New Orleans Oyster Dressing (Leah Chase)
Leah Chase's holiday dressing: day-old bread soaked in oyster liquor, browned ground beef and the Creole trinity cooked in butter, chopped Gulf oysters, thyme and cayenne, bound with egg and baked under seasoned bread crumbs.
Oysters have stuffed New Orleans turkeys for well over a century. Lafcadio Hearn's "La Cuisine Créole", published in New Orleans in 1885, gives an "Oyster Stuffing for Turkey" of three or four dozen oysters with bread crumbs, beef suet, eggs, mace and cayenne, rolled into cakes and fried to lay around the bird (Project Gutenberg:). The 1901 "Picayune Creole Cook Book" is quoted as saying "Oyster stuffings are favorite Creole dressings for turkeys" (via Uptown Messenger; we could not check the book itself). The late Leah Chase, whom Louisiana's official tourism site calls a New Orleans legend often known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine", made her holiday dressing with both oysters and ground beef, and the site publishes her recipe.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Leah Chase's holiday dressing: day-old bread soaked in oyster liquor, browned ground beef and the Creole trinity cooked in butter, chopped Gulf oysters, thyme and cayenne, bound with egg and baked under seasoned bread crumbs.
🇬🇧 The original
The English original is sage and onion bound with breadcrumbs and butter, cooked inside the bird or in a dish beside it. See the Sage and Onion Stuffing (Mrs Beeton, 1861) recipe.
📖 : Stuffing vs Dressing: What's the Difference? →
Why it works the kitchen science
Oyster liquor in the bread
Soaking the bread in the oysters' own briny juice spreads their flavor through every bite, not just the pieces with oyster in them.
Cook it down on the stove
Stirring the bread, beef and oysters together for 15 to 20 minutes drives off water and cooks the oysters through, so the dressing bakes up rich and set instead of soggy.
Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Drain the oysters into a bowl to catch their liquor, then coarsely chop the oysters and refrigerate them until step 4.
- Step 2
Put the bread in a large bowl, pour the oyster liquor and the water over it and let it soak until the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
- Step 3
Melt the butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground round and cook, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes, until well browned. Add the onion, celery, both peppers and garlic and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until wilted.
- Step 4
Add the soaked bread with any liquid left in the bowl and the chopped oysters. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 15 to 20 minutes, until the mixture is thick and the oysters are firm. Season with the thyme, cayenne, salt and parsley.
- Step 5
Transfer to a large bowl and cool 5 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Step 6
Quickly stir in the beaten eggs, then spread the dressing in a 13 by 9-inch pan and sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top.
- Step 7
Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown and the center reads 165°F. Rest 5 minutes and serve.
New Orleans Oyster Dressing (Leah Chase)
Serves 8 · one 13 by 9-inch pan · 1 hr 40 min total
Bread
- 10 slices day-old white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
- 2 pints fresh shucked oysters, with their liquor
- 3/4 cup water
Meat and vegetables
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter
- 1 lb ground round
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
- 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
Seasoning and binding
- 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- Salt to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup seasoned Italian bread crumbs
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Drain the oysters into a bowl to catch their liquor, then coarsely chop the oysters and refrigerate them until step 4.
- Put the bread in a large bowl, pour the oyster liquor and the water over it and let it soak until the liquid is absorbed, about 10 minutes.
- Melt the butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground round and cook, stirring often, 15 to 20 minutes, until well browned. Add the onion, celery, both peppers and garlic and cook 3 to 5 minutes, until wilted.
- Add the soaked bread with any liquid left in the bowl and the chopped oysters. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 15 to 20 minutes, until the mixture is thick and the oysters are firm. Season with the thyme, cayenne, salt and parsley.
- Transfer to a large bowl and cool 5 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Quickly stir in the beaten eggs, then spread the dressing in a 13 by 9-inch pan and sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top.
- Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown and the center reads 165°F. Rest 5 minutes and serve.
Adapted from Chef Leah Chase's "Holiday Louisiana Oyster Dressing" on Explore Louisiana (Louisiana Office of Tourism), as written (the site says 6 to 8; we call it 8). Chase's recipe is cooked on the stove and baked at 350°F for about 30 minutes; we add the 165°F check (USDA FSIS) because the eggs go in last. Louisiana Office of Tourism. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Chase dries bread slices on a sheet pan under plastic wrap for 1 to 2 days, or uses day-old bread.
- Explore Louisiana suggests checking labels for domestic oysters, preferably from Louisiana.
- Cool the mixture before adding the eggs, or they scramble.
- Shucked oysters are perishable; keep them refrigerated and use them the day you buy them.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Oyster dressing is a New Orleans invention. Disputed: Hearn's 1885 and the Picayune's 1901 books show it was a Creole favorite, but oyster stuffings also appear in other regions; Wikipedia names oysters in one traditional American Thanksgiving stuffing.
- Dressing is cooked outside the bird and stuffing inside. Disputed: Explore Louisiana's page says so; the Picayune (as quoted) calls oyster stuffings "dressings for turkeys", that is, cooked inside. See the register.
- Beef and oysters together. Documented for Leah Chase's recipe; Hearn's 1885 version uses beef suet, and many others use only oysters and bread.
- The Picayune called oyster dressing "elegant" and "recherché". Documented only through Uptown Messenger's quotation; book not checked.
Every other stuffing
Sage and Onion Stuffing (Mrs Beeton, 1861)
The Victorian English stuffing for goose, duck and pork: onions simmered until mild, chopped fine with fresh sage, worked together with bread crumbs, butter and an egg yolk, and baked in its own dish until crisp on top.
Chestnut and Pork Stuffing (Farce aux Marrons)
Whole chestnuts simmered in broth until just tender, folded into seasoned ground pork with shallots, thyme and a splash of Cognac, and baked in its own dish: the classic French stuffing for a Christmas turkey.
Artusi's Roast Chicken with Sausage and Chestnut Stuffing (1891)
Pellegrino Artusi's family stuffing of Italian sausage, chicken liver, roasted chestnuts, dried mushrooms and nutmeg, bound with egg and a little bread soaked in broth, packed into a whole chicken and roasted until the stuffing itself reads 165°F.
Lebanese Hashweh (Spiced Rice and Beef Stuffing)
Ground beef and onion browned in olive oil, seasoned with Lebanese seven-spice, cooked with basmati rice in chicken broth and finished with toasted pine nuts and parsley: served on its own or as a stuffing for turkey.
Italian-American Sausage and Fennel Stuffing
Oven-dried white bread cubes tossed with browned sweet Italian sausage, onion and fennel cooked in butter, fresh thyme, marjoram and sage, chicken broth and eggs, baked covered and then uncovered until golden.
Chinese-American Sticky Rice Stuffing
Soaked and steamed glutinous rice tossed with lap cheong (sweet Chinese sausage), onion and caramelized shiitake, seasoned with light and dark soy sauce and chicken stock, then roasted in a cast-iron skillet until the top and bottom turn crisp.
New England Sage Bread Stuffing
Dried French bread cubes tossed with onion and celery cooked in butter, sage, thyme, marjoram and parsley, chicken broth and eggs, baked covered until fragrant and then uncovered until a golden crust forms.
Southern Cornbread Dressing
A pan of cornbread baked, crumbled while hot and mixed with sausage, onion, bell pepper and celery, poultry seasoning, broth, milk and eggs, then baked in ridges with butter brushed on top until crisp outside and almost creamy inside.
Wild Rice Dressing (Minnesota)
Nutty wild rice cooked in broth, mixed with toasted bread crumbs, onion, celery, garlic, sage and thyme and a light custard of cream, eggs and the rice's own cooking liquid, baked covered until set.
Pennsylvania Dutch Potato Filling
Half mashed potatoes, half stuffing: boiled potatoes beaten with milk, eggs and parsley, mixed with onion and celery cooked in butter and buttery toasted bread cubes, and baked until crusty on top.
Weeknight Crispy Skillet Stuffing
A half-size, one-skillet stuffing for any night: baguette cubes toasted in a hot oven, soaked in broth and egg with browned onion, celery, sage and thyme, crisped on the stove and finished in the oven with a golden crust on top and bottom.
Stovetop-Style Stuffing, Inspired by Stove Top
The boxed classic made from scratch: white and whole wheat bread cut into eraser-size crumbs and dried in the oven, then stirred into a simmering pot of broth, butter, dried onion, celery and poultry seasoning, covered and left to stand 5 minutes. Inspired by, not official.
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