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!
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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
- Muffin Pan
- Whisk
- Measuring Cups Spoons
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!
Gosh, Beth – these look scrumptious! Unfortunately, as we Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving well over a month ago, leftovers are merely a fond memory. And with Xmas still a month away…looks like it’s a rotisserie chicken, and a new batch of stuffing for me. But stuffing is never bad – though it should only be consumed on days ending in y. Right? RIGHT??? 🤣
Thanks for the recipe, and Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and your team members!
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! You’ll just need to bookmark this one for next year. ;)
I had left over stuffing..that never happens lol
Found your recipe and made it twice, Soooo Good!!
Made it without the meat the second time and they were still yummy.
A keeper, Thanks :)
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!
This is a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing!
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! I was out of milk so used a slice of cheese. Had leftover mixed veggies that I cut up and added to stuffing and turkey. Next time I will add hot sauce or sriracha to spice it up a bit more. I can imagine using ham or hot sausage instead of turkey and a strictly veggie version would work just as well. Thanks for the ideas this is generating! We
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.
The recipe was perfect. I used chopped leftover green beans (nice crunch)and other meats for the turkey. What’s so terrific about this recipe is it gives you the proportions and method you need and you can make changes from there. I was also glad that it didn’t rely on cheese which practically every breakfast casserole (type) recipe has. I “repurpose” leftovers religiously so I like having a new option!
Oops! I poured the egg mixture into the dressing turkey mixture, then added 1/2 cup cubed cranberry sauce. Didn’t use any spinach. This was delicious! Next time I’m adding chopped collard greens and Mac and cheese.
This is a terrific and flexible recipe! We had oyster/sausage/rye bread stuffing for thanksgiving and it worked perfectly. I added a little sour cream and mozzarella cheese to the mixture and substituted 4 TBSP of egg white for 2 of the eggs. Baked for 30 minutes in an Xlarge muffin tin and they came out beautifully!
This ended up being really great. I didn’t have spinach , so i chopped up the ends of some leftover dark butter lettuce and it still worked out. I was not really paying attention while i was cooking and somehow missed the milk bit–so i poured in just a tiny tad bit to each muffin . I think the milk ‘resaturated’ the stuffing mix, which was needed. I sprayed my tins pretty well with the veg oil spray–but still got stuck. Maybe either more butter in the mix or just straight up buttering the pans would have been better. My hope is to freeze these, so that when I need small portions of stuffing… ta da!
ALSO Forgot to mention: 1. I made 7 muffins, used 3 eggs. Splash of milk on each muffin as an afterthought. Wish I added some cheese. I was using Stovetop Stuffing – Chicken version… and these came out tasting just like chicken pot pie. Cannot say I was sad about that! My toddler even ate them. They didn’t puff up, but they did cook. I used significantly less chicken than shown (leftovers.) Thanks again!
Loved this recipe!!! I cut it in half to make 6 muffins instead of 12 and turned out beautifully. Thanks you so much for posting this!!!
Happy to hear it worked to half it!
Great recipe! Used leftover stuffing and following another suggestion, replaced milk with nonfat plain. Greek yogurt and added some shredded cheese. Delightful little individual portions with lots of flavor and lovely texture. Thanks!
Great to know that the yogurt will work! Thanks for sharing Melanie.
These were a bit overly eggy at the bottom for me. It’s a great idea, though, and I think that next time I’d halve the eggs, add in shredded cheese, and toss all the ingredients gently before spooning into the muffin tin.
Sorry to hear that Monica! Let us know how it goes next time.
I am a dietitian and I am using this recipe (and citing you of course ☺️) in my cooking class this week!!! Amazing!
Thanks Aubrey!
Had four cups of stuffing so used an extra egg, sour cream in place of milk, and lefft out the spinach (we didn’t have any on hand). OMG were they ever good!
Oh man sour cream?!? YUM!!!🤤
I had leftover stuffing from a pork chop meal so I thought I’d try this. I just used the stuffing and the eggs with milk and s&p (no added meat or veggies). I used mini tins. I went down to 350° for 25 minutes. Perfect!!! I served them as appetizers for superbowl. These are really good. I am going to start making these and serving them with our dinner meals. The minis just pop into your mouth like popcorn. (I can wait to bake my next ham to try it as an addition.) TY for sharing the recipe.
Add some parmesan cheese.
Can these be Prepared and refrigerated overnight and baked in the morning?
That would probably work. :) You may need to increase the cooking time by a few minutes since everything will be very chilled when going into the oven.
I would save adding the egg until you’re ready to put in the oven because It’s going to absorb completely into the stuffing.
That’s what I did: got everything ready in the muffin tin, and had a separate bowl with the milk and egg that I poured in when I was ready to put it in the oven. I did let everything come to room temperature.
was going to try some stuffing waffles but the wife liked these so much the rest of the stuffing went into another batch! skipped the spinach, subbed 1tbsp yogurt and 1 tbsp orange juice for the milk, used mostly turkey and a bit of ham, and added some diced red pepper for the second batch.
Will definitely be keeping this recipe on hand for every “post turkey’ leftover cook-off!
Taste great. About to make batch number 2. No need to look for another recipe. Thanks
Loved these! Just stuffing, turkey, mozzarella cheese. Can’t wait too try some of the comment suggestions
My family does not generally eat leftovers unless I can really transform them into something else. This recipe did the trick and allowed for a lot of creativity with leftovers. I used everything as called for in the recipe and also added in the leftover carrots too. My husband declared they were his favorite leftover ever.
My family is not big on eating leftovers unless I recreate it into something new and this recipe works like a charm for that. I used all of the items from the recipe and threw in the cup or so of carrots that were left from dinner. These are perfect for a quick breakfast.
Although everyone raves about my stuffing THAT day – no one eats the leftovers… until now! THANK YOU, BETH! I doubled the recipe and almost have none left – despite my 13-yr-old coming home from school, bending over the muffins and sniffing (rather loudly) before asking for left-over hot dogs. (sheesh). However, after people started eating “dinner” (yes, we had it for dinner – I didn’t want the leftovers in the fridge any longer), there were comments like: “Wow! This is REALLY good!”…. “This is the BOMB!”….. “How many do I get?”… “May I have some more?” I made two muffin trays and a small bread pan tray that has 8 small loaves. We’re almost done with the second muffin tray. My husband works nights and will be up to eat soon – hopefully we’ll have some left over to freeze – but I’m not holding my breath. That’s 4 kids who love them. So much for stuffing left-overs. Thanks to you, Beth, I know what to do from now on!!!
I’m glad they were such a hit!! :D
We didn’t have any spinach so we went with leftover green bean casserole. It is amazing. I was impressed.
In the oven now, I used stovetop cornbread dressing, cut up left over Turkey breast, onions, a little sage, rosemary and parmesan cheese, smells delicious, can’t wait to try…will be updating shortly.
What a fantastic recipe!! I made mine with rye bread dressing, my leftover green beans, mushrooms, Brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes and ham. Family thought it was a little crazy, but LOVED them when they came out of the oven. Thanks!!!
These are in the oven now. I used frozen broccoli that I pulsed in the food processors I also added 1/3 cup salsa and 4tbs cranberry sauce to the eggs and milk. Fingers crossed!
This recipe has been the best base for my go-to make-ahead breakfast bites!! I am absolutely awful in the mornings, and hate to make myself food but NEED the protein in the morning – and I usually hate eggs. But the flavors & textures in these little muffins fix my every issue with the usual eggs! I make mine with pre-packaged diced ham, Stove Top stuffing, and then some good old shredded cheddar. Keeps me full, happy, and away from McDonalds on my drive to work :)
I did have issues with the eggs sticking to my pans each time but now I have silicone muffin tins and they work MUCH better! Cheers <3
I have made these for years! Don’t forget that you can add gravy ( not too much) or even cranberry sauce! If you run out of stuffing use mashed potatoes with eggs mixed in. Spray your muffin pans and put the mashed potato mixture in building up around the sides but leaving a well in the middle. Prebake about 15-20 minutes so it gets a crust then add leftovers. Yummy!
I love that idea!
Niet in het nederlands.
Beetje jammer.
Went way into left field with these trying to kill leftovers and they were still amazing! Substituted 8 egg whites that were left over from a pound cake I made, I also subbed frozen brussels sprouts that I thawed and squeezed because that is what we had in the freezer. Threw a little cheese on top for good measure. They were delicious and my three small children devoured them.
This looks great! I don’t have frozen spinach, but I do have some fresh kale. Do you think that would work?
You’ll probably want to sauté the kale down in a skillet until it’s tender first. :)
I was wondering how these are for freezing? I’m planning to make up some freezer meals with Thanksgiving leftovers for my son to take back to college. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
I froze some and they were great. I like to wrap each one in plastic (either plastic wrap or the thin fold-top type sandwich bags), then put them all in a gallon sized freezer bag.
I love this recipe. I have been making breakfast casseroles. I also have many different breads that I have been cubing up and then mixing together, freezing until I need. I add peppers, green scallions. I use deyhdrated eggs in a bag and add a little salsa and mix then add to mixture. Came out great. I am also going to try this with my hash browns, Oh and adding ham or sausage would make it even better. Again like many other comments you can just go through your fridge and add almost whatever you want to this recipe and it will turn out great.
I work for a housing facility and on a tight budget and the residents love hot breakfast.
My husband loves these. Such a simple and tasty dish. What a great idea Beth. Followed the recipe but I’m thinking next time I’ll substitute precooked sausage crumbles for the turkey/ham.
My only problem is, my family NEVER allows left over stuffing! Seriously, they hoover it. I *love* this idea, just trying to figure out how I can do it w/out actual stuffing. Any suggestions?
I think you’d pretty much have to make a separate batch of stuffing. The flavor of the stuffing adds a lot to this dish! :)
Make extra stuffing. My favorite stuffing is boxed (high quality) stuffing, not the generic stuff, with lots of onion and celery added. I also like to add chopped pecans, but my family doesn’t like that.
Take this stuffing (which you have NOT made available to your family and make the stuffing’ muffins.
Thanks Beth! I LUV your blog. I made these last night and they are amazing. What a GREAT idea.
As organized as I am, in the morning I am always running late for some reason, and DO NOT have time to cook every morning before work. I usually make a nice breakfast on the weekends and stick to oatmeal during the week. I LUV oatmeal, but am tired of it every day. Last night, I made your egg burritos and your stuffin muffins, and froze them, so that I have options now for the next few weeks.
This is so flexible. I made 12 with ham and 12 with sausage. I also threw in some chopped onions I had in the freezer and fresh herbs that were 2 days to be tossed. I suppose you can use this recipe and add in whatever you have in your fridge that needs using up. I don’t understand when I read the statistics about food waste in America. Nothing goes to waste in my house. And this is a perfect recipe for using up pretty much anything before it needs tossing.
I wound up flash freezing them on a cookie sheet and putting them in a few plastic containers in the freezer. Is that what you do? And do you defrost them while you sleep, or do you microwave them straight from the freezer?? Also, how many of these do you eat for breakfast?
Thanks again for the terrific blog. I read it everyday! LUV it!
I think you can microwave them straight from the freezer because they’re so small (they will defrost/heat quickly). Some mornings I ate one, some I ate two, just depending on how hungry I was!
This recipe is great!
As to the poster who doesn’t understand how anyone has food waste… they should let my husband shop for them.
He is adept at bringing home day-old bread and at expiration milk/eggs. Lol, I can only cook so much for the two of us. Back in the day when we had three kids we didn’t have time to figure out how to cook all these odd ends and pieces. Thank goodness for the Internet, and blogs, not to mention a big freezer!
This is a great idea! I’ll definitely be trying this! My favorite way to use up leftovers is in a Thanksgiving Burrito! I put in a bunch of different leftovers like turkey, stuffing, corn, and cranberries in a tortilla and then dip them in gravy for a sauce! My favorite burrito place does this around the holidays!
It says to liberally grease pan, which I did, still stuck and ruined my bran new pan
Try using crisco.
Brilliant egg mcmuffin idea! we don’t have any turkey stuffing but the next time i have leftovers I’ll clean it up with this. :)
Thankyou sooooooo much! I’m one who is tasked with making the dressing for the entire family at thanksgiving. Even after giving away leftovers to my sisters’ families and parents I’m left with a ton of leftovers (all the recipes makes a huge amount. I’m the only one in my immediate family that will eat dressing, which isn’t great by itself, everyone always eats all the turkey and other sides. So it normally ends up in the trash. Makes me feel so wasteful. Just made these tonight and hid the fact I was using the dressing. I called them egg things. :) they all love them! Thankyou so much now I can use up the only leftovers no one wants.
Hahaha “egg things” :)
Man. Dressing is the only part of turkey dinner that I really love. Like, love so much that I just make it any time of the year. You can send me all your extras ;)
Stuffing I make made w day old corn bread (not corn
Bread cake) and is packed with a lot of veggies (corn, onion, celery, minced clams, mushrooms, garlic, saluted piñon nuts) and the none-stuffing lovers eat it up!
I double the recipe and make breakfast muffins such as these the next day.
I’m a newbie to your blog, and I LOVE it! I have made several of your recipes, and they are amazing. I appreciate that your price breakdown is realistic, your recipes use real food, and are really simple to follow! Thank you!!! And as for this post, I’m so sad that we don’t have any turkey day leftovers to make these! They sound delish!
Yum! Talk about simple to make and delicious! I’m such a huge fan of stuffing. I never thought of using it in a muffin to make for breakfast. Perfect for the breakfast-on-the-go. I ate it with an apple for a complete meal.
Love this idea! I think I’ll double it for future breakfast on the run! Your amazing! Thank you!
Man, I was about to throw that stuffing out. Great idea! I made cornbread stuffing this year with sausage in it so I just added a little cheese and they turned out awesome.
I only had stuffing left over so I pulled some Italian sausage from the freezer and cooked it up. I added parmesan and red bell peppers also. This was a great idea and so delicious too! Thank You!
Awesome idea! Stuffing is my favorite.
Ooh, I am glad somebody else makes these. :) You can mix the eggs in with the other ingredients so you can better see how much to fill the muffin cups. I also like to add onion and cheese to mine. (I make omelette cups all the time since they are so easy and filling.)
These were a great way to eat leftovers in a different way. I wish I had added some cheese and bell peppers to mine since my stuffings was a little bland.
I made stuffing with the honey wheat bread this year. I might try this, but it’s already so good on it’s own, I don’t think I want to fiddle with it.
Great idea! I’d try it but I have a lot less stuffing leftover to whip this up. That said, this morning for breakfast I whipped up some quick croquettes with them – about a cup of stuffing, third cup of shredded turkey, one egg, salt and pepper to make four small cakes. Fry up a couple eggs and put them on top for a benedict-inspired alternative for those of us with only a little stuffing left.