Southern Oyster Stuffing
Try Oyster Dressing for a Rich and Delicious Holiday Treat
Even people who do not like oysters find that oyster dressing is delicious. The oysters add a richness to the stuffing and a faint but not overpowering flavor.
If you live along the east coast, particularly in the southern states, you probably have tried or have made oyster dressing for the holidays. Perhaps you had some extra special stuffing and then asked around and discovered that it was oyster dressing.
Oyster dressing is a favorite holiday dish served either stuffed in the turkey or baked in a pan and cut into squares. Most southerners also pour gravy over the oyster stuffing before eating it.
It’s not hard to make oyster stuffing. The only real difference is that oysters are boiled and chopped to add to the stuffing mixture before baking. The rich oyster juice reserved may also be used in place of or for part of the milk used to moisture and bind the bread and seasonings.
Oyster Dressing Recipe (or Oyster Stuffing)
- 1 pint oysters (drained with oyster juice saved)
- ¾ cup butter or margarine melted
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp poultry seasoning
- ¼ tsp pepper (fresh ground is very good)
- 2 quarts bread crumbs (or about 8 cups)
- ¾ cup milk (or combination of milk and oyster juice to equal ¾ cup)
- ½ cup chopped celery
- ½ cup chopped onion
Directions:
- Drain oysters and save the juice
- Check oysters and remove any shell traces.
- Boil oysters in water (or the juice is you wish) for 2 to 4 minutes or just until the edges begin to curl.
- Chop oysters and put aside.
- Melt butter or margarine on low and add the seasonings (salt, poultry seasoning, pepper) and stir into butter.
- Put the bread crumbs in a big bowl and add chopped oysters and butter mixture and toss.
- Splash milk around over the bread mixture and add celery and onions.
- Stir until mixed but do not mash the bread mixture up. It should be loose but pretty evenly mixed up.
- Just before baking a turkey, loosely put the stuffing in the cavity of the bird. Or put the stuffing in a baking dish and bake for an hour 325 degrees F. If the turkey is small, there may be enough dressing to stuff the bird and to make a small pan of baked oyster stuffing.
For more information on baking a traditional oven baked turkey for the holidays, check out these Baked Turkey Directions and Tips.
Another favorite southern dressing is Cornbread Stuffing. It's often baked in a pan and is made in addition to the white bread stuffing with or without oysters.
If you're not quite up to trying Oyster Dressing but want to make a richer white bread stuffing, then check out Sausage White Bread Stuffing. It's a very tasty dressing and especially good with spicy sausage.
