Our Foolproof Tips for Stuffing a Turkey (2024)

FAQs

What's the best way to stuff a turkey? ›

Place the prepared stuffing in the whole turkey just before roasting. Stuffing the night before could cause food-borne illness. Stuff both the neck and body cavities of a completely thawed turkey, allowing ½ to ¾ cup of stuffing per pound. Don't pack stuffing too tightly, as it may cause uneven cooking.

Fully cook raw meat, poultry, or seafood ingredients before adding to stuffing. Combine the ingredients and place them in your bird immediately before cooking. Don't stuff whole poultry with cooked stuffing. In addition to the turkey, the stuffing's center needs to reach 165 F.

If you're preparing the stuffing ahead of time, cool it immediately and placed it in shallow containers in the refrigerator. Pre-cooked and cooled stuffing should not be used for the turkey -- eat this separately.

For this reason, many experts recommend baking the stuffing outside the bird, where it can easily be cooked to 165°F and is less likely to harbor bacteria.

The simple secret to a truly juicy roast turkey is to season the turkey with a rub a couple of days before roasting. This is called dry brining and it makes the flesh beautifully moist, and you can even do it while the turkey is still FROZEN!

Stuffing Safety

Despite the benefits of stuffing a turkey, it's not a safe practice, says Baker. That's because the turkey and stuffing might cook at different rates, often leaving the stuffing uncooked and unsafe to eat by the time the turkey is ready.

The primary advantages to in-bird stuffing are that it's unbelievably moist and looks super-Thanksgiving-y, but to be safe (with the raw eggs in the stuffing and the raw turkey touching it), you need to cook it to 165 degrees F, which means the bird's going to have to cook to an even higher temperature, which means a ...

Typically, baking the stuffing inside the bird helps keep the mixture moist. “I prefer stuffing (in the bird) to dressing (outside of the bird) because all those delicious drippings that come off the turkey gets absorbed right into the stuffing,” Bamford says.

The problem is, when you stuff the turkey, yes, the stuffing gets all of the wonderful flavors from the bird, but it makes it much more difficult to cook the bird. It cooks a lot more slowly and unevenly, and obviously if you've got vegetarians then they're not going to eat the stuffing.

One advantage of not stuffing the turkey and baking the stuffing separately is the turkey will take less time to get fully cooked. A 12 to 14 pound stuffed turkey will take 3.5 to 4 hours to bake while an unstuffed bird will take 3 to 3.75 hours at 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Should you put anything in the cavity of a turkey? ›

To make a well-balanced stuffing, you will need a starch (think bread cubes, corn bread, rice, or even potatoes) to give your mixture some heft, a liquid (broth, wine, or even liquor) to add hydration, and aromatics (like herbs and onions) for that signature Thanksgiving flavor.

Some people feel that stuffing has a better taste and is moister when prepared in the turkey. If the turkey is stuffed, the stuffing should also reach the minimum internal temperature of 165 F in the center of the stuffing.

Use a Food Thermometer

If the temperature of the turkey and the center of the stuffing have not reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F, further cooking will be required. Do not remove the stuffing from the turkey before it reaches 165 °F because the undercooked stuffing could contaminate the cooked meat.