A Mini Thanksgiving Feast: Food You Eat In Sweatpants
I asked y’all a question on Instagram the other day:what food/dish intimidates you most to cook? The answer for many, which is obviously going to be top of mind this time of year: Thanksgiving dinner. And I totally get it. Cooking is one of my absolute favorite things in the world – I do it every single day, happily and possibly with a bit too much enthusiasm – and I still get overwhelmed sometimes at the thought of cooking up an entire Thanksgiving feast for 20. It’s a lot of work, and let’s be honest – no one wants to screw up a whole turkey in front of two dozen friends and or/family members. It’ll haunt you for the rest of your life.
That’s why I decided to do a little marathon mini Thanksgiving sesh earlier this week. If you watched my Instagram stories that day, you know I took y’all through each + every step in the process, from how everything was prepared to the timing of all the different components of each dish.
Also, to be completely honest, for the first time in a loooooong time, I’m not hosting Thanksgiving this year. And I don’t know if we’ve met, but that’s not ideal for me. I’m what some might call a “control freak” when it comes to Thanksgiving sides. No mushrooms in the stuffing? Not ok. If the sweet potato casserole is studded with marshmallows instead of a homemade crumble topping, it no longer exists in my world. If there are no yeast rolls, you are dead to me. This is like my Olympics, and I take my oath to my country seriously. So I needed a taste of my own traditional Thanksgiving before venturing into the unknown for the real thing next Thursday. Therefore, since this was just a random Tuesday night dinner for five, the quantities are much smaller than they’d otherwise be for the big day. Hence, this would be a great base menu for you if you’re hosting a small Thanksgiving this year.
So, without further ado, here are the full recipes I used for my little Thanksgiving practice run, including Cranberry-Cherry Sauce, The Best Damn Stuffing Ever, Sweet Potato Casserole, Crockpot Mashed Potatoes, Garlic + Sage Turkey Breast and Turkey Gravy.
My advice if you’re looking to space out the cooking in order to preserve your sanity: 2-3 days ahead: Make the cranberry sauce. 2 days ahead: Bake the cornbread, cut into chunks + leave out on the counter to dry (then you can skip the oven-drying step). 1 day ahead: Prep stuffing + sweet potato casserole (wait until 45 min before dinner to bake).
Thanksgiving Day: Make the mashed potatoes, turkey + gravy. Bake the stuffing + sweet potato casserole.
I looooove me some cranberry sauce, but this one is even better. It's the perfect mix of tart + sweet to cut all that rich Thanksgiving food.
Ingredients
¾ cup frozen cranberries
¾ cup frozen cherries
juice of 1 orange
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
add cranberries, cherries, orange juice, cinnamon + vanilla to a small saucepan + bring to a boil over medium heat, mashing every so often as the fruit softens.
once it's come up to a boil, lower heat to med-low + let simmer until the mixture thickens to a jam consistency, about 15 minutes or so. stir in maple syrup + refrigerate.
you can make this up to 3 days in advance + store in the fridge.
This sweet potato casserole is my favorite by FAR!! I love marshmallows + all, but nothing beats a crumble topping.
Ingredients
Base:
3 large sweet potatoes, cooked (I cooked mine in the crockpot on high for 4 hours, then let cool + peeled)
¼ cup butter, browned (melted in skillet until browned)
½ cup milk or cream (you can totally use nut milk or coconut milk, if you prefer)
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ tsp sea salt
Topping:
½ cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cold butter, cubed
¼ tsp sea salt
¾ cup chopped pecans
Instructions
For the base: Mash sweet potatoes or run through the food processor until smooth, then mix in butter, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, eggs + sea salt. Spoon mixture into a greased pie dish.
For the topping: Mix flour, brown sugar, butter + sea salt together with hands, mashing butter into other ingredients with fingers until it resembles large pebbles, then mix in pecans. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the sweet potatoes.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden.
I've used this stuffing recipe for YEARS - it's the stuffing that made me like stuffing. You can use whatever bread you prefer. To save time, I've even used those bags of pre-dried bread cubes you can find in the bakery section at Whole Foods around Thanksgiving time. The past couple of years, however, I've been using homemade cornbread as my bread base, so that's the version I've gone with here. If you go with a loaf of bread instead, use about one small-ish loaf, cut into cubes.
Ingredients
Cornbread:
2 slices uncured bacon
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup almond flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp sea salt
⅔ cup plain kefir or yogurt
3 tbsp butter, melted
1 egg
1 tbsp maple syrup
Stuffing:
¾ cup butter
6 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 cup brussels sprouts
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups sliced white mushrooms
1 tsp sea salt
1½ tbsp poultry seasoning
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water
Instructions
Cornbread: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 10" cast iron skillet, cook the bacon slices, then remove bacon + set aside, leaving the bacon fat in the skillet. Set skillet in the oven as it preheats, while you make the cornbread batter. Mix cornmeal, almond flour, baking soda, salt, kefir, butter, egg + maple syrup, then pour into the hot skillet + bake for 12 - 15 min, until cooked through + golden. Set aside to cool, cut into cubes, then let it dry out on the counter for a day or so before prepping stuffing. If you're shorter on time, dry out the cubes on a baking sheet in the oven at 250 degrees for about 20 - 30 minutes.
Stuffing: Melt butter in a dutch oven or large skillet + cook it until it's browned. In a food processor, pulse the celery, onion, brussels sprouts + garlic until it's a fine dice, almost minced. Add to the skillet with the browned butter + sauté a few minutes, then add mushrooms, cooking a few minutes more. Stir in salt + poultry seasoning.
Toss dried cornbread cubes with egg, then stir in veggie mixture + pour into a greased baking dish.
This is my favorite way to make mashed potatoes - it's easy + delicious with minimal hands-on time. I can just chop the potatoes quickly + toss everything in the crockpot, then mashing + seasoning takes about 2 minutes. This recipe is a godsend during a busy Thanksgiving meal prep.
Ingredients
6 russet potatoes, chopped (peeled or unpeeled - it's your preference)
2 cups chicken or turkey bone broth
6 tbsp salted butter
1 cup cream or whole milk (you can totally use unsweetened cashew milk if you prefer)
sea salt to taste
Instructions
Toss the potato chunks + broth in a 6-quart crockpot on high + cook 3-4 hours, until potatoes are cooked through.
With a potato masher, mash potatoes right there in the crockpot, then stir in butter + cream until potatoes are the consistency you prefer. Salt them to taste.
Set the crockpot to warm, then the mashed potatoes can hang out in there until you're ready to eat! If they get a bit too thick after sitting for a while, just stir in a little more broth or cream before serving.
If you're having a small Thanksgiving or you're intimidated at the thought of cooking a whole bird, this is your solution. We don't limit this to just Thanksgiving though - I make these year-round so we always have some sort of quick, easy protein in the fridge. The trick to keeping the meat moist after carving - stick those slices right back in the baking dish with all the yummy juices that accumulated during cooking.
Ingredients
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for greasing baking dish
¼ cup chopped fresh sage
10 cloves garlic, peeled + minced
1 (3 to 4 lb) bone-in, skin-on turkey breast
sea salt to taste
Instructions
preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
pat turkey breast dry with paper towels (this ensures a golden, crisp skin) + set in a baking dish drizzled with olive oil. sprinkle turkey breast with sea salt.
mix olive oil, sage + garlic, then rub all over turkey breast, getting some under the skin as well.
bake for 10 minutes, just to start the skin crisping, then reduce heat to 325 + roast an hour or so, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the breast reads 165 degrees.
remove from oven + let it rest at least 10 minutes before carving.
slice + put slices right back into the baking dish with the juices, reserving some of the drippings for the gravy as well.
Homemade gravy elevates absolutely everything it touches. I basically just drench my entire plate with gravy any time it's an option and I'm not being too closely watched by my fellow diners. It's super easy too.
Ingredients
¼ cup fat drippings from the turkey roasting pan
2 cups turkey bone broth
2 tbsp corn starch
poultry seasoning to taste
sea salt to taste
Instructions
In a small saucepan, heat the fat drippings over medium heat, then stir in broth + bring to a simmer.
Whisk 3 or 4 tbsp of water with cornstarch (this is called a slurry), until it resembles cream, then while stirring the broth, slowly drizzle it into the saucepan. the broth will thicken immediately. Bring it back up to a simmer. If it's still too thin, add more slurry; if it gets too thick, add more broth.
Season to taste with poultry seasoning + sea salt.
