What’s the Difference Between Dressing and Stuffing?

IS there a difference between dressing and stuffing? They both just taste delicious to me.

I've been seeing a lot of posts on my Facebook lately asking "Which do you like better: Dressing or Stuffing?" And I always thought those two thing were one in the same. But according to the heated debates that happen in the comments section of these posts, I'm wrong. There are people who would go to Thanksgiving war for their belief that Dressing is greater than Stuffing or that Stuffing is greater than Dressing.

So what's the big difference?

Well, according to Julia Child's "The Joy of Cooking"....they are the same thing (ingredient wise). The only difference between the two is the way they are cooked.

Stuffing is cooked IN the turkey. (Although, sometimes you have to take it OUT of the turkey to make sure it's fully cooked. Because sometimes when the bird is done, the stuffing isn't. And you don't want an overcooked bird just for the sake of the stuffing. So the stuffing is taken out to finish cooking properly. Then you can put it back in the bird and pretend you're a wizard and everything came out perfectly the way you wanted it to in one go.)

Dressing is cooked in a pan, separately.

ALTHOUGH there are some products out there that SAY they are stuffing, but you cook them in a pan. The only thing that make it 'stuffing' is that they add more poultry seasoning so it TASTES like it was cooked in the turkey.

It's cooked in lies. That's how it's cooked. Boxed stuffing is a LIE.

So there! Mystery solved! They're made from the same ingredients, just cooked differently.

Now you can rest easy knowing this information.