What Makes This Recipe So Good
It’s got all the components you need for a classic holiday meal. Juicy turkey, tender sweet potatoes, crisp green beans, and an easy bread stuffing that may just rival grandma’s. Even better, it’s all oven-baked right on one sheet pan, for the absolute easiest “traditional” holiday meal you have EVER cooked. We’ve even included a simple gravy you can throw together while the star of the show finishes up in the oven. All that’s left is cracking open a can of cranberry sauce, warming up a few buttery dinner rolls, and settling in for a delicious one-pan holiday meal. Traditional Thanksgiving dinners are no joke. Shopping for weeks, baking for days, up early to prep, basting a turkey every 45 minutes, jumping from one recipe to the next to the next… it’s a finely-tuned (read: chaotic) ballet of planners and timers and reminders with things like showering and cleaning and getting the kids dressed littered throughout. This recipe eliminates a huge chunk of that prep and planning and hands-on cooking time, giving you a holiday meal that’s ready to eat in less than 2 hours and freeing you up to actually enjoy the holiday with your family and friends. If you celebrate the holidays with a smaller, more intimate gathering that really doesn’t warrant a 10-pound turkey and more dressing than you know what to do with, this is exactly what you need. Designed to feed a group of 4, maybe 5, a one-pan holiday meal is perfect for anyone that doesn’t want to spend an entire week eating leftovers. Another plus to the smaller Thanksgiving spread? It’s super budget-friendly. Depending on the size of the bird and where you live, you can get turkey breast for this recipe for roughly half the cost of a whole turkey. Yes, the whole turkey will give you more food, but if you don’t need that much, why not save a little at the same time?
Chef’s Tips
If you don’t have a single baking sheet large enough to fit a bed of bread stuffing, 3 pounds of turkey, a pound of green beans, and 4 small sweet potatoes, opt for using 2 baking sheets instead. It’s better to split the components up than to crowd everything onto one pan – doing that will almost guarantee something doesn’t cook completely. I recommend using one sheet pan for the sweet potatoes and green beans, and the other for the stuffing and turkey. Follow the order of operations listed on the recipe card even if you divide things up onto more than one pan. Trust me – we’ve got it all timed just right and lined up in the best way to get you perfect results. If you start with the green beans and finish up with the stuffing, you’ll end up with an overcooked/undercooked mess of a Thanksgiving dinner that’ll have you at IHOP before the night’s over. Not sure how much turkey breast you’ll need to feed your group? Don’t worry. Our sister site, Easy Healthy Recipes, broke down the simple turkey formula that’ll ensure you’ve got plenty to go around. In general, you’ll want to plan for a half pound of uncooked turkey breast per person – so to feed 6 people, you’ll want to buy a 3-pound turkey breast. Little children and anyone with a smaller appetite (or who just prefers those Thanksgiving sides instead) will likely only need a quarter pound of uncooked turkey breast.
More Can’t-Miss One-Pan Recipes
Sheet Pan Steak and Fries (with Microwave Bearnaise Sauce) Chicken Fajita Casserole Sauteed Shrimp in Garlic Butter Sauce Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Sausage Creamy Garlic Chicken Best Sheet Pan Fajitas with Steak (Low Carb, Whole30, Paleo) Pan Fried Potatoes Sheet Pan Vegetarian Fajitas Cranberry Rosemary One Pan Chicken (Paleo, Whole30 Option) Roasted Potatoes and Carrots
