What's The Best Way To Fix Soggy Stuffing?

Thanksgiving dinner is a lovely (not to mention delicious) event. Spending time with your loved ones and enjoying amazing foods together while you recount the good fortune you've had over the past year is irreplaceable. That said, it's also a lot of work, which leaves plenty of room for Thanksgiving hosting mistakes, like adding too much liquid to the stuffing. Fortunately for you, it is possible to salvage soggy stuffing.

There are two main methods for fixing soggy Thanksgiving stuffing. Each one has their pros and cons. The first method (and the one that gets our vote) is to simply bake the stuffing a little longer. Spread it on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes to dry the ingredients out a bit. The high surface area produced by distributing the stuffing across the pan will help it quickly heat up and evaporate the extra moisture. It's a bit tricky since you will have to watch the stuffing carefully to keep it from burning or drying out too much, but it doesn't use up more ingredients or water down your dish.

Why is this method the best, in our opinion? It might take a little longer than other options, but it's worth it to keep your stuffing full of flavor. Bread for stuffing needs to be dried out anyway, so if you already need to dry it in the oven, you might as well skip the middle man. This method is also better if you used all the stuffing ingredients on the initial batch.

Of course, that's not the only way to salvage your stuffing. The second best way is to simply add more dry ingredients. Take more breadcrumbs, cornbread, or whatever composes your stuffing and mix it in to absorb the excess moisture. This is simpler and easier, but it can also dilute the flavor of the dish, which is why we favor the baking method. This way also uses more ingredients, which isn't ideal with the price of Thanksgiving sides routinely going up.

Then again, if you do have more ingredients on hand and don't mind making more stuffing, absorbing the extra liquid with dry ingredients could work for you. This trick could be better if you want to avoid tying up the oven with a dish that's already mostly done, and you can reasonably add more seasonings to prevent the flavor from being diluted. Just be mindful not to overcompensate. If you're not careful, you could add too much bread and make it dry, or use too many seasonings and ruin the stuffing entirely.

Of course, the absolute best way to fix soggy stuffing is to not let it happen in the first place. To prevent soggy stuffing, use in properly dry bread that can absorb liquids better. Stale bread is great for exactly this reason. Also, add the liquids a little at a time. Add some, stir it in, then give it a break to let it soak into the dry bread before adding more.