This is going to be a strange thanksgiving year and a smaller thanksgiving dinner for just about everyone. Whether that means you went from 16 → 6 or 6 → 2, making all that food might not be needed, or wanted. Here is our dinner and chill guide to a relaxed, stress free, but super tasty and over the top tiny thanksgiving dinner.
A tiny thanksgiving is a good thing! It means you get to eat what you want instead of trying to appease everyone. It also means more leftovers if you want to go that route. And you can spend a little more and treat yourself because you’re not trying to feed a crowd.
Just because it’s a smaller thanksgiving doesn’t mean you need to eat a sad meal. You can make a small amount of food even more special than a large feast. I think we should all celebrate making it this far in 2020 with a little OTT luxury and escapism. Here’s how we are doing it this year.
The ultimate tiny Thanksgiving appetizer
Charcuterie is always a our go-to appetizer for a special meal. It’s a really good choice for scaling for 2 or 4. Just buy the appropriate amount, and there is almost zero prep.
The Ultimate Charcuterie Board
A grown up, fancy version of lunchables but for dinner aka the best kind of choose your own adventure, the kind you can eat!
Thanksgiving Drinks for 2
Is it a nice dinner if you don’t have an appetizer cocktail? Go with our classic old fashioned, which only needs bourbon and bitters, and add a pretty orange peel garnish to it for some festive flair.
A Tiny Turkey
If you don’t need to feed a crowd, why waste so much time and effort on a whole bird? Buying just legs or breast roasts are way cheaper, cook better and faster, and is so much easier.
Instant Pot Turkey
Why hang out near the oven all day basting only to end up with a dry bird? Pressure cooking is the way to go.
Lemongrass Braised Turkey Legs
If you’re planning a small Thanksgiving for two, consider turkey legs.
Or even alternative mains
Or maybe you don’t even want turkey. This year we’re going with char siu honey ham as our main.
Honey Baked Ham
Instead of buying an expensive ready-made one, make your own char siu inspired honey baked ham instead!
Classic Roast Chicken
Thomas Keller’s perfect 3 ingredient roast chicken recipe is unbelievably good for what it takes to make.
Za’atar Roast Chicken
Spice up your life with this tender oven-braised chicken, caramelized lemons, and buttery toasted pine nuts.
English Roast Beef
Or avoid poultry altogether and make a Sunday Roast: a big hunk of meat, roast potatoes, Yorkies, all the good stuff!
Harissa Salmon
This 5-ingredient salmon is dead easy and dependable, perfect as luxe low-effort Thanksgiving dinner.
Tiny Thanksgiving side dishes
Thanksgiving without the right sides is just a slightly upgraded turkey TV dinner. These sides are all highly scalable and hands off. Bonus, we are going with a crock pot stuffing, oven casserole, and instant pot mashed potatoes, so nothing needs to be kept warm or rushed.
Crockpot Stuffing
Set-it-and-forget-it crock pot stuffing recipe with soft, custardy bread and crispy, toasty edges.
Gravy
Would it be truly over the top if you didn’t make gravy? We’re going all out and making 6 kinds, including sausage gravy, because gravy is the spice of life.
The Ultimate Guide to Gravy
Gravy 101: Tips, tricks, and all your pressing gravy questions, answered
Cranberry sauce too
If you do that kind of thing. We do!
Instant Pot Orange Cranberry Sauce
Breeze through Thanksgiving by making this make ahead Instant Pot orange cranberry sauce. It’s so easy, any one cran(berry) cook!
Tiny Thanksgiving Dessert
It wouldn’t be a true celebration without dessert, and luckily, tiny Thanksgivings mean the greatest desserts of all: small batch desserts. These quick and easy small batch loaves and cakes are a breeze to put together and tastier than their bigger siblings.
Mini Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
The sure fire way into someone’s heart is this make ahead mini sticky bun cinnamon roll monkey bread situation.
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
Cinnamon streusel crumbs swirled throughout a classic yellow cake – the perfect little loaf to have with coffee.
Chocolate Guinness Cake Loaf
Dark beer and chocolate are a match made in cake heaven, doubly so when it’s small batch you can drink the rest.
Mini Chocolate Loaf Cake
A lightly sweet and chocolatey sturdy little vegan loaf cake made with no eggs, milk, or butter. So tasty and rich the non-vegans around won’t know.
Best Chocolate Mug Cake
What could be better than curling up on the couch with a warm chocolate cake in a mug in your hands? And it’s only 2 minutes!
Basque Burnt Cheesecake
This extra-small gluten-free basque cheesecake has a hint of burnt caramel that will win your heart on its way to your tummy.
Super Chocolatey Brownies
The perfect tiny extra small batch brownie recipe when you’re craving just 1 (or four) brownies.
Leftovers right away
If you can have breakfast for dinner, why not have leftovers for the main event? Just because you want turkey for tradition doesn’t mean that it needs to be basic turkey. Some of these use leftover turkey, others use ground turkey or fresh turkey, but all of them are amazing, maybe even better than turkey by itself!
Turkey Wontons in Turkey Mapo
These ground turkey wonton in mapo turkey will satisfy that turkey craving.
Baked Orange Turkey
Just like orange chicken, but orange turkey! Thanksgiving-ify your favorite take out by subbing chicken with turkey.
Turkey Menchi Katsu
You’re gonna love this super juicy deep fried turkey patty and tonkatsu sauce on a toasted brioche bun.
Turkey Curry Udon
Make this quick and satisfying turkey curry udon, guaranteed to take you straight to the streets of Tokyo.
Turkey Noodle Soup
Try this Hue style spicy vermicelli noodle soup. It’s a great way to bestover your leftovers!
Turkey Pot Pie
Tender chunks of turkey, carrots, and peas in a creamy béchamel, topped off with fluffy garlic mashed potatoes.
Turkey Banh Mi Burger Sliders
These ground turkey burger sliders are deliciously the best of many worlds.
Turkey Pho
Piping hot slippery firm rice noodles, tender turkey, and umami-rich broth, the perfect #thatnoodlelife thanksgiving.
Turkey Fried Rice
Turkey fried rice is perfect for when you’re looking for a fast and easy bowl of comfort.
Happy Thanksgiving 2020!
-Mike
We opted for the whole turkey anyway this year, but I love these recipes for Sunday dinner where we put a little more effort into making something special. Can’t wait to go through your list (once we’re done with the TG leftovers).