Is Homemade Stuffing Worth the Effort?
By Elizabeth Gunnison, Bon Appétit
In our column Fake It or Make It we test a homemade dish against its prepackaged counterpart to find out what's really worth cooking from scratch.
I'm willing to bet that stuffing--tender, buttery, savory, carb-glorious stuffing--ranks as one of the most universally appealing food substances on the planet. It's not hard to fathom why Stove Top first engineered its just-add-water-and-margarine version of the Thanksgiving classic, providing Americans with easier access to food comas all year round. But is the instant version up to holiday snuff? As you begin planning your Thanksgiving menu, we put Stove Top up against a version we actually made on our stove top.
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The Contenders:
Stove Top Traditional Sage Stuffing vs. Bon Appétit's Herb and Onion Stuffing
The practice of stuffing birds and other small animals for cooking goes way back--at least to ancient Rome--and features in cuisines around the globe. Your standard turkey stuffing consists of cubed or crumbled bread, onion, celery, fresh or dried herbs, stock, and butter, and has been a part of the American Thanksgiving tradition at least since the 1930s. Stove Top first began marketing its instant mix 40 years ago, and now sells roughly 60 million boxes for Thanksgiving alone. For those vexed by the difference between stuffing and dressing: stuffing technically refers to anything cooked in the cavity of an animal, whereas dressing is cooked on the side.
Relative Costs
Store-bought is cheaper. I spent $3.10 to buy and prepare the Stove Top, versus about $10 in ingredients for a roughly equivalent volume of homemade.
Relative Healthfulness
Homemade is healthier. Stove Top packs a hefty sodium punch, in addition to containing high-fructose corn syrup, caramel coloring, disodium iosinate, and other synthetic additives not necessarily welcome at my Thanksgiving table.
Time Commitment
It took me 40 minutes to make stuffing from scratch, plus 50 minutes to cook it, versus 10 minutes of total time for the Stove Top.
Leftovers Potential
Either variety of stuffing makes for top-notch leftovers, and will keep for 4 to 7 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
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What the Testers Said
First, let me introduce the panel.
THE HEALTH NUT
A delicate eater, calorie conscious, but also likes to eat well
THE FOODIE
Calorie agnostic, with a sophisticated palate and a love of cooking
THE DUDE
Ambivalent about food trends and health concerns, just wants to be fed when he's hungry
THE KID
Between ages of 9 and 12 years old, not jaded, not into strong flavors
Testers sampled both stuffings blind. Everyone correctly identified the store-bought from the homemade.
The Health Nut picked: Homemade. "The store-bought is much better than I thought it would be, but the flavor is still a little fakey and overpowering. Homemade still wins for me."
The Foodie picked: Homemade. "The texture of the homemade is really superior, mostly moist and tender but with those crispy, crunchy, buttery edges, almost like French toast. I could eat this entire bowl."
The Kid picked: Homemade. "I think the other one is kind of dry and it's also ugly."
The Dude picked: Homemade. "It's pretty close for me, and I'd actually happily eat the store-bought if it was the only option on the table, but compared to the homemade it's a little dry and crumbly. So I'd prefer homemade."
The Verdict
Make It!
While the instant stuffing was actually a closer contender than most of our testers anticipated, the homemade won hearts (and palates) for its subtle flavor and pleasing texture. Seeing as homemade stuffing will take you less than an hour to make, and Thanksgiving comes but once a year, it's worth putting in the time here.
More from Bon Appétit:
10 Snacks You Thought Were Healthy But Really Aren't
Avoid These Common Turkey Mistakes
15 Ways to Use Apples This Fall
Foolproof Fall Party Appetizers
