low-key thanksgiving recipes

Courtney Takabayashi
November 19, 2024
food

While many celebrate Thanksgiving in large groups, sometimes it’s nice to have a low-key celebration with a handful of loved ones. Since you don’t need a whole turkey and a ton of side dishes for a smaller get-together, here are a few ideas for a delicious, stress-free Thanksgiving.

CARAMEL APPLE BRIE BITES
Ahh, fall in Hawaii … sure, it’s basically the same as the rest of the year, but we can still enjoy autumn flavors! Though pumpkin is a fall favorite, I love all things apple! It’s a versatile, affordable, and delicious fruit. Start your Thanksgiving with this easy appetizer inspired by carnival caramel apples that are much easier to eat. 

You need skewers for this recipe, but if you don’t have any, toothpicks will work, too!

Ingredients

  • Apples (we used Granny Smith and Envy)
  • Brie cheese
  • Macadamia nuts (or any nut), chopped
  • Caramel sauce
  • Dried cranberries

Instructions
Wash and cut apples into ½-inch pieces. Set aside. Slice brie into ½-inch cubes. Alternate apple and brie pieces on a skewer and place on serving tray. Drizzle with caramel sauce. Sprinkle with macadamia nuts and dried cranberries. Enjoy! 

SLOW COOKER TURKEY AND LOCAL-STYLE STUFFING
There are few foods I dislike more than dry meat. And since turkey breast is infamous for drying out easily, I rarely cook it. However, preparing it in the slow cooker is a game changer since you can set it and forget it with juicy results.

We deemed our stuffing “local-style” since we added Portuguese sausage, giving it a hearty boost. And cooking it with the turkey gives you one fewer side dish to think about. It’s a win-win situation.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole onion, chopped
  • 1 5-oz. package Portuguese sausage, chopped
  • 1 6-oz. box stuffing
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 3 lb. turkey breast, bone-in*
  • 1 12-oz. jar gravy of choice
  • 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
  • 1 tsp. sage
  • Salt and pepper to taste

*You can use any size turkey breast, bone-in or boneless turkey; it just depends on how many people you’re feeding.

Instructions
Optional: Sauté onions and Portuguese sausage until onions are translucent and sausage is cooked as desired. This gives them a nice texture and adds a depth of flavor. But if you don’t sauté, they’ll still cook in the slow cooker.

Add onions, Portuguese sausage, stuffing mix, butter, and chicken broth to slow cooker. Mix. Place turkey breast on top. Cover with gravy. Sprinkle poultry seasoning, sage, salt, and pepper.

Cook on high (if your slow cooker has that option) for 8 hours or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the turkey is 165 degrees F.

Once your turkey is done, remove from the slow cooker and let rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving.

The stuffing will seem a little soggy, but once you remove from the slow cooker and let cool, it will firm up. Since it absorbed all the liquids, it will be full of flavor! 

HEALTHIER CORN PUDDING
For a healthier version of this classic Thanksgiving side dish, we substituted plain Greek yogurt for sour cream and eggs, opted for reduced-fat cheese, and used half the amount of butter than traditional recipes. Hopefully, it’s so good you won’t be able to tell the difference!

Ingredients

  • 1 8.5-oz. box corn muffin mix
  • 1 14.75-oz. can cream style corn
  • 1 10-oz. bag sweet corn
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt
  • 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 2 cups reduced-fat cheddar cheese, divided

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all the ingredients including 1 cup of cheese in a bowl until incorporated. Add to baking vessel of choice. It should fit in an 8”x8” pan, but we opted to bake half the batter in a 5.5”x8” baking dish and make muffins out of the rest of the batter. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the middle is cooked through. Cool before serving.

Here’s a close up!

NO-BAKE PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
A cheesecake you don’t have to bake? It sounds too good to be true! Luckily, for a nonbaker like me, it’s not. And while the instructions say to refrigerate for at least four hours, we found that letting it set overnight made the cheesecake even firmer and full of flavor. So, consider making this the night before you serve it.

Ingredients

  • 1 15-oz. pumpkin pie filling
  • 8 oz. low-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 9-in. prepared pie crust

Instructions
Mix pumpkin pie filling, cream cheese, 1 cup frozen whipped topping, and powdered sugar in a bowl until smooth. Fill pie crust and top with the rest of the whipped topping. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least four hours. 

Slice and serve! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

A meal for all seasons
Whether you’re prepping a holiday roast or ozoni for the New Year, we’ve got you covered! Here are some holiday-oriented recipes that are easy and delicious:

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