Walk into any grocery store during the holiday season and you’ll find an array of instant stuffing mixes displayed on an endcap. This modern marvel has been a staple for busy home cooks for decades, transforming from astronaut food into a fluffy side dish in a flash. But my favorite use for stuffing mix isn’t stuffing at all—it’s meatballs.
It all comes down to something called a panade. In the simplest terms, a panade is a mixture of soaked bread crumbs or chunks of bread. These breadcrumbs are mixed with milk, stock, or water to create a paste. Sometimes this mixture gets squeezed to remove excess moisture, other times it’s used in all its soggy glory. When combined with ground meat to make meatballs or meatloaf, the mixture prevents protein fibers from becoming too tight, resulting in a tender texture. This is especially helpful when paired with lean ground meats that tend to dry out quickly, like turkey, chicken, or veal. This recipe uses that classic technique, swapping out breadcrumbs for instant stuffing.
Unlike plain breadcrumbs—which are just that, plain—instant stuffing mix is loaded with herby seasonings. Depending on the brand, this could include dried veggies (like carrots or celery), herbs (like sage or thyme), and spices (like dried onion or garlic). Adding this mixture to ground turkey results in a bold meatball cramming all the flavors of Thanksgiving into a bite-sized package. You don’t need to add much else to end up with something perfectly seasoned.
As for what kind of stuffing mix to use: Last year, the Bon Appétit test kitchen did a taste test, and we have a lot of thoughts. Stove Top’s Savory Herb variety is a great pick that’s loaded with dried celery, parsley, garlic, and several seasonings. But other Stove Top varieties such as sage, chicken, or turkey would also work well. If you’re using a large bag of stuffing mix (such as Pepperidge Farm brand) in lieu of the classic six-ounce box, just measure out 2½ cups of the dried mixture to make these meatballs.
I like to pair the meatballs with tender greens beans and potatoes, cooking everything on a couple sheet pans. Serving the lot with a sweet-tangy cranberry sauce makes the ultimate feast with little effort and clean up. It’s a win for a festive weeknight dinner, a stress-free Friendsgiving, or a small-group Thanksgiving.
That all said, these meatballs would also be great with tomato-sauced spaghetti or a salad and crusty bread. They’re too delicious to make only in autumn, so it’s a good thing that stuffing mix is available all year.
