’re having fun here I hope)
But I have a friend who makes it with sausage and sage herbed brown butter and I’m confident it’s a box beater. Heck of a lot more work, though.
I’m with you. Maybe it’s because I’ve never had truly good homemade stuffing? It’s always a weird, damp, spongy mess. But that box of Stove Top, ready in minutes? I’ll eat the whole thing by myself. It’s also great to have an extra box to go with the leftovers, especially for the sandwiches.
I’m Canadian so I had this conversation about a month ago.
I agree with the stuffing … when you are preparing ten food items for a big supper, no sense in taking time to make complicated stuffing when all you need is a big packet and some hot water. Especially when the difference is negligible between instant and homemade.
I feel the same about frozen lasagna. Either my wife, myself or both of us can spend hours in the kitchen making a good lasagna recipe and it doesn’t taste much better than a store bought frozen one that didn’t take any work.
Now Turkey Gravy … that is a war I’m willing to fight.
The worst crime I ever witnessed was my mother in law’s Turkey Gravy, which I had to bear every Christmas for years. She dosed her roasted turkey in plain water, drained the liquid at the end, strained off the fat, leaving only mostly water and then added a flour slurry with no spices … it came out as a thin white pudding the same color as the potatoes and the whole family loved it. As much as they said they loved it, everyone heavily salted their food anyway.
That was about ten years ago and I’ve studied the gravy arts and become an expert at seasoning my turkey, roasting it with minimal liquid, carefully collecting drippings, making roux, seasoning and flavoring if I need to and making the creamest, tastiest, brown turkey gravy … even my wife raves about it now.
God that reminds me, I froze some leftovers into a dinner tray … I’m eating some today.
No way, man. My grandma’s stuffing was some of the best stuff I’ve ever eaten. She passed down the recipe to my mom, but my mom is gluten-free so she can’t taste-test it as she makes it, so it’s never quite the same. Yet, still way better than stovetop.
Cranberry sauce, though. I will always prefer the canned jello type stuff over homemade. Some homemade ones are great, sure, but that canned stuff is so good.
What if I told you… you can turn cranberries into the jello consistency? And adjust the flavor! I’m a sucker for good homemade cranberry sauce lol
You’d rather eat a stove top than homemade dressing?
In my experience, 9/10 times yes.
I guess you get your daily dose of iron, and then some…
The box ones are disgusting. Worst side, half is soaking wet and half is somehow dry and chewy but inedible.
You’ve done it incorrectly, then.
Some people cook good food, some don’t. I’ve made homemade stuffing dozens of times. A couple of times it was too dry, or too wet and was gummy, or over seasoned. I learned from those and definitely prefer the stuffing I make to any mix.
I guess there are all types.
This is it. This is the moment Risa went too far.
