The Best Stuffing You’ll Ever Make | Epicurious 101

In this edition of Epicurious 101, professional chef and chef instructor Frank Proto demonstrates how to level up your roasts this Holiday season with his ultimate guide to making the best stuffing at home.

Director: Parisa Kosari
Director of Photography: Kevin Dynia
Editor: Rob Malone
Talent: Frank Proto
Director of Culinary Production: Kelly Janke
Creative Producer: Debbie Wong
Culinary Producer: Jessica Do
Culinary Associate Producer: Leslie Raney
Line Producer: Jen McGinity
Associate Producer: Amanda Broll
Production Manager: Janine Dispensa
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes
Camera Operator: Jake Robbins
Audio Engineer: Rachel Suffian
Researcher: Vivian Jao
Post Production Supervisor: Andrea Farr
Post Production Coordinator: Scout Alter
Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araujo
Assistant Editor: Andy Morell



ABOUT EPICURIOUS
Browse thousands of recipes and videos from Bon Appétit, Gourmet, and more. Find inventive cooking ideas, ingredients, and restaurant menus from the world’s largest food archive.

[richrich]

Love the Frank videos.
It would be super helpful if y’all included that grocery list for the dish in the description. 😊😊

[monstermaniac]

I really like Frank a lot. He’s not pretentious or arrogant. He tells you what he does, he explains why, but also says do what you like. He just gives great guidelines and technique to go by. I will always watch his videos.

[RRsYF]

It brings a tear to my eye reading all the comments about people who love stuffing. You all are my people. 🙌

[jillsipocz]

I LOVE stuffing, it's the best part of Thanksgiving.

[eggie]

I can eat the stuffing by itself. That's a whole meal for me. Delicious!

[dalethekorean]

Anything with Frank I watch, I know I'll learn something new.

[jtaylor]

I wish I loved anything in life as much as Frank loves butter.

[henri-]

where do I find the proportions please, how much of each ingredient?
Love how Frank delivers and explains- one of my favorite channels!!!

[deniseheins]

Fantastic stuffing tutorial. Southerner here, it's always cornbread stuffing. I use Jimmy Dean sausage, it isn't a super fatty sausage. I use fresh sage and dried sage and poultry seasoning. Celery is a must. I also dot the top with butter before baking. I. Love. Stuffing. 😆

[ajs]

This is essentially how grandma taught me. Two primary differences (probably with no discernable difference in the final product): First, she cooked the sausage and onions as you did, but the celery she boiled in the stock. Second she'd hold back some of the butter and generously grease the dish with it. That layer of butter around the edge of the dish really helps to get some nice crispness on the bottom and edges.

[JeffreyTheTaylor]

Fact check, true. I was skeptical as my previous dressing preps were much more involved. But the universal take at the table was this was the best dressing I ever made. I never thought to use baguettes but now that I have, I am never using anything else. Crispy, light but not soggy and still ready for gravy. The key is having a baking dish shallow enough for the edges to get some browning while the middle just is firm. Obviously the oven temp matters and I'd say 350 for 30 min is the baseline, which of course you will have to juggle as the rest of the meal comes together. Just dont rule having to stick it under the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish. Finally, I really suggest using a hot breakfast sausage as the kick really contrasts with smashed potatoes loaded with butter, cream, sour cream, roasted garlic etc.

[samspetifore]

Words cannot describe how much I love Frank videos on this channel.

[busisiwemosotloa]

This is not a go to dish in South Africa, and I've watched many channels, particularly for this dish and I must tell you that you have made it easy for me to understand and now I am going to make this dish this Sunday. Thank you so much 💓

[Metoobie]

Drooling. What a gorgeous meal! Anything with Frank, I've noticed I'm hitting the like button before I even watch the video.

[J_LOVES_ME]

I grew up on a very simple dressing -- bread, onions & celery sauted in butter, poultry seasoning, an egg, and then my mom would moisten it with just water (mix the egg with the liquid to distribute it evenly). It was simple, but delicious! Over the years I have tried recipes for all sorts of fancy dressings but I always come back to that simple recipe as my favorite. I don't prefer the sausage in it, to me it's too rich, especially when there is other meats, gravy, and so many other rich dishes in the meal. It's nice to have something light for balance. The only thing I have tweaked is I use chicken or turkey stock in place of the water, and I use fresh herbs instead of the dried poultry seasoning.

[OverlordMaggie]

Always thought stuffing/dressing was the best part of the roast dinners! Still do. Glad to see it getting the love it deserves. I'd be happy just having half the plate being stuffing and the rest a small portion of the rest.

[electronsauce]

I agree its neither here nor there when it comes to putting the stuffing in the turkey, but one point I will argue that agrees with you is that the aromatics (lemon, onion, bundles of herbs) you can shove up the turkey instead of stuffing makes the start of an AMAZING gravy.

There's no way that dressing isn't going to be delicious outside the bird.

[liamcurtis]

Honestly the best darn stuffing ever. Such a treat to pull this up and watch whenever I forget the recipe. Thank you!

[JohnnyLREACTS]

This looks incredible, and I like every step he has taken to kick up the flavour at each turn. I am going to make this over the holidays!

[Katsem]

I make it just like you. I always feel a little guilty for adding all that butter, rather more stock to get it moist. But you reinforced my belief that all that butter is best. I feel so much better! Thank you.