Elegant One Pan Turkey Dinner
This Elegant One Pan Turkey Dinner includes a turkey breast, classic dressing, green beans with cranberries, and baked apples and pears all conveniently in one pan. It serves six and is the perfect solution to having a fabulous turkey dinner without the mess and hassle of the full bird traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe you are a small family or are single and can’t go home for Thanksgiving… or you are having just a few close friends to your home for a celebration. This Elegant One Pan Turkey Dinner gives you all the sides and trimmings in just one pan. The reason I call this an “elegant” one pan dinner is because after it cooks, it looks gorgeous when moved to serving dishes, but it also looks gorgeous in the pan! It is an elegant solution to avoid using multiple pans and casseroles to create a festive dinner. So, are you ready for the easiest turkey dinner ever? For this dinner you will need one large baking/roasting pan, one extra large mixing bowl, one large mixing bowl, one small sauce pan, and one 10″ skillet. Clean up is easy, because everything but the roasting pan can be washed and put away while the dinner roasts. The key to being able to roast everything in one pan is a roasting rack you make out of aluminum foil. I’ve been making these disposable racks for years. A serpentine shape is great for large roast and whole poultry and the coil shape is exceptional for smaller cuts of meat, especially a whole turkey breast. All you need is about 4 feet of heavy duty aluminum foil to make this disposable rack. Just shape and roll the foil into a long 2″ thick rope and coil it. This keeps the turkey breast up out of the pan, so that it browns nicely on its sides. Food & Wine, my favorite source for great food ideas, has an excellent tutorial on how to make this particular aluminum foil rack. Step 1 – Preheat oven. Then, dry out and toast cubed bread. Please note this step can be done up to 5 days ahead of the day you serve your turkey dinner. Step 2 – Cook the aromatics. Sauté chopped yellow onion and celery in butter until the onion is transparent. Step 3 – Add poultry seasoning, salt, and pepper to the aromatics and continue to cook 1 to 2 minutes to blume the herbs. Step 4 – In a large bowl mix together the toasted bread cubes and seasoned aromatics. Add broth to moisten the dressing. Set dressing aside for later. Step 5 – Make a roasting rack from heavy duty aluminum foil and coil it into your roasting pan. Step 6 – Place the prepared turkey breast on the coiled roasting rack. Step 7 – Tent the turkey breast with heavy duty aluminum foil. Do not let foil touch the turkey breast. Place tented turkey breast into oven. Step 8 – Make basting sauce from butter, paprika, and fresh thyme leaves. As turkey breast roasts, prepare green beans by defrosting them. In a large bowl mix together drained green beans and with dried cranberries. After the turkey has roasted for about two hours you will remove the turkey breast from the oven and add the side dishes to the pan. First you add the dressing, placing it closest to the turkey breast and mounding it up slightly to create a dam for the green beans. Then add the green beans with cranberries next to the dressing and filling the space to the edge of the roasting pan. Lastly, add the apples and pears, placing them around and near the turkey breast. Re-tent everything with aluminum foil and bake until the turkey breast is 165° F, which will be about 1 hour or 1 hour and 15 minutes. Years ago I was visiting a friend and he spontaneously said he would make dinner and invited me to stay. I asked if he would like some help and he replied that he knew how to make everything but “always had trouble getting everything hot at once”. I had been cooking for at least 10 years at the time and had never thought of that as being an issue. Over the years I have learned that time management in the kitchen is one of the most challenging things in being a successful host. In this recipe, time management is a breeze. In general the directions are divided into two parts. Part 1 is preparing the dressing and the turkey breast and putting the turkey to roast for about two-third’s of the total roasting time. Part 2 is when you add all of the side dishes and baste the turkey before returning the pan to the oven for the final hour or so. A timetable really helps me feel in control and stress free when I entertain. So, I thought you might find it helpful to follow the timetable I created for my dinner which I will be serving at 2:30 PM. If you are planning to watch football on Thanksgiving, this timetable can easily be shifted 2 hours earlier to have you sitting and enjoying dinner at 12:30 PM. To make the big day go easier, I like to do what I can in the days prior or the evening before the big day. For this dinner you can dry out the bread cubes for the dressing the night before and just leave them in the turned off oven overnight. I also like to set the formal table on the previous night. So, for anyone who would like to have a little help with the timing of this dinner here is my timetable. The actual prep time is only 1 hour and 15 minutes. The rest of the time is spent waiting for the dinner to cook: Night Before 9:30 AM – Begin Part 1 of Recipe 10:45 AM – Put Turkey Breast in Oven. 10:45 AM to 12:45 PM – Two Hours of Free Time 12:45 PM – Begin Part 2 of Recipe 1:10 PM – 1 Hour of Free Time 2:10 PM – Take Turkey Dinner out of the Oven 2:30 PM – Dinner is Served! With this beautiful dinner, all you really need to complete the menu are dinner rolls, coffee, and dessert!let’s cook!
here’s an overview of the steps
everything is hot at the same time!
a timetable helps me have a stress free day
basic timetable for elegant one pan turkey dinner
Set Formal Dining Table and Dry Out Bread Cubes
Remove turkey breast from refrigerator to allow it to come to room temperature before roasting it. Take French style green beans from freezer to thaw. Chop Celery and Onion. Remove leaves of fresh thyme from stems. Preheat oven. Make dressing. Prepare pan and prep turkey breast.
Roast for 2 Hours.
Time for a break to do what you want! Also, this is a great time to do a clean-up of the kitchen to make it an easier clean up later.
Take turkey breast out of oven. Remove aluminum tent and add dressing, green beans with dried cranberries, and apples and pears to pan. Fold tent foil in half and use it to cover the dressing and green beans. Baste turkey breast. Return dinner to oven.
Have a nice glass of wine or cup of good cheer!
Allow Turkey to Rest for 15 minutes before carving for maximum juiciness. Transfer side dishes to decorative bowls and platters. This dinner is so beautiful you also can leave the side dishes in the roasting pan for serving buffet style. Once the turkey is carved, it can be plated and placed on top of the coiled aluminum roasting rack.
Relax, celebrate, and enjoy your time with your guests!Elegant One Pan Turkey Dinner
solution to having a fabulous turkey dinner without the mess and hassle of the full bird traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. Ingredients
Dressing:
Basting Sauce for Turkey:
Vegetable Side:
Fruit Side:
Instructions
Part 1
Dressing:
Turkey Breast:
Basting Sauce:
Vegetable:
Part 2:
Video
Nutrition