Thanksgiving Cooking School: Turkey Dinner for 4 in Under 2 Hours

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner has a reputation for being both tedious and time-consuming. However, it really doesn’t have to be either of those things. Kitchn’s Deputy Food Director Grace Elkus teamed up with some of our favorite brands during Kitchn’s Thanksgiving Food Fest to show us how to significantly trim down prep time — without skipping any favorite dishes.

With the help of an Instant Pot Duo Crisp + Air Fryer, some Pyrex Deep baking dishes, and a few pretty Corelle platters, Grace pulled off a complete Thanksgiving spread in just two hours: juicy herbed turkey breast, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, mashed red potatoes, and, of course, pumpkin pie. Here’s how she did it.

No one wants to miss out on an abundant Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey and all the fixings. To tackle it without spending all day in the kitchen, you need some smart shortcuts. While walking us through a complete step-by-step game plan to prepare the full meal in just two hours, Grace highlighted a few key timesavers:

1. Cook your turkey in the Instant Pot to save time and oven space. While it takes hours to roast a whole turkey, it takes less than 30 minutes to cook a turkey breast in the Instant Pot Duo Crisp + Air Fryer. A turkey breast perfectly serves four people and is a whole lot easier to carve than the full bird.
   
2. Let your cookware do more of the work for you. Making just one side like mashed potatoes can easily dirty multiple dishes. Instead, let your cookware do double or triple duty. Rather than boiling your potatoes, bake them in a Pyrex 7×11-inch Deep baking dish. Since they’re baked with butter, milk or cream, and salt — and because Pyrex is stronger than regular glass — the potatoes can be mashed right in the dish.
   
3. Don’t stress about the serveware. Selecting the perfect platters for serving your turkey and sides wastes time. Don’t hesitate to serve some of the sides, such as sweet potato casserole and stuffing, directly in their Pyrex baking dishes. For the rest, reach for Corelle platters. They’re lightweight and look extra pretty on your Thanksgiving table.

Read more: How to Make Thanksgiving Dinner in Two Hours