This weekend is Thanksgiving and if you’re anything like me, I love trying new things for big family meals. At Furniture Villa, 80% of the turkey that gets cooked by staff for Thanksgiving is done on a Traeger grill. (There are a couple of team members that haven’t taken the plunge…YET!) We wanted to share with you some of our favourite grilled recipes to help you make this Thanksgiving one that your family will talk about all year.

 

First, the most important item on the menu…the turkey! A well cooked bird will always be the star of the show, so making sure it is tender, juicy and well seasoned is key. Add in a little smoke flavour and you have a show stopper! Traeger has made this all easy for you with the Turkey Pellet blend. This blend features Maple, Hickory and a touch of Rosemary to elevate your turkey’s flavour during the slow cook. The bag also contains an Orange Brine mix and Turkey rub featuring notes of citrus, garlic & spices. We like this Ultimate Smoked Turkey recipe.

*Here’s a tip from Matt: cook your turkey breast down for the first little bit. This allows the juices from the back to drip through the breast meat, keeping it juicy and flavourful!

 

Sides are like the support system for the turkey. Without good sides, the turkey will fall flat! Traditional sides like mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce are good, but a few extra steps and they can be amazing. Like these Rosemary & Thyme-Infused Mashed Potatoes with Cream. Steeping herbs in cream before adding it to the potatoes will give a beautiful depth of flavour to an otherwise plain dish.

 

Bacon makes everything better! So why not add it to your green beans to make a simple yet delicious veggie side? Roasted Green Beans With Bacon(https://www.traeger.com/recipes/bacon-wrapped-green-beans) is so simple that all you have to do is throw all of your ingredients onto a sheet tray or cast iron pan (we like the Ooni Dual-Sided Grizzler Plate for this recipe) and let the bacon and garlic infuse the green beans with deliciousness.

When it comes to cranberry sauce, we know most people run to the old faithful can of Ocean Spray and call it a day. But did you know that making your own from scratch is actually super simple? Pulling from the orange flavour in the turkey brine, this Roasted Cranberry-Orange Sauce is deliciously easy. Grilling your oranges first amplifies the citrus taste with just the right amount of smoke. The Finex 1QT Cast Iron Sauce Pan is perfect for this recipe.

 

Last, but not least, is dessert. We all know the go-to favourites of pumpkin pie and apple crisp are delicious but why not break out of the box and try this Salted Caramel and Banana Pie? I bet you didn’t know that your Ooni pizza oven was good for just making pizza pies! Throw this mouth-watering treat in your Fyra while the rest of your meal cooks away on your Traeger.

So there you go! Furniture Villa’s Thanksgiving dinner upgrades. Let us know if you try any of these recipes yourself! Don’t forget to stop by the store to stock up on all of your Thanksgrilling essentials.