Stuffing Muffins
Stuffing Muffins aka stuff’in are baked in a muffin tin for easy portion control! This classic stuffing recipe is made even more delicious with Pancetta!
Stuffing Muffins
Do you cook your stuffing in the turkey, casserole dish, or stovetop? I prefer to bake mine separately from the turkey in the oven to avoid salmonella. Making stuffing in muffin tins is my favorite because the individual portions are great for portion control. If you make this stuffing alongside a turkey, pour some of the pan juices from the cooked turkey over the stuffing to make it moister – yum! You can also try Mom’s Stuffing and Chicken Sausage and Herb Stuffing for more twists on your traditional stuffing recipe.
Stuffing is a classic Thanksgiving recipe and is essential every year at my family’s meal. However, I do like to lighten it up a bit. This stuffing recipe calls for whole wheat bread and less butter compared to many other recipes.
This homemade stuffing is made with pancetta, celery, shallots, parsley, sage, and whole wheat French bread. I also add some Bell’s Seasoning. If you don’t have Bell’s, any other brand of poultry seasoning will do. Poultry seasoning is a spice blend that has black pepper and dried herbs, such as marjoram, thyme, rosemary, and sage.
What’s the difference between stuffing and dressing?
Stuffing is usually stuffed inside the turkey, while dressing is baked in a separate dish. Both terms are used interchangeably. I grew up calling it stuffing, so stuffing it is!
What kind of bread do you use in stuffing?
I like to use whole wheat French bread, but regular French bread or sourdough would also work. The most important thing about the bread is to make sure it’s dry! If your bread is fresh and soft, your stuffing will be mushy. So, use bread that’s a day or two old. If your bread is fresh, you can harden it in the oven. Just bake the bread cubes in the oven at 250°F for about 30 minutes.
Variations:
- To make it gluten-free, any good gluten-free bread you enjoy should work.
- To make it vegetarian you can leave the Pancetta out.
- For variations swap the Pancetta for bacon, turkey bacon or chicken sausage.
How To Make Ahead:
This recipe is great to prep ahead, so you have one less thing to do on the day of Thanksgiving. Put the stuffing in the muffin tin, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate overnight. On the day you’re serving it, bake for 25 minutes. Leftovers can be refrigerated three to four days in a ziplock bag.
More Holiday Side Dishes You Will Love:
- Cranberry Pear Sauce
- Scalloped Potato Gratin
- Maple Glazed Butternut and Brussels Sprouts
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Spinach Gratin
Stuffing Muffins
Ingredients
- olive oil spray
- 12 ounces whole wheat French bread, cut into small cubes (9 1/4 oz if dried)
- 3 ounces diced pancetta
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 shallots, minced
- 3 large stalks celery, minced
- 2/3 cup chopped parsley
- 10 fresh sage leaves, minced
- 3/4 teaspoon Bell's Seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
Instructions
- Let bread sit overnight to harden. If your bread is fresh, preheat the oven and bake the bread cubes on 2 baking sheets at 250°F for about 30 minutes, stirring half way until the bread is completely firm.
- Increase the oven to 375°F. Spray a non-stick muffin tin with oil.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the Pancetta until browned and the fat renders, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add butter; when melted add shallots, celery, parsley, sage, Bell’s seasoning and salt and cook on medium low until soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes.
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken broth and egg.
- In a large bowl add bread and combine with sauteed vegetables.
- Add chicken broth and egg mixture and combine well. If stuffing is too dry, add a little more broth or water until you have the right consistency. Let is sit 10 minutes.
- Transfer the stuffing to the muffin pan. (If making ahead cover with foil and refrigerate).
- If making alongside a turkey, pour some of the pan juices from the cooked turkey over the stuffing. Bake uncovered 25 minutes, or until golden.
I made these with GF bread for Thanksgiving and they were a big hit! Very easy & nice to have individual servings! Will definitely make again.
This was my first Thanksgiving on WW and I was nervous about cooking my Thanksgiving meal using some of my new found tools in making things a bit healthier. I wanted my entire family to enjoy it. I love ST recipes, so I felt pretty confident that they would as well. I followed this recipe all the way through as instructed, the only difference in mine was I used a Pampered Chef Brownie Pan (so my little stuffing muffins were square and not round). Also, my oven must have been a bit warmer because mine got pretty crunchy! However- the family LOVED the crunch….they were actually fighting to see who could get done the quickest to get the last two remaining muffins. This was a HUGE hit, and I think I’ll be making it with some roasted chicken in a few weeks. I must have more! Thank you so much! I love your cookbooks, and your website.
This was delicious! Thank you! Unfortunately my muffins wouldn’t keep their shape and broke right apart. Any tips on how to avoid a mess?
This is a Grreat recipe, Gina! I made them for Thanksgiving abd they were a big hit!
Glad to hear it!
I wonder if these could freeze well? Doesn’t anyone know ?
Sure!
What is the best way to reheat this if eating later?
I pop them in the microwave
I have been using your Slow-cooker sausage stuffing recipe for the past few years, but would love to use that recipe with this muffin method.(The chicken sausage has been a big hit). Do you think that conversion would work?
Sure!
Will you be adding in the points for the Green and Purple plan as well? Really hope you do.
Hello, great idea. Do you think I can do this with gluten free bread?
Yes!
Have you tried this with GF bread? Trying to find a Gluten Free stuffing solution for my husband.
Sure corn bread or and GF bread you like should work great.
Use real southern cornbread made with whole grain cornmeal and no white flour. I always do this, I don’t like dressing with white bread at all.
HI ! This sounds so wonderful! Thank you. I always struggle to make a good stuffing. Just can’t seem to replicate my mom’s recipe, so this will be what I use form now on. Quick question, is there a way to make this as one big serving, not the individual cups? How would the recipe change?
Thanks so much. Your recipes are all I use anymore for my meals!
Can it be made vegetarian? Maybe with vegetarian sausage?
Sure just leave the meat out!
Thank you for updating points so quickly. This sounds perfect
I can’t seem to find the Bell’s seasoning. Where do you find it? Is there a substitute?
INGREDIENTS1 tablespoon rosemary1 tablespoon oregano1 teaspoon sage1 tablespoon ginger1 tablespoon marjoram1 tablespoon thyme1 teaspoon pepper
I am definitely going to make this for Thanksgiving! If you would please, I will be using dried sage rather than fresh. How much should I use? Thank you so much for this recipe!
You can easily Google this conversion. Some spice jars actually have it on the label.
I have one non-pork eater. I plan to just leave the pancetta out. Should I sub anything? Thanks—these sound awesome!
Sure leave it out or use turkey bacon or sausage for flavor.
Hi Gina! I was wondering if you have heard of this weight loss program before? shorturl.at/cTUX5 It looks like a great program to help people lose weight, I was just looking for some opinions before I made my decision. By the way I love the content you have been posting lately!
I grew up with my mom always making stuffing muffins, and have done it that way myself as I started hosting the holiday dinners. It makes the edges nice and crusty, and makes great portions, also super easy for reheating. Looking forward to trying this one! Love your recipes!
Thank you for adding the points for the 3 new WW plans (blue green & purple). I LOVE your recipes! They have helped me lose 30 lbs and it is so easy because you include
WW points.