We’re all about reducing food waste over here at Budget Bytes, so I want to make sure you’ve got plenty of options for enjoying your Thanksgiving leftovers later this week! These Leftover Stuffing Muffins have been a reader favorite since they were posted back in 2014, and since I made them again myself last week I decided to give the photos a little facelift. The recipe is the same as always, simple, delicious, and portable. ;) These tasty little savory muffins make a great grab-n-go breakfast!
Originally posted 11/29/2014, updated 11/23/2021.
What is a Stuffing Muffin?
Okay, these are basically like those little egg bites that you can get at Starbucks, but with leftover stuffing added into the mix. In addition to the eggs and stuffing, I also added leftover turkey and spinach. So it’s like little single-serving baked eggs with meat, vegetables, and stuffing. Super tasty, super portable, and the perfect make-ahead breakfast!
Choose Your Ingredients
These great little muffins are a super flexible way to combine your Thanksgiving leftovers into a “new” meal and avoid Thanksgiving burnout. The bulk of this recipe is leftover stuffing (dressing), but you can add a variety of other ingredients into the mix and make them your own. Here are some other ingredients that would taste awesome in these Leftover Stuffing Muffins:
- Chopped broccoli
- Chopped ham
- Roasted sweet potatoes or butternut squash
- Chopped green beans
- Mushrooms
- Corn
- Cheese (cheddar, brie, mozzarella, feta, goat)
Whatever you decide to add, make sure it’s chopped into small pieces!
Bake it as a Casserole
While I haven’t done this yet, you could definitely bake this as a breakfast casserole, just like a strata. This amount of ingredients would probably fit an an 8×8 or 9×9-inch casserole dish. You’ll need to bake it until the center reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF.
How Long Do They Last?
You’ll want to either freeze or eat these leftover stuffing muffins within a few days, assuming you made them the day after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, there’s no exact lifespan of dishes like this because the freshness and safety of leftovers can depend on so many different things, like how long the ingredients stayed at room temperature before they were refrigerated, the conditions within your refrigerator, and how quickly they were able to cool down once inside the refrigerator. When in doubt, play it safe!
Leftover Stuffing Muffins
Servings 12 muffinsIngredients
- 2 tsp butter (for greasing the muffin tin)
- 3 cups prepared stuffing or dressing
- 1 cup chopped turkey or ham
- 1/4 lb. frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
- 6 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp Freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin tin with butter, oil, or non-stick spray. Thaw and squeeze the spinach dry.
- Add the stuffing, turkey, and spinach to a bowl, then stir gently to combine without breaking up the stuffing too much.
- Divide the stuffing mixture between all 12 wells of the muffin tin. Leave the stuffing loosely packed in the cups so that the egg mixture can fill in around the stuffing.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper. Divide the egg mixture among the 12 wells, starting with 2 Tbsp per muffin and then adding a little bit more until all of the egg mixture has been used. The egg will not fully cover the stuffing, it will puff up as it bakes.
- Bake the muffins for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy on the top. Allow the muffins to cool slightly, then run a knife around the edges to loosen and remove each muffin. Serve warm.
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Equipment
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Leftover Stuffing Muffins – Step by Step Photos
Start by preheating the oven to 375ºF. Grease a muffin tin with butter, oil, or non-stick spray.
First, mix together your solid ingredients. This is where you can get creative. I used 3 cups of leftover herb stuffing, 1 cup of chopped Thanksgiving turkey, and 1/4 lb. of frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed dry). Whatever you use, make sure it’s chopped into small pieces and all vegetables have been cooked down to remove most of their moisture.
Gently stir the ingredients together until combined. Try not to stir too vigorously because that moist stuffing can kind of turn into a paste if stirred too much, and you want this mixture to remain chunky.
Divide the stuffing mixture between the 12 wells of a muffin tin. Do not pack the stuffing down into the well, you want there to be some empty space to be filled in with the egg mixture.
Whisk together 6 eggs, 2 Tbsp of milk or cream, 1/4 tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked pepper. Whisk until it’s really smooth to make it easier to pour into the muffin tins.
Divide the whisked egg mixture between all 12 wells of the muffin tin. To make sure you don’t run out of egg mixture, start by adding just 2 Tbsp to each well, then go back to add a little bit more to each until you’ve used all of the egg mixture. The egg will not fully cover the solid ingredients. The egg will puff up quite a bit as it bakes.
Bake the Leftover Stuffing Muffins in the preheated 375ºF oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and crispy on the edges. Let them cool slightly, then run a knife around the edges to help loosen and remove the muffins.
Allow them to cool to room temperature, then transfer to an air-tight container to store in the refrigerator or freezer. A quick zap in the microwave will make them hot and breakfast ready!
This was super yummy! My husband loved them. Easy and used up a variety of leftovers this morning. (Our Thanksgiving was Saturday!)
I was short on time and made a waffle instead—delish!
Even after three days of leftovers, these were delicious! Definitely will be making these again, even if I have to use Stovetop stuffing for it, lol. Didn’t have spinach so used green beans and it was so tasty.
These are so easy and tasty! I never would have thought to make eggy muffins with leftover stuffing! This recipe is really easy to customize too with whatever you have on hand (I had peppers and onions instead of spinach). Thanks for the inspiration!
My mom always makes way, way too much stuffing for Thanksgiving, even though Thanksgiving in our family is always just for four people- she cooks it in her giant 7-8qt slow cooker and fills it to the top, so it comes out kinda like a rich savory bread pudding. I always wind up taking home a lot of freaking stuffing, and this recipe was a great way to use up a ton of this stuffing. Plus, they freeze great! That’s work breakfasts sorted for the next couple weeks.
Protip: Dip the muffins in gravy; it really takes them over the top. ;)
I was thinking the same thing!
Very tasty and easy to make. They are nice to have around for a quick snack!
Made from leftover dressing( not stuffing, which comes from inside the bird) from Thanksgiving, this is amazing!!
I made this in a 9″x9″ dish and it turned out great! Used leftover stuffing from Thanksgiving and baked for 45 minutes. I used a 9 oz box of frozen chopped spinach and the rest as per the recipe. I will make this again next year!
What a wonderful idea for leftovers….have you ever used fresh spinach and if so did you saute it before adding it to the other ingredients ??? thanks
I haven’t used fresh spinach, but you definitely could! I think you could either sauté it first or use it fresh, since it’s not too much and shouldn’t give off too much moisture. Either way, I’d make sure to chop it first so you don’t get long stringy pieces in there. :)
While this isn’t my fave BudgetBytes recipe, it’s still filled with promise, and this morning’s variation was both very tasty and well received at my house. As a southerner–I was mostly raised in the midwest, but came south of the Mason-Dixon as soon as I could, ie college, and have spent most of my 50+ years adult years in the south–it’s cornbread dressing for us. In addition to the usual celery, onion, and herbs, I always add corn kernels, chopped pecans, sometimes chopped water chestnuts–and since my 15 years in Texas–green chilies. This morning I had delicious leftover roasted Brussels sprouts that had been tossed with olive oil, garlic, diced onion, and red bell pepper. I gave a cup of these cooked ingredients a very fine chop and tossed them in. Then a cup of shredded pepper jack cheese, although any cheddar from mild to extra sharp, or even smoked, would have been delicious. I think cooked bacon would have been the best protein choice for this mix, and crumbled breakfast sausage, which has an affinity for cornbread, next–turkey didn’t seem right, so I chopped up some deli ham. DH and house guests loved the mini- whatever they are. Not quite muffins, closer to mini stratas, and, whatever the name, a tasty and economical breakfast. I think this could also be baked in an 8-9″ pan and cut into squares.
Beth, you are a genius at developing recipes that are not only wonderful in their own right, but terrific jumping off points for creative folks on a budget. Thank you for your efforts and keep them coming. I can’t imagine losing your blog from my weekly reading. You have created so very many delicious and inexpensive meals for my household, that my thanks know no bounds.
Thank you, Janet!! And I always love reading your wonderful and informative comments, too. :) I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It worked wonderfully well for me, using leftover stuffing made from scratch. I also added 1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese. I had no problem with the muffins sticking in the muffin pan by generously applying butter all over the inside of each cavity, and loosening the muffins with a small offset spatula shortly after taking out of the oven.
I love this recipe! Â I was out of milk so used a slice of cheese. Â Had leftover mixed veggies that I cut up and added to stuffing and turkey. Â Next time I will add hot sauce or sriracha to spice it up a bit more. Â I can imagine using ham or hot sausage instead of turkey and a strictly veggie version would work just as well. Â Thanks for the ideas this is generating! Â WeÂ
Can I use paper muffin tin liners?
Sure :)
I added cooked bacon, chopped scallion and shredded sharp cheddar cheese to the dressing- did not do egg in the muffin: cooked stuffing muffins until crisp, then topped with a poached egg!
These muffins are delicious! They remind me of mini stratas. I didn’t have spinach on hand so I added chopped turkey.