Why am I devoting an entire post to a Thanksgiving side dish? I wish I could tell you. It’s been on my mind? Also, I wanted to make sure that I don’t forget exactly what I did to MAKE THE GREATEST STUFFING OF ALL TIME.

Before you lash out at me, please understand that I fully comprehend the beauty of cooking from scratch. However, there are times when certain foods simply do not need to be make from scratch. And this baby is one of them…

Yes, boxed stuffing. This stuff is magical when you add the right accoutrements. Some personal additions that I love to add are caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms together (if you’re avoiding meat). But if you aren’t avoiding meat? The most heavenly idea is to buy unchopped (get the kind you need to slice yourself) pancetta. And then?

Cook the pancetta in a pan big enough to hold the boxed stuffing.
Once the pancetta is done, add the stuffing, one cup of chicken stock or broth and one or two tablespoons of butter and follow the remaining instructions on the box.
Eat it by the handful.

I swear to you, it’s insanely good. And if you’re looking to do something with any leftover stuffing the following day, I found this incredible recipe for stuffing muffins that is just wildly good (why they weren’t called stuffin’ muffins, I’ll never know). You could eat those with gravy or cranberry sauce, but if you want to go one step better I’d recommend making this cranberry butter to go on top.