7 Thanksgiving stuffing recipes, from classic to funky

Written by

With options for vegan and gluten-free versions, stuffing can be for everyone. Photo by Chelsea Shapouri

Whether your stuffing involves potatoes and sage or bacon and linguica or savory wild rice, we have options — including a gluten-free stuffing.

Call Me Southern Cornbread Dressing

Chef Elizabeth Heiskell from Greenwood, Mississippi learned a unique way of roasting her Thanksgiving turkey from her grandmother — in a pillowcase. What goes with her Delta Roasted Turkey? Her Call Me Southern Cornbread Dressing and Million Dollar Gravy. Get the recipe

Gluten-Free Wild Rice Stuffing

This savory wild rice dish is the ultimate gluten-free stuffing and doubles as a holiday-appropriate grain salad with lots of fresh herbs. Cook the grains in well-salted water for much longer than you'd think. Until the rice splits open, it's not done. Get the recipe

Kabocha Squash Stuffing

Dan Mattern uses his wife Roxana Jullapat's Kabocha Squash Dinner Rolls to make this Kabocha Squash Stuffing. Don't want to make the rolls yourself? Their restaurant, Friends & Family, offers a bunch of delicious baked goods including bread, breakfast pastries, and pies. Get the recipe 

Grandma Costa's Portuguese Stuffing

This recipe comes to us from David Leite, the author of The New Portuguese Table and the publisher of Leite's Culinaria. It involves plenty of bacon and linguica along with red pepper paste, dry white wine, and bread cubes. Get the recipe

Turkey Stuffing Balls

Jun Belen, the voice behind Jun-blog, moved to California from the Philippines in 1998. His first Thanksgiving was spent in a Carrow's on the side of a Las Vegas highway. The turkey was bad but the stuffing was terrific. He made his own version of stuffing and, years later, turned it into stuffing balls at a friend's urging. Get the recipe

'Iraqi-Style' Turkey Stuffing

Tired of the same old Thanksgiving stuffing recipe? Here's one from Nawal Nasrallah, author of Delights from the Garden of Eden: A Cookbook and a History of the Iraqi Cuisine. This is a traditional dish that Iraqi Christians typically enjoy on Christmas. The recipe, which involves flavored pepper, coriander, nutmeg, and cinnamon, works for both turkey and chicken. Nasrallah says that some cooks take the extra step and carefully stuff the aromatic mixture underneath the entire turkey skin. "This stuffing technique is quite steeped in tradition," she says. "I was able to trace it back to a medieval Baghdadi recipe." Get the recipe

Mixed Mushroom and Sweet Potato Stuffing

Adapted from a Charlie Trotter recipe, this version involves sweet potatoes and sage as well as shiitake, portobello or cremini mushrooms. Get the recipe