Seeking to fill a void or just something tasty on the side? Check out this Chicken Stuffing recipe that’s more than divine!
Stuffing, filling, or as more recently called, dressing is a mixture of herbs, spices, and some sort of starch, used to fill a cavity of another food item, like in this case chicken.
Thanks to its moisture retaining abilities, stuffing is used to absorb the various juices before and during the roasting process thus preventing them to escape into forgetfulness.
Although stuffing has been proved to be an excellent method of using up otherwise not so desirable ingredients such as stale bread or giblets, but apparently this “closing something in” had a profound lasting effect of opening up endless possibilities.
During the centuries, chefs have been exploring the various ways and stretching the boundaries of this humble method to the extreme. While many of us have already heard or even had some Turducken, few of us will ever have the possibilities to think about how to fit a stuffed camel into our turkey approved ovens.
Interesting, that although stuffing is generally applauded for at the dinner table, many of us aren’t really into stuffing various animals into another one, but more fascinated with the starchy part. Our devotion to carbs goes to such length that we don’t even cram the stuffing into cavities anymore, but roast it on its own.
Sure, roasting the stuffing into a crunchy exterior is more exciting than just leaving it on its own in the darkness until served, but when we don’t even pretend to be making stuffing for something like it’s the case with stuffing with sausage, but we make it for its own sake, is when we should stop calling it a stuffing and start naming it properly.
Variations and flavors of stuffing recipes for chicken are diverse and can vary regionally and according to personal preferences. Some popular variations include cornbread stuffing, sausage stuffing, chestnut stuffing, and wild rice stuffing. The flavors can be adapted by adjusting the combination of herbs, spices, vegetables, fruits, and seasonings.
Cooking techniques for stuffing recipes involve preparing the stuffing mixture separately and then filling the chicken cavity. It is important to ensure the stuffing reaches a safe internal temperature (165°F or 74°C) when cooking the chicken. This helps prevent any potential foodborne illnesses.
When considering health, it is recommended to opt for nutritious ingredients, limit the use of processed or high-fat ingredients, and control portion sizes. Incorporating whole grains, lean proteins, and an abundance of vegetables can contribute to a healthier stuffing recipe.
Regional variations of stuffing recipes can be found across the globe. In the United States, Thanksgiving dinner often includes traditional bread stuffing. In Italy, they have a famous stuffing recipe called “Ripieno di Pollo” made with sausage, bread, cheese, and vegetables. Each region adds its own twist to the stuffing, making it a delightful representation of local flavors.
Ingredients
Bread stuffing
- 2 cups / 500g Bread (cubed) (stale will hold its shape better during the preparation process)
- 2 tablespoons / 30g Cooking oil or butter
- 2½ cups / 400g Onion (diced)
- 2 cups / 200g Celery (diced)
- 1 teaspoon / 5g Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons / 12g Parsley (freshly chopped)
- 1 teaspoon / 0.5 Sage (dried)
- 1 tablespoon / 3.5g Rosemary (freshly chopped)
- 1 tablespoon / 2g Thyme (freshly chopped)
- 3¼ cups / 750g Water (only if bread is dried or stale)
- 2 medium / 100g Eggs
How to make Stuffing for chicken
- We can use either stale or completely dried out bread. Dried bread is much harder to cut up so if we have bread for the sole purpose of making stuffing then cutting it up in advance will save us some effort and time. Best part of the stuffing is the crunchy crust so choose bread with plenty of crust to start with, like french baguette, bread rolls or similar stuff.
- Heat oil in a skillet and sauté (stir-fry) diced onion, celery and salt until glassy / translucent look, about 5 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium low then slowly caramelize the onion and celery until it is browned, about 15 – 20 minutes.
- In a big bowl, mix bread, freshly chopped parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and the freshly prepared onion-celery.
- Beat eggs and water together.
- Mix the egg water mixture with the bread.
- Stuff chicken until about ⅔ full with stuffing.
- Secure the holes with wooden toothpicks, cocktail sticks or small skewers.
- Place the remaining stuffing into an oven proof dish. We can put them next to the chicken too but stuffing won’t require more then 20 – 30 minutes in the oven so keep them out of the oven until the end of roasting.
- Or roast some mushrooms and make them into balls. If short of bread, use some breadcrumbs as an emergency option.
- Place the chicken into the middle rack of a 375°F/190°C oven and roast until golden brown, about 2 – 3 hours. Add some vegetables into the pan if desired.
- Baste the chicken in every half an hour during roasting but at least twice.
- Once the chicken skin turns golden brown, increase the heat to 425°F/220°C and let it crisp but mind not to burn it.
- Now it is the time to add the stuffing balls too. If there is no place then wait until the chicken is out of the oven.
- Do the same with the stuffing, we have prepared in a separate oven safe dish. Roast for about 20 – 35 minutes. If we have a broiler, it can be even faster but it needs some experimenting with the rack position and heat as the top can scorch quite easily.
Enjoy!
Chicken Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups Bread cubed (stale will hold its shape better during the preparation process)
- 2 tablespoons Cooking oil or butter
- 2½ cups Onion diced
- 2 cups Celery diced
- 1 teaspoon Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons Parsley freshly chopped
- 1 teaspoon Sage dried
- 1 tablespoon Rosemary freshly chopped
- 1 tablespoon Thyme freshly chopped
- 3¼ cups Water only if bread is dried or stale
- 2 medium Eggs
Instructions
- We can use either stale or completely dried out bread. Dried bread is much harder to cut up so if we have bread for the sole purpose of making stuffing then cutting it up in advance will save us some effort and time. Best part of the stuffing is the crunchy crust so choose bread with plenty of crust to start with, like french baguette, bread rolls or similar stuff.
- Heat oil in a skillet and sauté (stir-fry) diced onion, celery and salt until glassy / translucent look, about 5 minutes.
- Lower the heat to medium low then slowly caramelize the onion and celery until it is browned, about 15 – 20 minutes.
- In a big bowl, mix bread, freshly chopped parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme and the freshly prepared onion-celery.
- Beat eggs and water together.
- Mix the egg water mixture with the bread.
- Stuff chicken until about ⅔ full with stuffing.
- Secure the holes with wooden toothpicks, cocktail sticks or small skewers.
- Place the remaining stuffing into an oven proof dish. We can put them next to the chicken too but stuffing won’t require more then 20 – 30 minutes in the oven so keep them out of the oven until the end of roasting.
- Or roast some mushrooms and make them into balls. If short of bread, use some breadcrumbs as an emergency option.
- Place the chicken into the middle rack of a 375°F/190°C oven and roast until golden brown, about 2 – 3 hours. Add some vegetables into the pan if desired.
- Baste the chicken in every half an hour during roasting but at least twice.
- Once the chicken skin turns golden brown, increase the heat to 425°F/220°C and let it crisp but mind not to burn it.
- Now it is the time to add the stuffing balls too. If there is no place then wait until the chicken is out of the oven.
- Do the same with the stuffing, we have prepared in a separate oven safe dish. Roast for about 20 – 35 minutes. If we have a broiler, it can be even faster but it needs some experimenting with the rack position and heat as the top can scorch quite easily.
Notes
Nutrition
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