This year I’m going to participate in a Friendsgiving where everyone is supposed to bring a self-cooked meal. I was never planning to bring a whole turkey or stuffing to the party because it’s too much hassle and since everyone is bringing something, I wanted to be more original. That’s why I found these recipes that can work as an alternative to a traditional Thanksgiving meal.
Below are 3 recipes with turkey, a recipe for a side and an easy dessert recipe. Enjoy!
1. Turkey Skewers with Peanut Butter Sauce
Image Courtesy of Delfi
These are super easy to make and great for those who love peanut butter!
Ingredients for 4 servings:
For skewers:
- 1 lb turkey fillets
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
For sauce:
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons boiling water
You’ll also need bamboo skewers
Instructions:
1. Prepare skewers: mix peanut butter with sweet chili sauce. Cut turkey fillets in long strips, put them in a bowl and add the peanut butter and sweet chili sauce marinade. Make sure the strips are well coated with the marinade.
2. Take a bamboo skewer and put it through the fillet strip so that the strip is in a zigzag shape. After this is done with all strips, pour the rest of the marinade over them.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake the skewers for 10-15 minutes. Then turn the skewers around and bake for another 10 minutes.
4. Prepare the sauce: mix the peanut butter with the sweet chili sauce and boiling water until a smooth consistency.
Serve as a snack or with rice or other sides.
Recipe Courtesy of Delfi
2. Citrus Turkey Breast
Image Courtesy of Pillsbury
A different, fresh taste of Thanksgiving turkey this year!
Ingredients for 8 servings:
- 1 bone-in whole turkey breast
- 1 large lemon
- 1 tangerine or navel orange
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Using fingers, gently loosen skin covering turkey breast, creating a pocket over each breast.
3. Grate half of the lemon and tangerine so that you have 1 teaspoon grated peel from each. Slice the remaining into very thin slices. In a small bowl, combine grated peel, oil, salt, and pepper. Slide lemon and tangerine slices between turkey skin and meat.
4. Place turkey, breast side up, on rack in shallow roasting pan. Rub oil mixture over turkey breast.
5. Roast uncovered for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. Remove turkey from oven and cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before carving. Garnish with additional fruit slices.
Recipe Courtesy of Pillsbury
3. Turkey Salad with Cheese and Balsamic-Cranberry vinaigrette Image Courtesy of Cetras Sezonas
This recipe has a lot of ingredients but it’s original and looks super delicious! An awesome alternative if you want to avoid overeating on Thanksgiving.
Ingredients for 2 servings:
For marinade:
- 1 oz cranberries
- 1 fl. oz balsamic vinegar
- 0.5 fl. oz olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground pink pepper
For salad:
- 9 oz turkey fillet, cut in small strips
- Olive oil for cooking
- 3 oz salad mix
- 1,5 celery stalks, cut in small rolls
- ¾ peeled apple, cut in small pieces
- 2 oz grated hard cheese
For salad dressing:
- 1 fl. oz olive oil
- 0.5 fl. oz balsamic vinegar
- 0.7 oz cranberries, squished
- 1.5 teaspoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoons sea salt
Instructions:
1. Prepare the marinade: mix all the ingredients together. Smear the marinade over all turkey strips and let them marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. Prepare the salad dressing: mix all the ingredients together.
3. Heat some olive oil in a pan and place the turkey strips in it. Cook on high heat around 5 minutes or until done.
4. Prepare salad. Pour the salad dressing over the salad and mix together. Add celery and apples. Place the cooked turkey on salad and scatter cheese on top. Serve.
Recipe Courtesy of Cetras Sezonas
4. Simple Roasted Butternut Squash
Image Courtesy of barefoot contessa
A super easy side dish for your favorite turkey recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Toss butternut squash with olive oil and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and black pepper. Arrange coated squash on a baking sheet.
3. Roast in the preheated oven until squash is tender and lightly browned, 25 to 30 min.
Recipe Courtesy of All Recipes
5. Pecan Cookie Cups with Maple Cream
Image Courtesy of Pillsbury
This dessert comes with several pros: it’s easy to make, it’s super delicious, and since you’ll have 24 small cups, you won’t eat too much sugar (unless you eat all of them by yourself)!
Ingredients:
For cookie cups:
- 1 package of ready-to-bake refrigerated sugar cookies (24 cookies)
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
For filling:
- 1,5 cups whipped topping
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 24 pecan halves
You’ll also need a mini muffin pan.
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease and flour 24 mini muffin cups. Place 1 cookie dough round in each muffin cup. Gently press thumb into each dough-filled cup, making a small indentation. Fill each cup with about 1/2 teaspoon chopped pecans.
3. Bake 15 to 20 min or until light golden brown. Cool in pan, about 10 min. To remove from pan, gently turn cookie cups until they turn freely.
4. In a medium bowl, mix whipped topping and maple syrup. Spoon about 1 tablespoon filling into each cup. Top each with a pecan half.
Recipe Courtesy of Pillsbury
I’m excited to try these recipes for my Friendsgiving event! I hope these recipes will inspire you to try something new, whether it’s for Thanksgiving or any other day!