A Low Key Thanksgiving Dinner for Four (Grain, Gluten, Dairy-Free)

Over the years, I've shared all my feast-level Thanksgiving recipes. Those are still available and never changing because they'll taste as good this year as they have the last seven years. But in case you're keeping your group small, I wanted to share something a little different for this year. An entire Thanksgiving dinner, in one post, portioned for four people (with some light leftovers).

Instead of a whole turkey, we do a turkey breast. Instead of a pan of stuffing, we stuff and roll the turkey with vegetables and herbs. Green bean casserole is swapped for simple asparagus and mushrooms and it's all paired with the creamiest, fluffiest mashed potatoes you've ever had (while still being dairy-free). Pan gravy and a cranberry glaze finish it off, and every bite is symphonic. If I do say so myself.

Perfect Thanksgiving Stuffed Turkey Breast

Recipe by Chris Marcum

5.0 from 1 vote

Course: Main Course, DinnerCuisine: American, Thanksgiving

Servings

4

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

Calorieskcal

Perfectly portioned for a small group, a stuffed turkey breast gives you all the Thanksgiving flavors, but quicker and more fool-proof than a full turkey.

Ingredients

• 1/2 turkey breast just one side, skin on

• For the stuffing

• 3/4 cup leek finely chopped

• 1/2 cup celery finely chopped

• 1 tbsp garlic finely chopped

• 2 tsp rosemary finely chopped

• 2 tsp thyme leaves separated from stem

• 1 tbsp sage leaves finely chopped

• 2 tbsp parsley finely chopped

• 1 tbsp oregano leaves finely chopped

• 1/4 cup carrot finely chopped

• 2 tbsp almonds finely chopped

• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

• 2 tbsp almond flour

• 3 tsp ground allspice

• olive oil

• salt

• pepper

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375. In an oven-safe large saute pan on medium heat, combine all the stuffing ingredients except the almond flour and allspice powder. Season with salt and pepper, and sweat for 3-5 minutes. Remove to a bowl, add the almond flour and mix together. Keep the pan though - don't clean it.
• Fillet open the turkey breast (see video). Season the inside with salt and pepper, and 2 tsp allspice powder. Add the stuffing and carefully roll the turkey breast up.
• Tie the breast up with butcher's twine and season the outside with another tsp allspice powder, some salt and pepper.
• Add a couple tbsp olive oil to the pan, place back on the stove on medium heat. Once the residual vegetables left in the pan begin to sizzle in the oil a little, put the turkey breast in, skin side up. Allow it to cook for a couple minutes, then spoon some of the olive oil over top the breast and put it in the oven to cook until it reaches an internal temp of 162 (about 45-60 minutes). Allow it to cool for 20 minutes before slicing.

So in case you can't be with everyone you'd like to be, you can really treat the ones you are able to spend the day with. And the whole meal start to finish comes together in about two hours, so you get to save yourself some stress as well. Happy Thanksgiving, all. And looking forward to more days of sitting around a table together again.