Welcome to The Cheater’s Guide to Thanksgiving. While there are plenty of tips out there for folks making scratch desserts and artisan loaves, the Cheater’s Guide focuses on the person who could use a helping hand—even from some unconventional sources. Some might call it “cheating” (like that’s a bad thing), but there’s nothing wrong with using modern technology and supermarket know-how to help you make a bangin’ traditional feast—with much less of the traditional work.
Much of Thanksgiving cooking is tradition: traditional dishes made in the traditional style served on the traditional tablecloth your family has used since before you were born. Allow me to challenge tradition with a modern upgrade to cooking part (or all) of your feast. Not only will you end up with excellent results, but you’ll save time and effort, and thus stress less. Instead of roasting everything in the oven, put some faith in your air fryer.
Why the air fryer rules on Thanksgiving
I feel lucky to live in a time when the convection oven was made compact and cute for home use. Thanks to the high velocity winds and petite stature, you can count on fast roasting with no preheating necessary. Not only that, but the air fryer is fully capable of cooking a variety of items, which frees up your oven for other dishes. While you’re unlikely to fit larger items in your air fryer, like a 22-pound turkey or 13 by 9-inch casserole dish, you can certainly cook a variety of smaller sized items. (That includes main dishes.) Below are some Thanksgiving classics you can make in the air fryer.
Which air fryer is suited for the job?
Any air fryer can speed up cooking; your only limitation might be size. For large roasts, you might want to consider a bigger oven like the Cuisinart below. If you plan on making multiple different items at once, consider something with two baskets and two separate, independent cooking zones, like the Ninja.
Turkey breast and other roasts
Although I wouldn’t recommend air-frying a whole turkey, you absolutely can roast part of a turkey. Many stores sell solo turkey breasts, and a small one of those can fit into an air fryer. It’s not a bad idea to measure the interior of your air fryer (accounting for at least two inches of buffer space from where the fan is) to know your limitations.
The air fryer can roast other main-dish meats too, like a juicy pork tenderloin, broiler chicken, boneless leg of lamb, porchetta, ham roast, or a show-stopping beef Wellington. Make sure to brine or marinate your meat the night before. Depending on the roast, you may achieve more even browning by flipping the roast for the last third of the cooking time.
I recommend keeping a reliable thermometer on hand so you can easily check for doneness, as the timing will vary depending on the animal you’re roasting and its size. I like the Thermapen One for this job, and the ThermoWorks website often has holiday sales, so keep an eye out.
Small casseroles
Small casseroles that can fit into baking dishes around six to nine inches across will do just fine in an air fryer. Naturally, it depends on the size of the air fryer, but once again, measure it to find out.
To air fry a given casserole, you can use the recommended oven directions, just reduce the temperature by 25°F and check on the casserole about halfway through the instructed cooking time to assess how much longer it needs to go for. Toaster-oven-style air fryers are ideal for this because the door hinges open for easier removal, but you can still use a basket-style air fryer. Just be careful lowering casserole dishes in, and especially careful when taking them out.
Where the air fryer really shines for casseroles is achieving crispy or melty toppings, and for reheating. My friends often contribute small casseroles to our Friendsgiving meal, and this year I’ll be using my air fryer to reheat. It’ll keep my oven more available and reduce the bake time significantly.
Roasted veggies
I think the best side dishes consist of flavorful, hearty winter vegetables. Many of my favorites happen to be dense root veggies, squashes, or stalky crucifers which can take hours to cook in the conventional oven. The air fryer will absolutely save you with all of your vegetable sides. Since they’re so important, I’ve put my favorites in a separate post here.
Crescent rolls and other tube breads
Little else is more traditional than cracking open a can of instant bread for Thanksgiving. Pillsbury Crescent Rolls or biscuits have an honorary seat at many tables, and if your oven is loaded to the gills with a turkey and two 13 by 9-inch casserole dishes, these little cuties might get scorched. Better to give them a space to themselves in your mini convection oven.
If you have a toaster-oven-style air fryer, perfect; you can use the flat baking tray. Most basket-style air fryers come with a little grate that fits into the bottom. The rolls can sit on that, but you’ll get a textured bottom. Personally, I think the air circulation is better like this, but if that lumpy bottom bothers you, you can get air fryer basket liners like these to make a straight surface, or cut a piece of parchment to fit on the grate, and that’ll smooth things out. Simply put the rolled dough or biscuits into the air fryer (with an inch of space between neighbors) and air fry for five to seven minutes at 325°F. They’re done once puffed and well browned. Do check the bottoms before you pull them out; depending on the air fryer, they might need to be flipped and cooked for a few minutes longer.
Garlic bread
Rest assured, if you’re not interested in compressed tube bread for the big feast, you can make garlic bread instead. I like to use garlic confit to make a mellow garlicky mash, and you can make this recipe days ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge for when you’re ready to use it.
Split a long loaf, like Italian bread or a baguette, and spread a thick layer of salted butter and garlic confit into the center. Place the bread into the air fryer upside down and cook it for about three minutes at 325°F. Flip the bread and brush on more of the garlic and butter mixture; cook it for another three minutes. Take it out and slice the loaf into smaller serving sizes.
