Does Oklahoma Have Stuffing or Dressing at Thanksgiving?

While I would assume most people, the vast majority of us, rarely ever think about this traditional Thanksgiving side dish beyond how delicious it is, there is a hot debate among Oklahoma mothers and grandmas.

Are they making stuffing or dressing?

I've had the privilege to listen to this debate my entire life. Let me tell you the tale of two Southwest Oklahoma grandmas.

Meet Memaw Kellison and Nanny Stegall. Both were raised in the same town and of the same generation, yet their views on the age-old stuffing-vs-dressing debate couldn't be more different.

Just about the only thing that everyone universally agrees on is that one of the Thanksgiving sides has to be comprised of veggies, bread, herbs and spices in order to complete the biggest meal of the year. That is a universal truth... How it's prepared, however, is an unending debate.

Dressing.

Turkey dressing is made up of bread bits, veggies, and spices, then usually combined with a little veggie or chicken broth and baked in the oven like a casserole. It's gone almost as soon as it hits the table as the chewy and savory side to turkey.

Stuffing.

Stuffing is exactly the same bunch of bread bits, veggies, and spices, but instead of adding broth and baking it in a dedicated dish, it's all shoved into the cavity of a turkey and the natural juices provide the moisture.

The debate boils down to whether "stuffing" is food-safe or not.

If you've ever baked a turkey, there's a very fine line between done and overcooked. You never want to slice into your bird to find pink meat, but you also don't want it to flake apart. No amount of gravy can compensate for dry turkey.

People who stuff turkeys make a case that it eases the cooking and moisture loss of your Thanksgiving bird.

People who recoil at the thought of cooking a side inside the main dish point to the huge risk there is that you might be serving up salmonella-laced bread pudding.

I've had both with lucky results. Both were delicious and I'm not sure I could confidently say which one tasted better... Stuffing is stuffing.

The debate ended.

In a double stroke of luck, as I grew up and Thanksgiving became a smaller holiday with just the immediate family, this debate ended. My mom hates making turkey, and my dad hates eating it.

You should have been there the day all of this information came pouring out of them. It was hilarious.

Ever since, our family Thanksgiving tradition has been many things. Some years it's finger foods and football. Other years it's a taco fiesta bar that everyone universally loves so much, there's never any leftovers.

My oldest sister used to still bring a small smoked turkey when our hometown still had a stellar BBQ restaurant, but not since they closed. And Mom will still bake a ham for Dad since that's how he rolls, but he's overwhelmingly alone in his honey-glazed glory.

What do you have for your Thanksgiving tradition in Oklahoma? Stuffing or dressing?