Sometimes I like to have a big feast for Thanksgiving. Other years, I want it to be simple but still celebratory. This year I am keeping it simple and making Thanksgiving in 2 hours.
This simple celebration meal is perfect for small families, young adults and couples, empty nesters, or anyone else that wants to keep things a bit chill this year.
Happy Thanksgiving, friends!
On the Menu
Spatchcocked Roasted Chicken with Herby Garlic Butter
Cranberry Sauce
Orange and Brown Sugar Whipped Sweet Potatoes
Sautéed Greens with Carmalized Shallots
Apple Pie Cobbler Cake
Serves 4 adults as written; recipes can be increased to serve more people.
Roasted Spatchcock Chicken
This is my favorite roast chicken ever. Period. It has the crispiest skin. And it has the juiciest, most tender, tastiest meat. And it is super easy to make.
Spatchcocking a chicken can seem intimidating at first, but it is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I included step-by-step pictures at the end of the recipe to illustrate how to spatchcock a chicken. If you don’t want to spatchcock a chicken yourself, you can buy one that is already spatchcocked at many grocery stores.
- 1 whole chicken
- 4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper, freshly cracked
- A small handful of parsley
- 1-2 lemons, cut into round slices
- 2-4 shallots
- 1 bulb of garlic
This recipe is a two-day recipe because the chicken needs to dry brine for 12-24 hours. But, the process is not hard and it does not have much active cooking time.
Get the detailed recipe and directions here.
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce brings a nice tartness to the Thanksgiving table. The bright sauce cuts through heavy, starchy, and fatty foods and lifts them up.
- 12 oz. fresh cranberries
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) organic cane sugar
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) freshly squeezed orange juice
- Zest of 1 organic orange
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 2 inch chuck of fresh ginger, or 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- pinch of sea salt
Directions:
- Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat while stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Bring the cranberries to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally to prevent the cranberries from burning and sticking.
- Continue to boil until the cranberries burst, about 3-6 minutes. (Cranberries bursting sounds a bit like popcorn.) Once the cranberries burst, continue to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour the cranberry sauce into a heatproof container. Allow the cranberry sauce to cool, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. (Cranberry sauce can be made 2 days in advance.)
Orange and Brown Sugar Whipped Sweet Potatoes
These are the sweet potatoes you want to have at your feast. A little sweet, a little spiced, and perfectly creamy. The sweet potatoes are roasted in the oven while the chicken cooks. Then, everything gets whipped to creamy perfection in a blender. There is not a lot of active cooking time and you don’t have to peel the potatoes– win, win!
- 3 medium/large organic sweet potatoes
- 4 Tbsp grass-fed butter (sub coconut cream to make dairy-free)
- 2 Tbsp organic brown sugar
- zest and juice of 1 organic orange
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Wash the sweet potatoes. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and roast for 45-60 minutes, until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Cut the sweet potatoes open and scoop out all the flesh.
- Add all the ingredients to a high powered blender or food processor and blend on medium speed until smooth.
- If your potatoes get a little cold, put them in a small pot and rewarm them. Add a bit of butter or coconut milk if desired.
- Serve warm. Enjoy!
Sautéed Greens with Carmalized Shallots
I always want something green on my Thanksgiving table. These greens are a nod to traditional collard greens made in Southern homes and an homage to my Southern roots. But, they are tastier and easier to make. They come together in about 10-15 minutes and can be made while the chicken is resting.
- 2-3 bunches of greens (collards, mustard greens, kale, or Swiss chard)
- 2 large shallots, or 1 red onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- sea salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder to taste
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional to garnish the greens
Directions:
- Thoroughly wash and dry the greens.
- Stack all the green leaves on top of each other. Slice the greens into one inch strips. Cut around and discard the thick parts of the stems near the bottoms of the leaves. Set the greens aside.
- Chop the garlic into small pieces, set aside.
- Remove the shallots outer skin. Slice the shallots into thin circles, about 1/16-1/8 inch thick.
- Heat the avocado oil in a large skillet, over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the shallot slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sauté until the shallots turn light brown. Once the shallots are brown, remove them from the skillet and set them aside.
- Add the chopped garlic to the pan and sauté it for about 30 seconds.
- Carefully add all the greens to the skillet; the water from the greens may cause the hot oil to pop out of the pan.
- Use a spatula or tongs to toss and coat the greens with the oil and garlic.
- Add the vinegar and toss the greens again.
- Season the greens with sea salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
- Continue to sauté the greens until they are tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Taste the greens and add more seasonings if desired.
- Cook to desired tenderness. Remove the greens from the skillet. Garnish the greens with the caramelized shallots and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
- Serve and enjoy!
Apple Pie Cobbler Cake
What is Thanksgiving without dessert? This dessert takes the filling of an apple pie and covers it with a delicious cobbler cake. It is a riff on my classic Peach Cobbler Cake, which would also be delicious for Thanksgiving.
For the pie filling:
- 2 1/2 lbs. apples (I like a mix of Granny Smith and Gala apples)
- 1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp (130 grams) cane sugar*
- 1 Tbsp (9 grams) tapioca flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
Directions:
- Take your eggs out of the refrigerator and bring them to room temperature. (2 eggs for the cake recipe below.)
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Peel the apples and cut each one into slices that are 1/4 inch thick.
- Place the apple slices, sugar, lemon juice, sea salt, cinnamon, clove, and vanilla bean in a 4-quart saucepan.
- Heat the apples over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and coat the apples.
- Bring the apples to a simmer. Once they are simmering, add the tapioca flour. Stir to combine all the tapioca flour.
- Cook the apples for 2 minutes to activate the tapioca flour and thicken the sauce. Stir while cooking.
- Once the sauce has thickened, remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Stir the vanilla extract into the apple filling.
- Pour the apples into an 8×8 square casserole dish or, a pie dish. Place the casserole or pie dish on a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. (The baking sheet will catch all the drips and the aluminum foil will make cleanup easier.)
- Make the cake batter (directions below).
- Pour the cake batter over the apples. (If you use a shallow pie dish, you may not want to use all the cake batter or it might overflow.)
- Bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Serve the cake with some vanilla ice cream or whipped vanilla bean coconut cream.
*You can use 97 grams of Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener as a sugar substitute.
For the cake:
- 2/3 cup (160 grams) cane sugar*
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) avocado oil
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2/3 cup (150 grams) unsweetened coconut milk yogurt, like Culina Plain & Simple Yogurt
- 1 Tbsp (15 grams) vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup (150 grams) almond flour
- 3 Tbsp (27 grams) tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Directions for the cake:
- Whisk the sugar and avocado oil together.
- Add the eggs and whisk until fully combined and lighter in color, about 2 minutes. (Make sure your eggs are at room temperature so that they will fully incorporate with the oil. If you forget to take your eggs out early, put them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes; this will bring them to room temperature.)
- Add the coconut milk yogurt and vanilla extract and whisk until the yogurt is completely combined.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and whisk until combined.
- Pour the cake batter over the apples.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes. (Check the cake around 35-40 minutes; it browns quickly. Cover the cake with foil if it is browning too quickly.)
- Let the cake cool for at least 10 minutes.
- Serve the cake with some vanilla ice cream or whipped vanilla bean coconut cream.
*You can use 120 grams of Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener as a sugar substitute.
Test Kitchen Notes
You can test the center of the cake with a wooden skewer. The cake will remain moist in the center, but should not be soupy. The finished cake has a soft, bread-pudding-like texture.
I like to use a thick-style coconut milk yogurt like Culina. The yogurt is necessary for the taste and texture of the cake. Do not replace the yogurt with milk. Milk will make the cake soupy.
If you can tolerate sugar alcohols but want to avoid sugar, Lakanto Monk Fruit Golden Sweetener can be used as a sugar substitute. It is a blend of monk fruit and erythritol and sweeter than cane sugar so, I reduce the amount of Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener by 25%.
Use this recipe for my Vanilla Bean Cold Foam to make Whipped Vanilla Bean Coconut Cream. Just beat it to medium or stiff peaks instead of soft peaks.
My Classic Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is a perfect pairing with this cobbler cake as well.
The Flow of Things
Making Thanksgiving Dinner in 2 hours is possible with a simple menu and a bit of organization. Everyone is different in the kitchen. Some people go “by the book” and only follow exactly what the directions say. Others never even read the directions and just wing it. Some people get everything set out and cook with an intentional intensity. Others figure it out as they go. Some people cook solo. Some people get constant interruptions frothier littles. Depending on your life and style, you may make this dinner in exactly 2 hours or it may take an additional 30-60 minutes. Look over the instructions ahead of time and be realistic about your cooking skills and organization.
Here is my flow for making this dinner.
The day before Thanksgiving:
- Spatchcock and dry brine your chicken. It needs to dry brine for 12-24 hours.
- Optional: You can make the cranberry sauce if you want to.
- Optional: You can peel and slice the apples and cut the shallots and greens if you want to get ahead, but it is not necessary.
The day of Thanksgiving:
- Make the Apple Pie Cobbler Cake. Prep time 20-45 minutes. Bake time 40-45 minutes
- While the Apple Pie Cobbler Cake is baking, make the Cranberry Sauce (if you didn’t make it the day before). Prep time 15-20 minutes.
- While the Apple Pie Cobbler Cake is baking, prepare the sweet potatoes and the greens. Prep time 15-20 minutes.
- Once the Apple Pie Cobble Cake is baked, take your chicken out of the fridge and turn the oven up to 450F.
- Once the oven reaches temperature, roast the chicken and sweet potatoes. Cook Time 45-60 minutes.
- Take the chicken out of the oven and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. (Turn the oven off and leave the sweet potatoes in the warm oven until you are ready to whip them.)
- While the chicken rests, make the Sautéed Greens with Caramalized Shallots. Cook time 15-20 minutes.
- Whip the Orange and Brown Sugar Sweet Potatoes. Takes about 2-5 minutes.
- Serve dinner and celebrate!