Make The Perfect Holiday Stuffing By Avoiding These Mistakes

The holidays are right around the corner, and whether this is your first time hosting, or you're the go-to holiday cook, making sure the food is exceptional is your number one priority. We know this can be stressful, so for stress-free stuffing follow these tips...

Thanks to Simplemost.com, this seasons holiday stuffing is sure to please. Simplemost has put together 7 helpful tips to avoid the dreaded dried out bland stuffing dish. This comfort food staple can be taken in many directions, but there are some common mistakes that can leave your guests feeling anything but stuffed.

Here's the 7 mistakes people often make when preparing stuffing and how to avoid them:

1. Not Drying Out The Bread

Starting your stuffing out with bread that’s completely dry is essential for your stuffing’s taste and texture. Serious Eats recommends toasting a white sandwich-style loaf at 275 degrees for about 45 minutes.

2. Actually Stuffing The Bird

It’s called stuffing because you’re supposed to stuff the turkey with it, right? While that may be where the term comes from, it also makes it a lot more difficult to properly cook the turkey. Instead, just serve it on the side.

3. Not Cooking Your Vegetables

There’s more to stuff besides bread. To really maximize the flavor of your stuffing, you should add aromatic vegetables like onions and celery. But don’t just add them in their raw state. Make sure to cook them in a bit of butter first.

4. Soggy Stuffing

If you end up with soggy stuffing despite your best efforts, it may come down to your cooking method. A good way to end up with crispy stuffing every time is to turn your stuffing into muffins.

5. Not Using Enough Butter

While cutting down on fat and calorie-laden ingredients like butter may seem like a great way to lighten up a recipe, when it comes to stuffing, skimping on butter may spell disaster. Using plenty of butter is the key to moist, yet crispy stuffing.

6. Overcooking It

Perfect stuffing needs to be cooked just right. Overcook it and your stuffing will be dry. Undercook it and it will be soggy. It can be difficult to get it just right, so if you’re bringing stuffing as part of a potluck, undercook it slightly at home so that when you arrive at your destination, you can finish it in the oven in just a few minutes.

7. Adding The Stock All At Once

If you haven’t learned this already, the key to perfect stuffing is a delicate balance. Adding the right amount of stock to the stuffing is essential to getting an ideal texture, but so is how and when you add it. Add about a half cup to a cup at a time to give the bread time to soak up the broth before you add more.

Well there ya go! Follow these rules and you can expect everyone's going to be asking for seconds!