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National Stuffing Day

Food · November 21

A food day for stuffing, the savory mix of bread, herbs and broth that is baked inside a bird or in its own pan on the side.

National Stuffing Day falls on Saturday, November 21, 2026. That is 25 days away.

Stuffing starts as bread that has gone a little stale. Cut into cubes, softened with broth and butter, and mixed with onion, celery and herbs, it turns into something soft in the middle and crisp at the edges.

The name comes from the old habit of packing the mix inside a roasting bird. Plenty of cooks now bake it in a separate dish instead, and many call that version dressing. The argument over which word is right tends to follow regional lines, and it rarely ends.

The recipes vary just as much. Cornbread is a favorite base in the South. Some families add sausage, others add oysters, chestnuts, apples or dried cranberries. Sage and thyme show up in most of them, and their smell is often the first sign that someone is making it.

Marking the day is mostly a matter of cooking a batch when nobody expects it. Stuffing works well next to roast chicken or pork chops, and it does not need a holiday table to make sense. Leftovers can be pressed into a hot skillet until they form a crust, which some people think is the best way to eat it.

If you buy a boxed mix, it is fine to treat it as a starting point. A handful of sauteed mushrooms or a little extra celery changes it more than you might expect.

Ways to celebrate

• Make a small pan of stuffing to go with an ordinary weeknight dinner.
• Try a cornbread base if you usually use white bread.
• Ask a relative how their family makes stuffing and write it down.
• Fry leftover stuffing in a skillet until the outside turns crisp.
• Settle the stuffing versus dressing question at your table, or try to.

Dates

All national days on November 21

Also on November 21

• National Gingerbread Cookie Day
• Alascattalo Day
• False Confession Day

Categories: Food days