Forget Plain Butter: Drizzle This Rich Ingredient Over Stuffing For 10x The Flavor

When it comes to the Thanksgiving feast, Americans' favorite sides include mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and of course, stuffing. Whether it comes from a box or is lovingly homemade, stuffing is a filling, savory, and surprisingly historical part of many Turkey Day spreads. And there are seemingly as many variations of stuffing as there are households in the U.S., but butter is a unifying and necessary ingredient that no version of this Thanksgiving side can go without. However, if you really want to up the richness and flavor of your next casserole dish of stuffing, forget plain old regular butter and instead try brown butter.

Brown butter is most notably used in sweet baked goods, but the golden, nutty version can truly enhance pretty much anything where regular butter is used, including savory dishes like stuffing. What it adds to your T-giving side is a sumptuous, caramelly flavor that creates a world of depth and complexity, as the sweetness of the brown butter beautifully complements all the savory ingredients in the stuffing, like the softened bread cubes, sausage (if you use any), and the fresh herbs.

Don't skimp on it, either. If you're going to use brown butter in stuffing, you'll need to start with quite a bit of butter, perhaps as much as two to three full sticks, because the flavors in your typical stuffing can be bold, and you want to be able to taste the butterscotch-y nuttiness, which pairs so well with sage and onion, or the mushroom in a classic sausage and mushroom stuffing. Even if you make a pumpkin and herb stuffing, full of warming spices and chili, brown butter will enhance the subtle sweetness of the pumpkin and the juiciness of the raisins.

If you're inspired to try using brown butter in your stuffing this year for Thanksgiving, but you've never made it before and you're a little intimidated by it, we've a few tips to get you started. First thing, the color of the pan you use matters because you'll want to keep a close eye on how dark the butter is getting — hard to do in cast iron. The choice is yours whether you use salted or unsalted butter, but you'll want to adjust the seasonings in your stuffing accordingly. It's important that you don't use too high a heat; a good medium to medium-low will do the trick. And finally, don't walk away while your butter is browning because the process is quick, and you can go from delectably golden brown with a nutty aroma to burnt and bitter in a hurry.

There are a number of ways to incorporate brown butter into your stuffing, and whichever you choose, you'll want to remove the pan off the heat as soon as the butter is ready. You might add the veggies, aromatics, and herbs directly into the brown butter pan and let those saturate and saute in the nutty goodness, then add them to the bread element. Or you can remove the brown butter from the pan and keep it aside in a bowl, saute the vegetables, add everything into the waiting bowl of butter, and toss to combine.