The Great Gobble Debate

Get stuffed … or dressed? The Thanksgiving debate rages on

5:31 p.m. Nov. 25, 2025

Thanksgiving is this week, which means that folks across the United States will purchase over 40 million turkeys and spend around $96 million on stuffing. While these are Thanksgiving staples, there is often debate about what should be on the table for Turkey Day.

In the South, this argument is particularly heated around one essential dish – dressing. Even attempting to define dressing is a feat in itself. In some parts of the world, the word is interchangeable with stuffing and filling. In others, it's a sin to say as much.

According to Merriam-Webster, dressing is defined as “a seasoned mixture usually used as a stuffing (as for poultry).” I beg to differ. Stuffing is what you put in the bird. Dressing is its own beast.

Basic recipes for dressing include a bread base (typically cornbread, though some argue that stale white bread or sourdough works just as well) along with vegetables, herbs, starch, and spices. Of course, you can’t forget the butter, lots and lots of butter. After this foundation has been made, it’s a free-for-all.

The Food Network lists 86 recipes on its website for dressing and stuffing (which are, notably, used interchangeably), some of which include a few questionable ingredients. There’s pineapple stuffing, herb and apple stuffing, chorizo and collard green dressing, and even oyster dressing.

Even traditional recipes differ across the board. Some say you should use Stovetop Stuffing to fluff up the dish. Others add some kind of meat, like sausage or chicken, for a little extra protein. Even ingredients like almonds and cranberries end up in some variations, adding an extra crunch or sweetness.

Personally, I think the ideal dressing recipe uses fresh cornbread, rubbed sage, celery, onions, eggs, poultry seasoning, and butter. This should, of course, be cooked in a pan deemed the “dressing pan” in the oven. (We’ve tried making it in a Crock-Pot before, and while it’s not too bad for Sunday night dinner, it’s not the same as the real thing.)

After settling on a dressing recipe comes another age-old argument: to cranberry sauce or not to cranberry sauce. More importantly, what kind of cranberry sauce will you allow to hold space on your table? Around here, the canned cranberry sauce is king. This topping is cylindrical and has the lines from the can indented into its sides. It doesn’t look very appetizing when it squelches out of the can, but it sure is good when mushed up with traditional dressing.

On the other hand, there are “real” cranberries, which are also canned but contain whole cranberries and lots of juice. In my opinion, this alternative is quite good, but it won’t fly at many Southern dinner tables. The people yearn for that gelatinous goodness that is the jellied cranberry sauce!

In the end, whether you’re a cornbread purist, someone who found a recipe deep in the Food Network archives, or loyal to canned cranberry sauce, dressing is the lively heart of the Southern Thanksgiving table. We’ll debate it right up until we’re all quietly going back for seconds, because no matter how you make it, dressing is the one tradition everyone agrees tastes like home.