Thanksgiving Recipes You Can Teach Your Kids to Make

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays not just because of all the delicious dishes my family and I get to prepare but because we get to be together to enjoy them. We are so grateful for all the blessings God has given to us.

So much of my education took place in the kitchen, learning alongside my mom and older sister. At the age of 11 I started cooking a lot more on my own for my family. Throughout our teenage years, my siblings and I balanced a lot of the cooking and baking between us and also taught our younger siblings. We learned so much from experience and from the many cooking tv shows that were available at the time! Talk about educational screen time!

I wholeheartedly believe that children learn best when they are involved in the making and creating alongside us. There is plenty they can do to help but also just letting them observe and ask all the questions is so good for them. Their little minds are taking in everything and they are learning so much by being involved.

I encourage you this year to bring your big and little ones close. Teach them how to roast a turkey, have them take the lead on the cranberry sauce, show them how to make your favorite dish. They will learn how to follow a recipe and want to share what they made with everyone in the family!

This year, I wanted to share some of our favorite recipes that we look forward to enjoying every year! These three are the main dishes of our Thanksgiving feast. We love to add stuffing or rolls, asparagus or a cesar salad, and mashed potatoes with gravy! If you love these as well, comment below what your favorite one is. Each one is easy enough to have a little cooking buddy alongside you.

Thanksgiving Roast Turkey

First off is the turkey! We love this simple method to cook a turkey overnight so you have oven space in the morning. It also is the best way we have found to keep the turkey from drying out.

The children can watch as you rinse the turkey and rub it with oil. They can also have fun getting their hands messy as they put the butter under the turkey skin. Just don’t let them lick their hands! Teach them how important it is to wash their hands after touching raw meat. They file these little lessons in their minds.

Fresh or defrosted frozen turkey

Avocado oil OR Extra virgin olive oil

Butter & herbs or seasoning of choice (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450/475°F. 15-20 pound turkeys are best, and while you can roast a frozen turkey, it’s ideal to have it mostly defrosted beforehand. Remove the turkey from the packaging, and give it a good rinse, making sure to remove the bag of giblets. Place in a foil-lined roasting pan and pat dry.

This next step is optional but it does give the turkey more flavor!

Simply separate the skin from the breast meat and around thighs and then tuck wings under.

Mix together softened or melted butter with your choice of seasoning and spread under turkey skin.

*Note if you do use herbs they may burn in the searing process, so try to use simple seasoning.

Rub oil all over the turkey. Then sear turkey on high heat for 30 minutes to an hour, or until golden brown. Lower heat to 250/275°F, tent with foil, and bake overnight. Internal temperature should get up to 160/165°F, and the meat should be falling off the bones.

In the morning, separate the meat from the bones, fat, and skin. When you are ready, you can reheat your meat in a glass dish in the oven just before serving. Serve your turkey with gravy made from the drippings in the pan.

Place everything else in a stockpot or instant pot to make stock! This can be used later to make delicious soups and stews.

Moroccan Turkey

Now for a delicious way to spice up your usual Thanksgiving turkey. We serve multiple turkeys every autumn, and this is one of our favorite recipes! This one is not an overnight turkey because you do need to baste it every 15-30 minutes, but it is so worth it and the smell filling up the kitchen is amazing! This is a wonderful opportunity to teach the kids how to baste a turkey. They will love being included in cooking this wonderfully delicious main dish!

Fresh or defrosted frozen turkey

4 T. gr. cinnamon

2 T. gr. cumin

2 T. gr. coriander

4 t. gr. ginger

2 t. gr. cloves

1 t. salt

½ t. pepper

4 T. butter

4 c. poultry broth, portioned

1 c. honey

2-3 T. sesame seeds*

1-1½ c. slivered almonds*

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line roasting pan with foil. Mix spices in a small bowl. Rinse turkey, inside and out, removing giblets. Place in roasting pan and pat dry. Tuck wing tips under, and loosen skin from meat. Rub butter inside and out of skin. Rub spice mixture on and under skin.

Warm together 2 cups broth and 1 cup honey. Pour over turkey and roast. Baste every 15-30 minutes. An 18-19 lb turkey should take about 2½-3 hours. When turkey turns brown, add another 2 cups broth to juices in pan.

*Optional: At the last 15 minutes of baking, remove from oven. Toast seeds and almonds in a skillet. Strain the juices of turkey, and stir in toasted nuts and seeds. Pour back over turkey and roast an additional 15 minutes until the glaze turns golden brown. The internal temperature should be 165°-170°F.

Serve your turkey hot with a delicious gravy made from the sweet drippings in the roasting pan!

Also -the broth made from this sweet turkey is perfect for a hardy minestrone soup!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Now for our next favorite dish and something everyone looks forward to every single year!

Some people call this sweet potato pie a lot put marshmallows all over the top. We love this topped with just the sweet pecan streusel! I think this year we are going to try it with our homemade marshmallows!

Kids can be involved in all steps of this dish! Have them wash the potatoes, poke them with a fork, and cover or wrap them with foil. Show them how to measure the ingredients, how to use the mixer, and then the fun part – sprinkling the streusel on top of the casserole!

Filling:

6-7 large sweet potatoes

4-8 T. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

½ cup maple syrup

½ tsp. salt

2 eggs

Topping

4 cups pecans

½ cup sugar

1 stick butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Scrub sweet potatoes and stab with a knife or fork. Place them in a foil-covered roasting pan with an inch or two of water in it to help them steam. Or you can individually wrap them before putting them in a roasting pan. Bake at 425°F for 1.5 hours or until tender.

Cool and peel sweet potatoes and place them in a mixer. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and mix. Before you add the other ingredients, clean the paddle off and mix and repeat, a couple of times; this helps collect the fibers which are unpleasant when left in the casserole. Spread evenly in a 9×13 baking dish and set aside.

In a food processor, combine topping ingredients. Sprinkle the topping over the casserole and bake at 350°F for 30-50 minutes, until it is set.

This dish can also be prepped ahead of time and baked the day of to save time!

Cranberry Orange Sauce

For as long as I can remember, I was given the task of making the cranberry sauce and I have worked hard to make it better and better over the last few years. I have finally settled on our favorite recipe yet! This one is the orange cranberry sauce sweetened with maple syrup and made with freshly squeezed oranges!

If your kiddos love cranberry sauce, they will definitely love to make this one! Have them rinsing the cranberries, pouring in the sugar, stirring carefully at the stove. All these things make them more excited to eat what they are getting to make with you!

3 cups cranberries

1/3+ cup pure maple syrup

1 T. orange zest

1/2 cup fresh orange juice

1/2 cup water

1 cinnamon stick (one 5” or two 3”)

Rinse and sort the cranberries discarding any expired ones. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the berries burst and break down, about 15-20 minutes.

Optional: blend all or some of the berries for a smoother sauce.

Adjust sweetness, and cool before serving.

I hope you love these wonderful family recipes from my family and you can see how easy it is to include the kiddos – big and small alike. I remember being included even in these big meals and how much I loved everyone enjoying what I made.

I’m praying you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year and see all the blessings in the every day. God is so good and has good plans for us.

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” Psalm 107:1