Turkey Recipes and Other Thanksgiving Tips
I've cooked turkeys quite a few different ways and have rarely had a bad one. Just recently I tried cooking a turkey covered in cheesecloth soaked in butter and wine. Yum! It came out moist and the skin was perfect! Another option is to turn it while roasting.
How big of a turkey should you buy?
If you're not sure how big of a turkey to buy, use the Butterball tturkey calculator. We tend to go large because we like the leftovers so much for turkey sandwiches, soup, turkey enchiladas, and more.
Get the facts from the USDA on how to thaw and cook turkeys.
Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Tips
Anyone hosting Thanksgiving is sure to be thinking about what they can do ahead of time.
Dessert first: Make pies a day ahead. We often serve apple pie, cherry pie, and pumpkin pie.
Mashed potatoes: Make them the day before Thanksgiving. Mash them with a bit of cream cheese or sour cream or even yogurt. See my recipes for Potatoes Romanoff. Alternately, make them in the morning your normal way. Butter your crockpot and add the mashed potatoes. Leave covered on low until ready to serve.
Roasted Root Vegetables: Select a few of your favorites from carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, rutabagas, onions and turnips and cut them into 1" cubes, then mix a bit of oil and herbs with them. Put them in a covered container or sealed bag until the turkey comes out of the oven, turn the heat up and roast these while you make the gravy and carve the turkey.
Beet salad with yogurt sauce: Make this the day before and just pull it out when you're setting the table.
Sweet Potato Streusel: I'm not a fan of the marshmallow and sweet potato side dish. It's just too sweet for me. You can make this a while ahead and freeze it or the day before and refrigerate it.
A few other side dishes to go with that turkey
Cranberries: Call us boring but we like the simple recipe on the bag of fresh cranberries, basically cooking them in a bit of sugar and water.
Greens and Beans: This is a delicious healthy side dish with spinach and white beans. It's great if you have a vegetarian or two at the table. And you could leave out the cheese for a vegan I believe. Some other good greens recipes are Greens Cooked in Chicken Bouillon and Greens Cooked with Salt Pork
Green Beans and Garlic: The old standby of green beans, cream of mushroom soup, Durkee onions and crushed Cheese-Its is good, but if you want a healthier alternative, try these easy green beans.
Beets: I have a few different beet recipes we like. First, you can just roast beets, then heat them up in a bit of butter. You can roast them wrapped in foil while the turkey is cooking, then let them cool off so you can handle them. Alternately if you want a cold beet dish you can make ahead, make this beet salad with yogurt sauce.
Two turkey recipes
In general, buy about a pound of turkey for every person you're going to feed. There are all different ways of roasting a turkey. If you don't have time to cook a whole turkey, you can cut it up in parts like you would a chicken, of course. It will cook faster that way. But it doesn't have the presentation appeal of the whole bird.
You can always just follow the guidelines on the package your turkey comes in, paying attention to the weight. If it's frozen, make sure you allow ample time to thaw it in the refrigerator. Here are some turkey thawing and cooking instructions from the USDA.
I have two turkey recipes here, both of which produced a great turkey. The second one is more appropriate for a smaller bird as you need to turn it a few times.
You'll also want to make some gravy of course.
Thanksgiving dessert recipes
We always serve an assortment of pies.
- apple pie
- apple custard pie
- cherry pie
- pumpkin pie
Leftover turkey recipes
I always buy a large turkey to ensure we have some leftovers.
- Turkey soup
- Turkey enchiladas
- Turkey sandwich spread
- Turkey casserole
- Shepherd's pie with turkey
- Turkey skillet dinner
- Turkey hash
