Popeye's Buttermilk Biscuit Stuffing Recipe

Here at Serious Eats, we've made no secret of our fascination with fast food. So when we found out about Popeye's annual turkey special—a Cajun-roasted beast of a bird—we knew we had to have it. But what's a fast food turkey without a slew of fast food Thanksgiving sides?

Our mission: Start with fast food staples. Add some real ingredients and technique. Deliver rigorously tested recipes, dosed with just the right amount of saturated fats and happy meal toys to create an epic Thanksgiving fast food meal that isn't just clever, but actually looks and tastes GREAT.

Each of our sides calls for a central ingredient from a fast food icon, gussied up with easy-to-find, easy-to-prep supermarket ingredients. And you know what? There's not a single one I wouldn't happily serve to my family and friends come Thanksgiving. After procuring the Cajun turkey and making this biscuit-based stuffing, add on the McDonald’s hash brown gratin, Chipotle corn salsa creamed corn, and feature Domino’s Cinnastix in an apple crisp dessert.

Before you get too excited, no, Popeye's does not make a golden-brown, fresh out of the fryer, deep-fried turkey to-go. What they do sell is a par-cooked and frozen Cajun-style roast turkey. Which may sound sorta gross, and doesn't exactly look stunning, but frankly tastes kind of great.

After a nice, long defrost, we followed the package instructions, which call for reheating the turkey in a roasting pan over a puddle of water, all tented with tinfoil. After the recommended hour and a half inside its silver invisibility cloak, it was definitely nice and hot—unfortunately, there was no trademark burnished skin to be had. We unwrapped the bird and continued roasting for another 30 minutes and then, in a final act of desperation, blasted it at 500°F for another 10. The skin was definitely crisper, but we think removing the foil from the start would've been a more successful, aesthetically pleasing approach.

Regardless, we were really pleasantly surprised. The splotches of darkened spices didn't make it the most stunning specimen we've ever seen, but they tasted warm and spicy. Most importantly, the meat itself was actually moist and juicy, with a dark poultry flavor, even in the breast. For the secretly lazy cook, this is a godsend.

It's not Thanksgiving without stuffing. At least, that's what most people say. But honestly, stuffing isn't my favorite dish on the holiday table. To make a stuffing worthy of my praise, it must be filled out with savory browned meats, studded with tender vegetables, and made from bread with enough texture to recall its original form—no mushiness here, if you please.

Since Popeye's flaky, tender biscuits are one of our all-time favorites, I knew they had excellent potential. And sure enough, once dehydrated in the oven, the biscuit-croutons stand up beautifully to the stock, cream, and egg mixture that gives this stuffing its decidedly custardy texture.

We also opted to beef up (actually, pork up) the recipe with sweet Italian sausage, cooking our vegetables—onion, celery, carrots, and fennel—in the meaty rendered fat. These additions can be left out or adjusted according to preference, but the seasonings of garlic, thyme, and particularly sage are essential for that classic stuffing flavor. Other than the effort of buying, cutting, and toasting the biscuits, this recipe comes together just like most stuffing assemblies—easy, moist, fluffy, savory, and delicious.