Poultry stuffing often consists of breadcrumbs, onion, celery, spices, and herbs such as sage, combined with the giblets. Additions in the United Kingdom include dried fruits and nuts (such as apricots, hazelnuts, flaked almonds), and chestnuts. Globally, rice is a very common stuffing and is found in Asian, African and American cooking styles.

It is not known when stuffings were first used. The earliest documentary evidence is the fourth century Roman cookbook, Apicius' De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (a cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other types of offal.

Names for stuffing include "farce" (c 1390 CE) in the form yfarced (ie that has been stuffed; two recipes from the Forme of Cury), "stuffing" (1538), "forcemeat" (1688), and more recently in the United States, "dressing" (1850).

In addition to stuffing the body cavities of animals, including birds, fish, and mammals, various cuts of meat may be stuffed after they have been deboned or a pouch has been cut into them. Recipes include stuffed chicken legs, stuffed pork chops, stuffed breast of veal, as well as the traditional holiday stuffed turkey or goose.

Many types of vegetables are also suitable for stuffing, after their seeds or flesh has been removed. Tomatoes, capsicums (sweet or hot peppers), and vegetable marrows such as zucchini may be prepared in this way. Cabbages and similar vegetables can also be stuffed or wrapped around a filling. They are usually blanched first, in order to make their leaves more pliable. Then the interior may be replaced by stuffing, or small amounts of stuffing may be inserted between the individual leaves.

Purportedly ancient Roman, or else Medieval, cooks developed engastration recipes, stuffing animals with other animals. An anonymous Andalusian cookbook from the 13^th century includes a recipe for a ram stuffed with small birds. A similar recipe for a camel stuffed with sheep stuffed with bustards stuffed with carp stuffed with eggs is mentioned in T. C. Boyle's book Water Music. Multi-bird-stuffed dishes such as the turducken or gooducken are contemporary variations; though they are all predated by the British stuffed goose: a goose stuffed with a chicken, a duck, a pigeon and a woodcock.

Almost anything can serve as a stuffing. Many American stuffings contain a starchy ingredient like bread or cereals, usually together with vegetables, ground meats, herbs and spices, and eggs. Middle Eastern vegetable stuffings may be based on seasoned rice, on minced meat, or a combination thereof. Other stuffings may contain only vegetables and herbs. Some types of stuffing contain sausage meat, or forcemeat, while vegetarian stuffings sometimes contain tofu or mushrooms. Roast pork is often accompanied by sage and onion stuffing in England; roast poultry in a Christmas dinner may be stuffed with sweet chestnuts. Oysters are used in one traditional stuffing for Thanksgiving. These may also be combined with mashed potatoes, for a heavy stuffing. Fruits and dried fruits can be added to stuffing including apples, apricots, dried prunes, and raisins. In England, a stuffing is sometimes made of minced pork shoulder seasoned with various ingredients, such as sage, onion, bread, chestnuts, dried apricots, and dried cranberries. The stuffing mixture may be cooked separately and served as a side dish. This may still be called stuffing or it may be called dressing. Meat mousses (mousseline) is a common forcemeat in France.

Vegetables are also stuffed, with potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes and bell peppers being popular options (known as Petits Farcis in France).