Wafflemania has tipped.  

Stuffing Waffles made from leftovers hit a critical mass this Thanksgiving, but it wasn't the first time we’ve heard of this savory quick fix.

As far back as 2012, Chowhound uploaded this video demonstration and in 2013, J. Kenji López-Alt posted this recipe on Serious Eats. Various iterations followed until this year, when the creation was featured on The Today Show and National Public Radio. 

This timeline provides a good insight into how ideas or trends are circulated and embraced. In this instance, the repurposing leftovers wasn’t enough to tip the scale toward widespread adoption. Stuffing waffles needed the rise of savory breakfast foods, the demand for all-day-brunch, and foods like chicken with waffles on restaurant menus across America – plus the objectification of food on social media, an inclining distaste for food waste, a cultural appetite for all things retro, and an uptick in elevated food-hacking to thrive. We weren’t able to find statistics on waffle iron sales from 2012 to present day, but we’re betting there was an increase based on the 143 products available at Williams Sonoma when you search “Waffle Iron” (there are 183 pages of entries for the same search on Amazon.com).

So we made our own version – adding a single gluten-free option to the 1000+ posts on Instagram with the hashtags #stuffingwaffle or #stuffingwaffles. As a bread flour alternative, it’s the only #polentastuffingwaffle to date and mighty tasty.

Our secret: add one egg per serving of polenta stuffing. Then top with turkey with gravy or queso fresco, homemade salsa, a poached egg, and some cilantro and enjoy.