Five Favorite Holiday Recipes

How can it be Thanksgiving next week? I am still enjoying my birthday cake, and wishing my daughter a Happy Birthday this weekend. Thank goodness Rachel, Lacey and Miranda are on top of things with this week’s Friday Five 2.0 topic, otherwise I might not have started planning my Thanksgiving menu. 

five holiday recipes
While I’m always willing to try a new recipe, I think holiday meals should be based on family favorites. That’s why our menu doesn’t change much from year to year. Here are five favorite holiday recipes we usually enjoy on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas.

1. Grilled Turkey. Many years ago my father-in-law had the brilliant idea to roast our Thanksgiving turkey on our Weber charcoal grill, and we’ve had it that way ever since. It is easy, the turkey cooks relatively quickly, the oven is free for other dishes, and it works perfectly every time.

grilled turkey

Want to try it yourself? Check out the tips on Weber website here.

Even though we have a gas grill now, we have held on to our Weber charcoal grill for this very purpose!

2. Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad. My raw Brussels sprouts salad has become my signature holiday dish. The first few times I made it I sliced the Brussels sprouts by hand. Then I realized I could use my food processor for that job. Now, I often can find bags of pre-shredded Brussels sprouts at the grocery store which makes this recipe an easy one too.

Raw Brussels Sprouts Salad

Click through the image for the recipe.

3. Fluffy Chobani Mashed Potatoes. We have mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving and Christmas. My son wants to make them this year–probably with loads of butter and garlic–but the fluffy Chobani mashed potatoes I made last year were a big hit. 

chobani mashed potatoes

4. Apple Pie.
 Apple pie is another holiday treat we enjoy at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year I have two recipes to choose from.

The hardest part of this “Blue-Ribbon Apple Pie” recipe is making the lattice crust .

apple pie

On the other hand, there’s nothing easy about this pain in the ass apple pie recipe, but it’s so delicious it’s almost worth it. 

Pain In The Ass Apple Pie
5. Pumpkin Pie Crunch Bars. My family’s fondness for pumpkin pie is waning, but it doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving without something pumpkin on the menu. These pumpkin pie crunch bars have a traditional pumpkin pie base, jazzed up with a crumb topping that includes chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips.

Pumkin Pie Crunch Bars

Pin your favorite recipe ideas to save for later, and get more holiday menu ideas at the Friday Five 2.0 link up at Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness.

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What favorite holiday recipes are you looking forward to?

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31 Responses to Five Favorite Holiday Recipes

  1. You just made me wish I had a charcoal grill! Grilling a turkey is brilliant. My oven is always overloaded. My all time favorite Thanksgiving dish is a mashed sweet potato casserole thing that has walnuts on the top. It’s so good!

  2. Marcia says:

    All of these dishes look absolutely amazing! When I have Thanksgiving I typically do a bird in the oven and at least an extra breast on the grill. The grilled one is SO delish! Sadly we’ll be at the in-laws this year and I’ve been assigned a salad. Apple pie with a crumb top is my fave!

  3. I’ve never thought about having raw brussel sprouts before. It looks interesting.

    Steaming potatoes before mashing makes the dish a lot lighter. If I do this I usually leave the skin on and then remove it once they are cooked (you need to be careful, nothing like holding a hot potato!). And I do have a ricer and it is a fantastic tool!

  4. All of those look so delicious! Any one of them would be great for Thanksgiving. I have heard of fried turkey, but never on the grill. I bet that has great flavor.

  5. So do you actually put Chobani yogurt in those potatoes? They look yummy, as do the brussel sprouts and pumpkin bars! I get called upon to make the same boring green bean casserole for thanksgiving each year.

    • Coco says:

      Yes, the plain yogurt is used instead of the sour cream used in some recipes. Your green beans must be good if it’s always requested!

  6. Karen says:

    Mashed potatoes and apple pie – two of my favorite things 🙂 I don’t even know what I am doing for Thanksgiving yet…
    I pinned the pumpkin bars, maybe I will try to make them if i am home. Enjoy your holiday!

  7. I don’t think my family really has favorites. They do like my husband’s pepperoni stuffing, which reminds him of his dad and which he makes, and since I don’t really like stuffing all that much, it’s all good.

    Grilled turkey is hit or miss here. We can have some whopper snowstorms around this time of year and right now the forecast is for rain. Luckily I have a double oven, toaster oven, and several crockpots and they’re all pressed into play!

    • Coco says:

      We did have one rainy year — luckily the turkey doesn’t require too much attention and my husband could tend to it while using a big golf umbrella!

  8. ooh the pumpkin pie bars look delish! I can’t believe it’s Thanksgiving either

  9. It’s nice to have family food traditions. 🙂 Our Christmas tradition is seafood and chinese takeout!

  10. Definitely going to try the raw brussels sprouts salad! Nice departure from the usual cooked. Looks yummy!

  11. Yum! I love a shaved Brussels sprouts salad. I actually prefer them raw.

  12. We deep fry the turkey when we cook and sure its good! The brussel sprout salad looks great- I need to try that one!

  13. I never would have guessed you could cook a turkey on a grill. And pumpkin is not big here, but I am immediately going to look up your bar recipe. See if I can find the ingrédients.

    • Coco says:

      I’m not sure cake mix is as easy to find over there, but you could make a simple crumb topping with flour, butter and brown sugar.

  14. Ana says:

    Put me down for the brussel sprout salad! that sounds fantastic! And the pumpkin crunch bar sounds most excellent too!

  15. I’ve never thought of grilling a turkey! Since Thanksgiving has past for us Canadians, the thought of grilling a turkey on Christmas day just seems too cold to me (with our weather). The foods looks SO good!

  16. Sherry says:

    Nice list! I’m going to have to check out the Chobani mashed potatoes recipe. Never thought of using yogurt. Love apple pie too!

  17. Love the idea of grilling the turkey! If we weren’t headed to my inlaws for Thanksgiving this year I’d be all over trying that one.

  18. Rachel says:

    Oh my gosh to the pumpkin pie bars. And grilled turkey! I’ve never grilled a turkey! I love your Thanksgiving menu. Yum!

  19. Last year, my sister made some Boursin potatoes and omg. So good.

    I may have to try that PIA apple pie recipe.

  20. Jenn says:

    This year, my husband is going to make a bacon-wrapped turkey breast on his Big Green Egg. We always make one complete bird, and then try something different like a fried breast or this.

    I love apple pie, and stuffing and cranberry sauce.

    It’s going to be a good holiday season.

  21. Cassi says:

    I think I’d like to try grilled turkey….but who’s gonna buy me a grill? Lol

  22. Grilled turkey sounds amazing!!!!!

  23. Yummmm I love salads with shaved Brussels sprouts!!! That might be my favorite way to eat them!

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