Get ready to create the perfect Thanksgiving feast from start to finish! In this video, Nicole walks you through how to make every essential dish for your Thanksgiving dinner table, from a golden, juicy roast turkey to delicious sides and a show-stopping dessert.
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00:00Thanksgiving is just around the corner,
00:01and whether you're hosting the feast for the first time
00:04or you're looking for a no-fuss approach this year,
00:06I've got you covered.
00:07I've got the easiest turkey you're gonna make,
00:09classic cornbread dressing, homemade gravy,
00:12sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole,
00:14because you gotta have your greens,
00:16and then a little something special
00:17with a Brussels sprout salad.
00:19We've got traditional cranberry sauce.
00:21For the desserts, I'm going truly traditional here.
00:23I've got a southern pecan pie,
00:25and then for our pumpkin pie,
00:26I'm giving you pumpkin cheesecake bars.
00:28Are you ready?
00:30Three to four days out, you need to plan your menu,
00:34do your grocery shopping, and get that turkey thawing.
00:37I'm gonna start with the cornbread dressing,
00:39so just chopping up celery and onion.
00:41I am doubling this recipe because we serve a lot of people.
00:45Save your remnants of your vegetables as you prep
00:49to make your gravy stock.
00:51That's the extent of the prep.
00:53Hopefully you can make your cornbread,
00:54you know, a day or two before this.
00:56Chop up some onion and celery, and let's get cooking.
01:00So, melt some butter.
01:02I always increase the butter in these recipes
01:04because it's Thanksgiving.
01:06When your butter's melted, add in your celery and onion.
01:09I'm gonna cook this until these are nice and soft.
01:11In the meantime, I'm going to get my potatoes
01:14going in the oven.
01:15Okay, I'm gonna wash my potatoes.
01:17So whenever I do, like, mashed sweet potatoes,
01:20I like to just bake them in the oven,
01:22because you don't have to do anything.
01:23You don't have to, like, babysit it in any way.
01:25And the flavor just kind of concentrates
01:28and it's less watered down.
01:30Just gonna give them a little puncture
01:33and into the oven for about an hour.
01:34So this will give us plenty of time to get other things going.
01:37I also like to add in some of the celery leaves.
01:40This just adds so much flavor,
01:42and this is the perfect dish to add those into.
01:44So once your onions are translucent,
01:46we can just mix everything together.
01:49Okay, so I'm doubling this recipe,
01:51so I'm looking for about six to seven cups of cornbread.
01:55I'm gonna use some Jiffy and some homemade.
01:57Onion and celery are done.
01:59Smells so good.
02:00This just goes right on top of your cornbread.
02:02To that, we're gonna add in some sage.
02:05And then we add in a couple eggs.
02:07This is just gonna hold it together.
02:09And then just chicken stock.
02:10Takes a good bit.
02:11Hey, don't forget to season, season, season.
02:15Lots of chicken stock.
02:17Here's what it looks like
02:18before it goes into the casserole dish.
02:19You can tell it is super moist.
02:21Forgot to mention something you should be doing
02:24a few days before you get to this point
02:26is cleaning out your fridge.
02:27You need all the space.
02:28So I'm gonna go ahead and cover this with foil
02:30and get in the fridge.
02:31All right, stuffing done.
02:32Sweet potatoes in the oven.
02:33Let's go ahead and make our cranberry sauce.
02:35Raise your hand if you like the canned cranberry.
02:37I bet I'm gonna have a lot of hand raises.
02:40But homemade cranberry sauce
02:41is one of the easiest things you'll make all day.
02:43So if you are looking,
02:45like wanting to sign up for a dish for the family,
02:47say you'll bring the cranberry sauce.
02:49One bag of cranberries.
02:50You could use fresh or frozen.
02:52Into your pot, just a cup of sugar
02:55and a cup of orange juice.
02:56Plop that on the stove.
02:58We're gonna bring that up to a simmer.
02:59You're gonna stir it occasionally.
03:00You want all that sugar to dissolve.
03:02And then those cranberries are gonna start popping.
03:06As they pop, they're gonna release
03:07their natural pectin inside.
03:09And that's what's gonna cause it to thicken.
03:11So you're gonna get this nice gelatinous,
03:13delicious cranberry sauce.
03:15See how it's getting like thick and syrupy already?
03:19That is gonna triple in thickness as it cools.
03:22And then you just transfer this mixture to a bowl.
03:24Look how thick it's already gotten.
03:26Cranberry sauce done.
03:28All right, back to the sweet potatoes.
03:30So I'm gonna crack some eggs into a bowl.
03:33Eggs in a sweet potato casserole
03:35are just gonna give it some lift.
03:37Whisking in some sugar.
03:38I'm gonna add in some milk.
03:41Some vanilla.
03:42Also adding in some salt.
03:43I'm going in with a little more than it says
03:45because I like to get the little sweet savory
03:47in my sweet potato.
03:49All right, and this mixture's ready to go
03:50when our potatoes are.
03:51See how we're being so impatient?
03:53I'm gonna go ahead and kinda slit the top.
03:55Just gonna let those cool for a second.
03:57All right, so you're gonna mash the sweet potatoes.
04:00I like to go ahead and put my butter down at the bottom.
04:02That way the heat from the sweet potato
04:04starts to melt the butter.
04:06You know, get it started as you go along.
04:09Be sure your sweet potato mixture cools off a little bit
04:11before you add your egg mixture in.
04:13That way we don't have scrambled eggs, you know,
04:15floating throughout our sweet potato casserole.
04:17So I'm just gonna let that cool off
04:19and go ahead and make the topping.
04:21This one has a topping that is not marshmallows
04:23and this is why I love this recipe.
04:26I'm gonna take our pecans, chop them up.
04:29So this is just a mixture of our nuts, brown sugar,
04:34flour, and more butter.
04:36Grating butter is one of my favorite food hacks.
04:39And really, you don't even have to soften the butter.
04:41I've said this before,
04:42but the sides are my favorite part of Thanksgiving.
04:44I would prefer my plate just be all sides
04:47and then I eat the turkey as a leftover.
04:51Like a turkey sandwich, a leftover turkey sandwich
04:54is better than turkey on the day of Thanksgiving.
04:57Changed my mind.
04:58All right, potatoes have cooled down.
05:00It's okay if they're still a little warm,
05:01just not like super hot.
05:03We're just going to get this mixture incorporated.
05:06I'm just adding in a little sprinkle of cinnamon.
05:08My grandmother always just made candied yams,
05:12which is just like sliced sweet potatoes
05:14in like a syrupy goodness.
05:16I think that's why I like little chunks
05:18in my sweet potato casserole.
05:20Okay, and then we're just going to sprinkle
05:22on our little streusel-y topping.
05:24Done.
05:25Get this in the fridge
05:26and then we're off to the races with our desserts.
05:29I'm making pecan pie.
05:31The ingredients are so simple.
05:32You have everything at home
05:33and I will not be making my own crust.
05:35That's a different show.
05:36So into a bowl, three eggs.
05:38Beat the eggs until they're well beaten.
05:41To that, I'm adding in a cup of sugar.
05:44I'll beat that in and then goes a cup of corn syrup.
05:47The dark kind of gives it a little bit
05:49of a richer kind of taste and texture
05:52and the light is just, you know,
05:53a little more simple tasting.
05:56Okay, then in with some salt, vanilla.
05:59So I'm just buying the chopped pecans.
06:01I don't really want to use the pecan halves
06:03because I think that's just a little too much bite.
06:05So you just stir them right into the mixture.
06:09And that, my friends, is how easy it is to make a pecan pie.
06:13So I'm using a store-bought frozen pie crust
06:17and you just pour your filling directly
06:20into the unbaked crust.
06:21Crap, forgot the melted butter.
06:23Two tablespoons of melted butter goes into the filling.
06:26Even people like me make mistakes.
06:29This is when my lack of baking knowledge
06:32hopefully doesn't make a difference.
06:34And then this just goes into the oven.
06:35You start it at a high oven, 400 degrees
06:37for about 15 minutes and then turn it down
06:39to 350 for about 35 to 40 minutes.
06:43You wanna pull it when it's still slightly jiggly
06:46and puffed.
06:47Gonna let it cool on a wire rack.
06:49And I mean, this dessert is done.
06:52My next genius move is to take the ever popular pumpkin pie
06:56and turn it into something different and more fun
06:58and serves a lot more people.
07:01So this is going to be pumpkin cheesecake bars.
07:04So this starts with just like a shortbread crust,
07:07kind of what you would have in like lemon bars.
07:11So it's just a mixture of flour,
07:13stick of softened butter and then a quarter cup of sugar.
07:17And this is gonna form a thick mixture,
07:18kind of like a dough.
07:19And we're just gonna press it onto the bottom of our pan.
07:22That's what it looks like.
07:24All right, now we make our cream cheese layer.
07:26Obviously cream cheese.
07:27Do you want this to be completely softened?
07:29Otherwise you're gonna get little chunks.
07:31All right, so I'm gonna whip this together
07:33with a quarter cup of sugar.
07:35Oh wait, this is supposed to go in the oven.
07:38You want to pre-bake your crust
07:40for about 15 minutes at 350.
07:41It's gonna get lightly golden brown
07:44and then we let it cool completely
07:45before we put this on top.
07:47In goes the egg and vanilla.
07:53All right, pumpkin layer, two more eggs.
07:56Okay, and then in goes a can of pumpkin,
07:59a can of evaporated milk.
08:00Mo' sugar.
08:01And then in with your spices.
08:03Now cinnamon, cloves, ginger.
08:06Also adding in some salt.
08:08The crust is cooled.
08:09I've also chilled that cream cheese mixture
08:12while we were waiting.
08:13And now I'm gonna spoon it in
08:16so I try not to disturb the layers.
08:18Smells so good.
08:20Back into the oven, 350 degrees.
08:23It's gonna take about an hour.
08:25Done.
08:26It has a slight jiggle in the center.
08:28We're gonna let this cool completely in the pan
08:30and then I'm gonna pop it in the fridge till tomorrow.
08:33Our pie is cool, ready for the fridge.
08:35Desserts are done.
08:36Since we've just been so efficient,
08:38we can go ahead and make our green bean casserole.
08:41Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil
08:44and then we just trim our green beans.
08:45You just wanna take off this little stem end.
08:48Sometimes I just get a pile of them.
08:51Put all their stems at one end.
08:54Cut off the stem, cut them in half.
08:57And that's the hardest part.
08:58All right, so we're gonna boil these
08:59until they're just tender,
09:00just about like three to five minutes.
09:03And let's just drain.
09:06All right, in goes the cream of mushroom.
09:08Okay, so the recipe doesn't have any salt and pepper,
09:13but Nicole's version does.
09:14Only a little bit of salt,
09:15but a good little sprinkle of pepper.
09:17So I'm gonna put some of the cheese in here
09:19and then most of it on the top.
09:21Same with the onions.
09:24Into our casserole dish.
09:25Gorgeous.
09:27Definitely looks better
09:28than those brown, mushy, canned green beans.
09:31Okay, and then we'll sprinkle on cheese and our onions.
09:34Can't get any easier than that.
09:36Covered and ready for its debut tomorrow.
09:39We are locked and loaded.
09:40The more you do today, the less you have to do tomorrow
09:43and the more you can enjoy.
09:44So we're gonna do a chopped Brussels sprout salad
09:46and today I could go ahead and make the dressing.
09:48It's just one less thing I have to do tomorrow.
09:50Starts just by chopping up a shallot.
09:53Then in with some apple cider vinegar
09:55and then some Dijon mustard.
09:56This is going to be our emulsifier.
09:59Sweetness from some honey.
10:02I'm just gonna use olive oil.
10:05This is basically like a honey mustard vinaigrette.
10:08Mm, that makes your taste buds dance.
10:11We are just doing so good.
10:13We're gonna go ahead and chop up our Brussels sprouts
10:17for the salad and that way tomorrow
10:19all we have to do is toss it.
10:20So I'm gonna take my Brussels sprouts, give them a rinse.
10:22So just half them and then go through and slice them.
10:25Tomorrow, our lives are gonna be so much easier.
10:28All we have to pray for now is that the turkey turns out.
10:31Got our desserts, our casseroles,
10:33cranberry sauce done, dressing done.
10:36That's it, okay, tomorrow we are in good shape.
10:39All that's left is now.
10:41Now is the time to clean the kitchen
10:43and then you can put your food up.
10:44Let's go ahead and make a drink.
10:47I'm gonna use this cranberry sauce and make a Cosmo.
10:54And let's just go in with a couple spoonfuls of this.
10:59Look at that color.
11:05It's delicious.
11:09And we're gonna start with the turkey, of course.
11:12All right, I am cooking a little over 13 pound turkey.
11:16The rule of thumb is about one to 1 1⁄2 pounds per person.
11:21Prepping your turkey is gonna be the hardest part
11:24and it's not hard.
11:25Chances are you're gonna buy your turkey
11:27while it's frozen, okay?
11:29Don't underestimate the time it takes to thaw your turkey.
11:32The right way to thaw your turkey is in the fridge.
11:34Pull it from the freezer to the fridge
11:37three to five days in advance is ideal.
11:39So get you a pot.
11:40We're gonna take the neck out.
11:43In here you find the heart and the liver.
11:45I'll just put this in there.
11:47All right, so you'll want to take some paper towels.
11:50Make sure he's all good and dry.
11:52All right, I'm just gonna kind of remove
11:54some of the little uglier parts.
11:56You can do this with like some kitchen shears or a knife.
11:59And then before I start seasoning,
12:02we're gonna take our little wings and tuck them under.
12:04These are gonna get burned first if you don't.
12:06Okay, so we're gonna do just a very simple spice rub.
12:09A tablespoon of the lemon pepper.
12:11Two tablespoons of kosher salt.
12:14And then I'm gonna do a tablespoon of ground sage.
12:17The recipe also calls for dried thyme and dried rosemary.
12:20Those are not my favorite dried,
12:22so I'm gonna add those fresh later.
12:24Parsley.
12:24And then two teaspoons of pepper.
12:27This is our spice rub, done.
12:28And I'm gonna prep the vegetables that go in the inside.
12:31All right, gonna add in some celery.
12:33I am choosing the upper portion with these leaves.
12:37And then I've washed my carrot.
12:39I really don't need to peel it.
12:40And then some onion.
12:42Then I'm gonna take a lemon,
12:44because we have that lemon pepper in there,
12:46along with some orange.
12:49Some fresh rosemary.
12:51This is far superior to the dried version, okay?
12:54All right, and then some fresh thyme also.
12:57All right, then we have to prep our pan.
12:59If you do not have a roasting pan, just get one of these.
13:02Two really long pieces of foil.
13:05And one across this way.
13:06You want it to be long enough to fully cover your turkey
13:09without touching it.
13:10We're creating like a steam pouch for our turkey.
13:13Okay, one to go that way, and then one to go the other way.
13:17This is worth it, because also it's gonna make
13:19this cleanup a whole lot easier.
13:22And then if you do have one of these pans,
13:25it probably came with a rack that goes inside.
13:27If you do not, if you're using the aluminum pan,
13:30then just roll up some foil,
13:33or you can just put a lot of veggies down on the bottom.
13:35Now I'm going to season this.
13:36I've always been taught to season
13:38the inside and the outside.
13:40Season all over, okay?
13:41I'm gonna put a lot on the inside.
13:43Once you get it in there, take your hand,
13:46and then kind of, you know, rub it all around.
13:49And then a nice, like, even coating along the outside.
13:53All right, and then into the cavity.
13:56Don't forget your herbs.
13:57I'm gonna tie the legs together.
13:59Our little birdie's ready to go in.
14:00I'm gonna spray my rack, and then in goes our turkey.
14:04The magic ingredient, champagne turkey.
14:08A whole bottle.
14:09The recipe does state to pour it over the bird.
14:14I just went through all this trouble,
14:16so I'm going to pour this entire bottle around the turkey.
14:20We have two layers of foil.
14:21It should all stay in there.
14:23It's gonna, you know, steam the whole time
14:25in this delicious champagne.
14:27Now we're gonna tuck this baby in and tell him goodnight.
14:30You wanna wrap your foil around,
14:31but you don't want it to touch the turkey.
14:33We just wanna create a little spa.
14:36See?
14:37It's not touching.
14:39So I'm actually gonna start mine at about two hours.
14:43I want most of the cooking to happen in that pouch,
14:46but I'm going to uncover it and let it get brown,
14:49and that part could take anywhere from, you know,
14:5140 minutes to another hour, so.
14:54So after that turkey's been going about an hour,
14:56I'm pulling out my casseroles,
14:57gonna let them sit out on the counter
14:58until the turkey's done,
15:00and then these go right into the oven.
15:02Okay, our little juicy insides,
15:04we're gonna make a flavorful stock.
15:06All you do is cover it with some cold water,
15:09and then I'm gonna add in the remnants
15:11from the rest of the onion and stuff
15:13that we were gonna put inside the turkey.
15:15Give our little stock some flavor.
15:17A little more celery.
15:19Pop that over on the stove.
15:22I'm gonna add in a little bit of salt and pepper.
15:24And then I'm just gonna simmer that.
15:26I'll probably cover it so that it doesn't
15:28all evaporate out.
15:31Looking so good.
15:32I'm going to go about,
15:35I'm gonna start with like 30 more minutes,
15:37and then we'll check it from there.
15:39And in the meantime, I think it's the perfect time
15:41for another cocktail.
15:43For the past several years,
15:45I have been having an apple cider margarita
15:47while I do my cooking on Thanksgiving,
15:49and it's just the best.
15:51Ice and a shaker.
15:53Tequila.
15:54Half a shot of orange liqueur.
15:56Grand Marnier, Cointreau, Triple Sec.
15:58Lime juice.
15:59Little bit of orange juice.
16:02Ooh, it's cold.
16:04A little cinnamon sugar rim.
16:06Is that the most Thanksgiving drink you've ever seen?
16:10Mm.
16:11We are getting close.
16:13But look at it.
16:14It's been about exactly three hours.
16:18Your turkey is going to rest and carry over cook
16:20for a little bit after you take it out.
16:22But I am looking for like 165 to 170 in the thigh portion,
16:26because that lets you know that that innards
16:28are really all cooked.
16:29Come on, baby.
16:31Yes!
16:33The time has come.
16:35The turkey is done.
16:36But keep it tinted with foil
16:38so that it stays kind of moist and somewhat warm.
16:41Now is the time.
16:42All our sides go in.
16:44We're going to keep them covered for the first half
16:46and then uncover them until they're all gooey and bubbly.
16:49Now let's take a look at our turkey stock.
16:51We're going to strain this out and discard the solids.
16:55I like to just kick it up just a little bit
16:57with some chicken bouillon.
17:01My turkey's going to continue to rest
17:02while we go ahead and make that gravy.
17:04So I'm going to strain out this liquid
17:06into our prepared turkey stock.
17:08And this is going to be our flavorful liquid.
17:10And then all we need to do is thicken it up.
17:12Okay, here's how we do it.
17:13I'm going to make a roux
17:15and I'm going to get that roux browned a little bit.
17:17And the butter is going to add some richness,
17:19so that's what I'm starting with.
17:20When your roux looks about the color
17:23of what you want your gravy to look like,
17:25I'm going to whisk in some of our flavorful liquid.
17:29You'll know how thick your gravy is going to be
17:31once it comes up to a simmer.
17:33See, this is how I like it.
17:35Not too thick, not too thin, just enough to coat.
17:38All right, he's ready to go in the gravy boat.
17:40Much as I hate to ruin the beauty here,
17:42I know you want to know how to carve the turkey.
17:45I always start with the legs.
17:46They have a natural break to them
17:48and it just kind of helps you.
17:50Get it started and then it will naturally
17:53start to separate and then comes right off.
17:58So now we're left with the breast.
17:59The breastbone runs right here.
18:01So I'm going to go just on this side of it
18:03and just on this side of it.
18:04And cut, you want to stay as close to the bone as you can
18:08so that you don't leave too much meat still sitting there.
18:11You can then go back in and slice off
18:13some more of the breast meat
18:16if you didn't get it in the one piece.
18:17And we're going to save that carcass.
18:19That makes the best soup.
18:21So you slice up your breast meat
18:23and then I'm just going to separate
18:25the thigh and the drumstick.
18:27You can start it where the natural separation is
18:31and then you just kind of find the joint
18:33and cut right between.
18:35All right, and then we're just going to arrange it
18:36on a platter.
18:37Take some pride in your work.
18:38Just going to decorate the platter with some fresh herbs.
18:41And then we also had some oranges and lemon in there.
18:44So go ahead and throw those on your platter also.
18:46Turkey, the carved version.
18:49Works for me.
18:50Last thing to do before everybody comes
18:52is toss that salad.
18:53So we have our Brussels sprouts,
18:55our crunchy cold apple,
18:57roasted pumpkin seeds,
18:58some sunflower seeds,
19:00some sliced almonds,
19:01and then sweetened dried cranberries.
19:04That dressing we made yesterday.
19:05Give that a toss.
19:06It's going to be the hit.
19:07All right, guys.
19:09It's go time.
19:10Don't forget about our desserts.
19:23We're just going to plop that pecan pie
19:24straight on the table.
19:26Those pumpkin bars.
19:27You can cut these as big or as small as you want.
19:30I'm going to have a little taste test.
19:32Yes, yes.
19:33People are actually going to eat these.
19:35Cranberry one,
19:37going in with the canned cranberry.
19:38My favorite.
19:39She gorgeous.
19:40The very, very last thing you do
19:42before you serve is heat up that gravy.
19:44It's hard to keep that turkey piping hot for plating time,
19:48but you put that hot gravy over it.
19:50That's key.
19:51That's just like a pro move.
19:53This is probably my favorite meal of the year.
19:56And this is how I make my perfect plate.
20:02I did it.
20:09This is the original perfect bite.
20:11Dressing, green bean casserole,
20:12canned cranberry sauce, gravy.
20:14Mom, how'd I do?
20:20Then you're like, wait, I want to be healthy.
20:24Everything just goes so good together.
20:26That turkey is not only juicy, but it's super tender.
20:29Flavorful gravy takes it home.
20:31We definitely scored all A's on this report card.
20:36Almost forgot my other dessert.
20:38If we're being honest, I usually save this for breakfast.
20:44My God.
20:46Salt.
20:49For sure, the best pecan pie I've ever made.
20:52Quite possibly the best pecan pie I've ever had.
20:55Definitely make this.
20:56From turkey and dressing to homemade gravy
20:58and all the sides, I had you covered
21:00and we didn't even break a sweat.
21:02I have full faith in you
21:03that you can make the whole feast this year.
21:06Don't even delegate.