Waffling Leftovers: Stuffing

Update Review, December 2019

I somehow often have leftover stuffing, and long ago discovered waffling as a fantastic way to re-use my stuffing.  You can start with my earlier reviews below to read more about my early journey into waffling stuffing.

Spoiler: it is an easy winner.

Mom's Pecan Cranberry Cornbread Christmas Stuffing.

The original was one of my absolute favorite holiday dishes: my mom's stuffing she serves for Christmas eve dinner, made with her own cornbread, plenty of tart juicy cranberries, crunchy pecans, and a classic white wine base.

I honestly can't get enough of this stuffing, and regularly eat an extremely inappropriate amount of it.  I love it hot, I love it cold, I most certainly love it straight from the container from the fridge, at *any* time of day.  Shhh, don't tell mom!

I didn't need to do anything special to it to enjoy it, but by the third day of eating yet another portion, it was time to try out the waffle iron ...

Leftover Stuffing in the Iron.

I put zero thought into my preparation technique, just heating up the waffle iron at a standard 350*, and plopping in a scoop.  I may or may not have consumed just as much of it cold as I was putting it into the waffle iron as I put in.

Crispy Stuffing!

It crisped up nicely, as I knew it would, and I dumped it onto my plate of leftovers with glee.

I failed to take a final photo, but, no question, this waffled great, and I loved the extra crunch.

Update Review, October 2017

This is an update of the exact same stuffing I previous reviewed, except, this time it started plucked from the freezer, rather than regular leftovers, because I had so much extra, I froze a bunch too.

Leftover Challah Herb Stuffing.

It transformed in exactly the same way as the original leftovers, much better than simply reheating frozen leftover stuffing.

The Original: Thawed, Previously Frozen, Leftover Stuffing.

The original was more of the same stuffing I loved before, but this time, it came from the freezer.  I had tons left over when it was fresh, and froze some immediately then, knowing that I loved it, but there was no way I'd eat it all over the subsequent few days.

I eagerly pulled it out once I was ready for stuffing again, and let it thaw in the fridge for a day.  I heated some up in the toaster oven, and was pretty sadden by the result.  It was just too soggy.  Somehow, it wouldn't crisp up, even in a hot oven.  It was mushy.  The flavor was still there, but, the freezer had done some serious damage (which actually really surprised me, I freeze bread pudding, baked goods, breads, all the time with no problems, but this just really didn't hold up).

I decided to throw the final portion into the waffle iron instead of heating traditionally, as it simply just wasn't good that way, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

Waffling ...

I didn't do anything to it, just put it in, 350 degrees, let it go for a bit.

Since it was so moist, there was lots of steam escaping from the waffle iron, which concerned me slightly, but I didn't really care.  I was going to throw it out otherwise anyway.

I let it go for about 5 minutes, and then took a peek.

Waffled Leftover Frozen Stuffing.

And ... it turned into a waffle!  It got crispy!  The mushy, sogginess was gone!

This salvaged the leftovers that would have been trash otherwise.  I liked the crispy bits, and still loved the flavors.

I have one more container full in the freezer, and there is no question how I'll be preparing the rest of it.

Original Review, January 2017

I don't know how I've failed to write this one up before.  Stuffing was one of the first things I waffled.  I really must have written this, but somehow lost it?  I have no other explanation of how I've never told you about waffling stuffing before.  I promise you, I was doing it *before* it was trendy!

(Side bar: yes, I made a Thanksgiving meal one year entirely out of waffled items.  And another year I made it look like an ice cream sundae, with a stuffing waffle as the base, and ice cream scoop of mashed potatoes on top, drizzled of gravy and cranberry sauce, etc).

Anyway, if this is your first time reading about my waffling adventures, go ahead at start with the master post.

I probably don't need to say it, but, Leftover Stuffing: Will it waffle?  YES!

The Original: Leftover Herbed Challah Stuffing.

The original was herbed challah stuffing, made with a base of challah, celery/onions/leeks/mushrooms/garlic, tons of herbs, and plenty of butter and white wine.

It was great stuffing, and I was more than happy to eat leftovers traditionally.  But on my third day of Thanksgiving leftovers, I finally waffled it ...

Midway Through Cooking.

I scooped in a big pile, and closed the lid, set to 350 degrees, and walked away for a few minutes.

I returned to find a bit of a mess.  A little stuck on top, one corner burning, and nothing really holding together.

Ooops.  I think this is likely just because the stuffing was sooo moist.

Extracted Version.

I let it go a bit longer to try to get it to hold its form better, but it just got crispier, almost burnt.  It was impossible to extract in one chunk.

It it was still tasty.  Crispy outside, moist inside, and fun to dunk into gravy.

I wish I had my photos of the better versions I've made though, because stuffing, or savory bread pudding, really do waffle wonderfully!