The Old-Fashioned Stuffing My Mom’s Been Making for Over 50 Years
For as long as I can remember, my mother has hosted Thanksgiving. She really does everything herself, so the prep lasts for days. The smell of sautéed sausage, celery, and onions has always been the first signal of the holiday in our house. Her legendary stuffing has the same basic components you might find in most classic stuffing recipes, but unlike most recipes (which call for toasted cubes of bread), my mom’s recipe uses something you probably already have in your pantry: Saltine crackers.
What Makes Cracker Stuffing So Good
Sometime in the 1950s or ‘60s, my grandmother walked down the stairs of her Brooklyn apartment building and got the recipe from her neighbor. She then gave the recipe to my mother, her daughter-in-law, when the Thanksgiving host torch was officially passed down.
The convenience of this old-fashioned recipe can’t be beat. No waiting for bread to get stale and no toasting — just pop open a few sleeves of Saltines. Using Saltines makes stuffing less of a hassle, transforming it from an ordeal reserved for the holiday table to a weeknight staple alongside a roast chicken or pork chops. The texture, in my opinion, is the best part. The stuffing has a cohesiveness that I strongly prefer over some of the drier and crumblier versions I’ve had. It’s moist, but not soggy, and the top gets really nice and crispy.
How to Make Cracker Stuffing
Chop the Saltines. My mom always blitzes 4 sleeves of Saltine crackers (an equal mix of salted and unsalted works best, but if you only use one type, stick with unsalted and season with salt to taste) in a food processor. The crackers should be roughly chopped, not turned into a fine powder. She uses the food processor again to chop half a bunch of celery (including the leaves) and 1 large yellow onion.
Brown some sausage. Next, my mom breaks up 1 (16-ounce) package of raw pork sausage (she likes Parks or Jones brands) and browns it in a skillet. Once cooked through, remove the sausage, then add the onion and cook until golden-brown. Toss in the celery and cook until soft. Return the cooked sausage back to the skillet.
Assemble the stuffing. Let the sausage mixture cool a bit. Add the crushed crackers along with 2 cups of whole milk. It should all hold together, but not be too dry or too wet; if you need to, add more milk in small increments.
Bake. The stuffing mixture goes right into a baking dish. Let it sit for about an hour at room temperature so the crackers have time to soak up the moisture (you can even hold it overnight in the fridge). Bake at 350°F for about 30 minutes until the top becomes golden-brown and crispy.
Further Reading
We Asked 3 Chefs to Name the Best Ice Cream, and They All Said the Same Thing
The One Cookware Brand That Gordon Ramsay Can’t Stop Talking About
