Enjoy Thanksgiving right in the palm of your hand! Your favorite boxed mix transforms into lightly crisped stuffing muffins packed with protein filled chicken, crisp celery and sweet cranberries. Fun to stir up with the kids for lunchboxes and snacks!
Stuffing and Dressing
Which do you call it– stuffing or dressing?
Technically, the correct word depends on the method by which it’s prepared: Stuffing means inside the turkey. Dressing means outside the turkey.
Personally, I just like to call it what it is..
Stove Top! From inside a box 😉
The best stuffing hands down. I’m sorry to all those who spend time stuffing the bird. It’s delicious, and I’ll certainly eat it. But give me the red box and I’m perfectly happy.
Stuffing Muffins
These stuffing muffins are just like they sound– stuffing baked in a muffin tin! But even better, I’ve added satisfying chicken, crunchy celery and sweet dried cranberries that nestle up against the savory boxed stuffing.
They brown and crisp up so well that it’ll have you trading the serving spoon for your hand.
Have the taste of thanksgiving comfort right at your fingertips all year round!
What Ingredients do I need?
- Boxed Stuffing (I called it StoveTop, but I just purchased a store brand for 75 cents this week!)
- Butter
- Water
- Chicken– I use canned chicken, love the convenience. However, you can use rotisserie, pre cooked or whatever you prefer
- Chopped Celery
- Dried Cranberries
How do I make?
Bypass the instructions on the back of the box and use the dry stuffing mix!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin tin with nonstick spray, melt butter
- Empty dry stuffing mix into mixing bowl and combine water and melted butter
- Add in chopped celery and cranberries, mix until combined
- Fold in canned chicken
- Pile mixture evenly into 12 muffin cups
- Using back of spoon, press mixture down into cup
- Bake until golden brown and tops are crispy
How do I serve these?
These are an easy side dish or eat 1-2 of them as a main dish! Great with:
- soups
- salads
- roast/chicken/turkey (obviously)
- in lunchboxes
- as a snack or breakfast
Can I make these ahead of time?
Making these ahead of time is a great idea for grab, reheat and go. They keep up to 4 days in the fridge in an airtight container.
You can reheat individually in microwave for 15-30 seconds or by the handful in the oven for 20 minutes on low heat.
Note: For optimal crispiness, make these right before serving.
Tips/Tricks
- substitute chicken for leftover turkey (or any other meat)
- Break up/smash canned chicken chunks into smaller pieces
- substitute apple or pear for cranberries (but remember, I didn’t have to chop these 😉
- You can use prepared stuffing
- If desired, sprinkle additional celery and cranberries on top of muffins prior to baking
My personal recommendation is using a silicone muffin tin. Hands down my favorite way to bake muffins. The muffins readily pop out and there’s hardly mess to clean.
The one that was used in this recipe can be found here. Highly recommend!
Are these healthy?
Okay, so this comes from a box and like most prepackaged items, not every ingredient may be considered “healthy.” But that’s all about how you eat it IMO. Here, we’ve added
- protein (canned chicken)
- fruit (cranberries)
- veggie (celery)
Therefore, you’re getting less of the stuffing, more of the good and just a fun way to enjoy your favorites.
And I don’t know about you, but my kids aren’t exactly over here gnawing on celery stalks so this is a really fun for them to learn about it, “taste test” and marvel at these green “kind of bumpy” sprinkles.
Enjoy!
Looking for something Similar?
You can’t have thanksgiving without corn casserole, stay tuned for that post!
In the meantime, Let’s skip to dessert:
Full Heart
If this recipe infused joy into your day, I’d love to know. Please leave a comment below! And I’d love for you to share thanksgiving with your friends and family all year round. Please tag me so I can see your muffin creations!
Thank you and God Bless you and your family this season!
Stuffing Muffins
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Muffin Tin
Ingredients
- 1 box stuffing mix 6 oz, chicken flavored
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup butter melted
- 12.5 oz canned chicken
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries and a few extra to place on top
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray pan with nonstick spray
- Toss stuffing mix with melted butter and water in large bowl
- Add celery and cranberries, mix well. Fold in chicken until combined
- Pile stuffing mixture evenly into 12 muffin tins
- Using back of spoon, press mixture into cups
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and tops lightly crispy
- Enjoy!
What size stuffing mix for this recipe?
What a great question! I used a 6 oz box of stuffing. I also updated the recipe to include this as well. Thank you!