Old-Fashioned Southern Giblet Dressing

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 06/10/21
Giblet dressing recipe

The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 45 mins
Total: 60 mins
Servings: 8 servings

After you thaw the turkey, don't toss the package of giblets inside the cavity—despite their unappealing look, giblets can be an essential part of a flavorful Thanksgiving meal. Not only can the giblets—which consist of heart, liver, gizzard, and neck—be used to make gravy, they also pump up the flavor of old-fashioned Southern dressing.

What's the difference between dressing and stuffing? The names might give you a clue. The dressing is cooked outside the turkey, while stuffing is cooked inside the bird. However, in many locations, the terms are used interchangeably, though both are nearly always referred to as "dressing" in the South.

Ingredients

  • Giblets from 1 turkey

  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish

  • 1/2 cup chopped onion

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped celery

  • 1 cup pecans, chopped

  • 8 cups dry breadcrumbs (about 14 slices of bread)

  • 1 teaspoon seasoned salt or celery salt

  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for giblet dressing
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  2. In a saucepan, combine giblets, but not the liver, with enough water to cover and salt.

    Combine giblets
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic 

  3. Cover and simmer for about 2 hours, until tender.

    Cover and simmer
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  4. Add the liver from the giblets; cover and simmer for 25 minutes longer. Cool giblets and broth slightly.

    Add the liver
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  5. Remove and chop giblets; set aside and reserve 1 cup of the broth.

    Remove and chop giblets
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  6. Preheat oven to 350 F.

  7. Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion and celery until tender. In a large bowl, combine the vegetable mixture with the pecans, breadcrumbs, chopped giblets, seasoned salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Add reserved broth, tossing lightly to moisten.

    Combine vegetable mixture with breadcrumbs
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  8. Spoon into a buttered 2-quart baking dish. Cover tightly and bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes.

    Put in casserole dish
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

  9. Serve and enjoy!

    Serve
    The Spruce / Katarina Zunic

Tips

  • The best stuffing is made with stale bread, as it keeps the dressing from becoming mushy. Pull out the bread three to four days in advance and let it dry out on the counter. If you don't have enough time, cut the bread into cubes, arrange it on a baking sheet, and toast it in the oven set to 200 degrees F.
  • It's easy to overseason the dressing when you're using store-bought stock and salted butter. Take care not to oversalt the dressing using regular kosher or sea salt.
  • The amount of stock to use in the dressing varies, so add a little bit at a time until it seems right. The dressing should be moist—not soggy and not dry. Pour in a half-cup of liquid and watch to see if the bread absorbs it.
  • Don't add too many extra ingredients. The bread works as a binder, but if there are too many extras in there, the stuffing will fall apart.

Recipe Variations

  • In-the-turkey stuffing: Instead of spooning the dressing into a baking dish, it can be stuffed inside a 10- to 12-pound turkey and bake for 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 hours, until a thermometer inserted into the stuffing reaches 165 degrees F. Keep in mind, when you're cooking stuffing inside the turkey, food safety is of utmost importance.
  • Cornbread dressing: Replace the dry breadcrumbs with stale cornbread crumbs.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
375 Calories
24g Fat
29g Carbs
12g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 375
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 24g 31%
Saturated Fat 9g 44%
Cholesterol 154mg 51%
Sodium 510mg 22%
Total Carbohydrate 29g 10%
Dietary Fiber 3g 11%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 12g
Vitamin C 1mg 5%
Calcium 98mg 8%
Iron 3mg 17%
Potassium 198mg 4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)