Fried Dressing Patties | Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe - Hostess At Heart (2024)

Fried Dressing Patties have a tender moist center with a buttery crunchy exterior. They’re the perfect quick and easy recipe for using leftover dressing!

Fried Dressing Patties recipe is a delicious way to use up Thanksgiving dressing leftovers.

They’re quick and easy to make and are the perfect side dish for any meal. You’ll feel good about repurposing leftovers instead of throwing them out when the family refuses one more spoonful!

Our Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe is one of our most requested dishes over the holidays.

It’s a simple homemade dressing that family members request to take home so I always make plenty.

But, let’s face it you can only eat so much of it until your family is tired of it or the food police say to throw it out.

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This Thanksgiving Leftover Food Guide and FoodSafety.org are good resources on how long food can be safely stored.

Dressing is good for 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator.

We often make up an extra dish of dressing to freeze and bake when we start craving it again.

Fried Dressing Patty Ingredients

• Leftover Dressing – previously made and baked
• Egg – this binds the dressing together and allows you to shape it.
• Butter – adds flavor and allows the exterior of our patties to become crisp.

Note: This recipe can be increased very easily.

How to make this Dressing Patties Recipe

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1. Combine the leftover dressing with an egg. The egg acts as a binder and will keep your patty together. Feel free to add a couple of drops of water if it isn’t sticky enough to press together.
2. We used a 3-inch biscuit cutter to make uniformed-sized Fried Dressing Patties that are approximately 1 to 1-1/2 inches thick. You can also use a glass or any 3-inch circle. My mom just used her hands to form them like you would a hamburger patty.
3. Heat the butter in a large skillet. When hot, add the Dressing Patties and cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side. We love using a fish spatula for this task.

Thaw and Reheat

How to Store and Reheat Leftover Stuffing Patties

Last year we fried up Dressing Patties and repurposed them with some of our other leftover meals.

The best way to store Leftover Dressing Patties

The best way to store Dressing patties is in an airtight container in the refrigerator. That being said, their countdown started the day you made the stuffing. Therefore, keep the dressing or the dressing patties no longer than 3 to 4 days.

If you will not be able to eat them within that period of time, seal them in an airtight container and slip them into the freezer for up to 3 months.

There’s no need to wait for the holidays! You can enjoy delicious patties all year long. They make a great side dish and thaw out in a jiffy.

Tip: You can also freeze them before frying. Just thaw and then fry them. That will give you a nice crisp buttery exterior.

Thaw and Reheat

To thaw, either put the stuffing patties in the refrigerator overnight or thaw them in 30-second increments in the microwave. They can be re-fried in a little butter after thawing to crisp up the exterior.

Tips for the Perfect Fried Stuffing Patties

• Uniformed-sized patties will cook at the same rate.
• Make sure the butter is melted and hot in the skillet so the patties will form a crust and not just absorb the butter.
• Don’t crowd the skillet. These cook quickly so it doesn’t take long to have them all cooked up in a jiffy.
• Cook over medium-high heat.
  • If it’s too hot they will burn and not get warm in the center.
  • If it’s not high enough, it will be difficult to get that crispy exterior.
• When freezing the patties, allow them to cool completely before adding to an air-tight container. Otherwise, the exterior will not be crispy.
• Frozen Fried Dressing Patties don’t have to be thawed.
  • Just pop them into the microwave for a couple of minutes or let them sit in the refrigerator (plan ahead method).
• You can re-crisp the patties by adding them back to a hot skillet lined with a little butter or placed briefly under the broiler.

Serving Ideas

Make two patties. Top one patty with a couple slices of turkey and then top with the other patty. Fry your mini turkey sandwich and serve with hot leftover gravy.

From our friend and reader Roma

Pin this amazing Leftover Dressing recipe!

More Thanksgiving Leftover Recipes

• Leftover Turkey Casserole
• Turkey a la King
• Hot Turkey Sandwich
• Mashed Potato Patties
• Grilled Turkey & Havarti Sandwich

Don’t forget to stop back and let me know how your fried dressing patties turned out!

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• Loaded Blueberry Muffins
• Italian Sausage and Potatoes
• Shrimp Stir Fry Recipe

This post was updated to improve readers’ experience. No changes were made to the recipe.