Sous Vide Thanksgiving Meal Prep for A Stress-Free Holiday
Have a stress-free holiday with this step-by-step sous vide Thanksgiving meal prep guide, which includes the menu, timetable, all recipes, and a video.
It’s Thanksgiving time. This time of the year is about gatherings, spending time with friends and family, slowing down to reflect, sharing our stories, or simply being, preferably over lots of good food.
If you are reading this, I guess you will be the host, just like me. The last thing I want you to do is kill yourself to make the feast for everyone else and not be able to chill, relax, and enjoy yourself.
That’s why I’ve got a whole Thanksgiving feast planned out, and we’re going to sous vide the heck out of it. So YOU, my friend, can impress everyone with your food and have a great time!
Sous Vide Thanksgiving Menu
First things first, the menu.
- Sous Vide Whole Turkey
- Sous Vide Garlic-Paprika Potatoes
- Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
- Moroccan Salad with Oranges and Sous Vide Carrots
- Sous Vide Cranberry Sauce
- Sous Vide Cheesecakes
This six-course menu is excellent for a gathering of six to eight people. If you’re feeding a larger group, feel free to add a stuffing or other traditional Thanksgiving dishes.
Don’t worry—you’ll have plenty of time to make extra dishes because your sous vide will do the heavy lifting, and your oven will be free.
Essential Equipment
To do meal prep sous vide effectively, the right equipment is crucial. To pull this Thanksgiving feast off in the way I described in this article, you’ll need the following sous vide setting.
- A sous vide machine (immersion circulator): My Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker does a lion share of cooking and need me less.
- A large sous vide container: Since you’ll be cooking multiple items together during meal prep, a large tank is essential. I use this 16-liter container from Anova. It comes with a removable lid and a rack which I often use to weigh my vegetables down. It’s perfect for sous vide meal prepping.
- A vacuum sealer: To sous vide meal prep effectively, I’d strongly recommend you invest in a vacuum sealer, especially for sous vide vegetables and sauces.
- Vacuum-sealer bags: This vacuum-sealer rolls combo set gives you the flexibility to custom-cut your bags into desired sizes. You may also consider pre-cut vacuum-sealer bags for more convenience.
Now that you’re fully equipped, let’s do this!
The Timetable
Looking at this schedule makes me feel so relieved and stress-free. You do a little bit of this and that each day, and by Thanksgiving night, BOOM! This is how a hero is made.
Five days before the big day
Defrost your turkey in the fridge. It usually takes three days for a bird weighing between 12 and 16 pounds to thaw completely. Just let it sit there. There’s not much you need to do at this stage.
Two days before the big day
The main task on this day is brining the turkey. Follow this recipe to make my go-to dry brine. Then, you can go ahead and vacuum-seal the turkey parts and let them marinate in the fridge overnight.
That’s all you need to do on this day.
One day before Thanksgiving
On this day, you have two tasks: making the sous vide cheesecakes and cooking the turkey legs sous vide.
We make the cheesecakes at least one day ahead of time because they need time to settle, and allowing them to settle in the fridge for at least one night is the best. It’s so nice to get the dessert out of the way first so you have one less thing to think about.
Follow this recipe to make the sous vide cheesecake. The recipe yields eight 4-oz jars of cheesecake, so it should be enough for eight people. If you have more guests, double the recipe, or you can use 8-oz jars for hardcore cheesecake lovers.
Whether you use 4-oz or 8-oz jars, the sous vide temperature and time remain the same: 176°F (80°C) for 90 minutes. After that, remove the cheesecakes from the hot water bath and let them chill for a bit before refrigerating. They will come to the perfect consistency in the fridge overnight.
From there, allow the sous vide bath temperature to drop to 150°F (65°C). In the meantime, vacuum-seal the turkey parts if you haven’t done so. Once the water reaches the temperature, put the turkey legs in the water and leave the breasts and wings in the fridge. We’ll sous vide the white meat the next day.
Why Sous Vide Red Meat First?
- To take advantage of the 6 to 12-hour range of cooking time: Once the turkey legs are in the sous vide water bath, you want to set the timer for at least 6 hours, but you can safely leave them in the water for up to 12 hours. This 6 to 12-hour range is really to our advantage. Say if you tackle the cheesecakes and turkey legs in the morning, the turkey legs can be done in six hours by night time. Chill them in an ice-water bath and put them in the fridge. And if you make the cheesecake during the day or even at night, when you get to sous vide the turkey legs, you can let them hang in the water to cook overnight while you sleep.
- To better manage your time: White meat requires less cooking time and lower temperatures than red meat. So it’s easy to manage time, which is essential when you prepare a feast for a large group of people. Once the turkey legs are cooked and chilled or refrigerated first, and on the next day (Thanksgiving day), they can be warmed up in the same sous vide bath at 140°F (60°C) while the white meat is cooking. So, all four turkey parts will be ready to finish for dinner simultaneously.
On the big day:
Now, the big day has come. This is the most exciting part, with three side dishes in one go: Brussels sprouts with bacon, a fantastic salad with carrots and blood oranges, and cranberry sauce. By the way, this cranberry sauce will be a terrific topping for your sous vide cheesecakes.
Guess what? We’re going to sous vide Brussels sprouts, carrots, and cranberries all together in the same tank at the same temperature simultaneously.
On the morning of Thanksgiving day, you want to start cooking at least seven hours before your targeted dinner time. The earlier, the better. Here are the steps to follow.
1. Garlic-Paprika Potatoes: First, heat the sous vide water bath to 194°F (90°C). While the water is heating up, make some garlic-infused oil and prepare the potatoes. Once the water is ready, submerge the potatoes in the sous vide bath and set the timer for one hour.
2. Prep Brussels sprouts, cranberries, and carrots: During this hour, prepare three items to sous vide together.
- Item #1: Brussels sprouts: First, fry bacon pieces on the stove. Once they turn crispy, transfer them to paper towels to cool. In the meantime, Rinse and cut the Brussels sprouts and put them in a vacuum-sealer bag. Add the bacon pieces and the garlic-infused oil with garlic. Vacuum-seal the bag.
- Item #2: Cranberries: Only three ingredients are required. Put cranberries, sugar, and zest from an orange in a sous vide bag and vacuum-seal it.
- Item #3: Carrots: Rinse, trim, and cut the carrots. Season them with garlic-infused oil, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, salt, and cayenne pepper. Arrange them in sous vide bags in a single layer (separate them by color) and vacuum-seal the bags.
3. Sous vide Brussels sprouts, cranberries, and carrots: When the potatoes are done, transfer them into an ice-water bath and allow the sous vide water temperature to drop to 185°F (85°C). Place the prepared three items into the water bath. Pretty much all of them are going to float. The important thing to do is to find a way to weigh them down. Set the timer for an hour. Now, go rest and recharge. Seriously, you got this.
4. Sous vide the turkey white meat: After the vegetables and cranberries are done, transfer them to an ice-water bath. Add cold water to the sous vide water bath and quickly allow it to drop to 140°F (60°C), then submerge the turkey white meat in the water. You’ll need to let it sous vide for at least three hours (up to eight hours). This is why you want to start cooking at least seven hours before dinner.
5. Warm up the turkey red meat: One and a half hours before dinner, take the cooked turkey legs out of the fridge and drop them into the sous vide water bath to warm them up, and let the breast parts continue cooking until you are ready to put everything together.
StreetSmart Sous Vide Tips
- Prep-ahead magic: Sous vide cheesecake and vegetables can be made a few days ahead of time. Let all the vegetables chill in the fridge until the big day. You can serve the cranberry sauce chilled. You don’t need to warm up the carrots because they are going into a salad. You want to finish the potatoes and Brussels sprouts on the stove anyway, so they will be warm by the time you serve them.
- Lower the water temperature: To quickly lower the sous vide water bath temperature, add some cold water to the bath. Better yet, pour the ice-water bath that you used for chilling your food into the sous vide water bath. This will save energy and water.
Round Out Your Sous Vide Thanksgiving Feast
Now, you can pace yourself to round out the Thanksgiving feast.
For the Cranberry Sauce:
- Before you open the cranberry bag, squash the cranberries with your fingers. More juice will come out, but feel free to leave some whole.
- Open the bag, pour it into a serving bowl, give it a good stir, and garnish with orange zest. It’s ready to go.
For the Moroccan Carrot Salad:
- First, make the dressing. Zest an orange and add the zest to two tablespoons of garlic-infused oil, followed by half a teaspoon of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix well.
- Open the carrot bags and pour everything, including the juices, into a large mixing bowl. Use kitchen shears to cut the carrots into 2-inch pieces.
- Add two cups of baby arugula, pour the dressing over, and give it a toss. Remember the two oranges that you zested? Remove the peel and slice them to add to the salad, plus ½ cup sliced black olives. Toss and again, the salad is ready for the table.
For the Turkey:
- After the turkey breast parts have been in the water for at least three hours, the turkey legs are warm, and the juice gel in the bags returns to a liquid form, transfer all turkey parts from the sous vide bath to an ice-water bath and turn off the sous vide.
- Heat the oven to 500°F (260°C). Once the oven is ready, the turkey should be cool enough to handle. Open the bags, remove the herbs, and pat the turkey dry with paper towels. Reserve the juice, especially if you want to make a turkey gravy. If you still have some garlic-infused oil, brush it on the skin. If not, melt some butter.
- After the skin is coated with oil, place the turkey parts on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes until the skin is golden brown and crispy. Remove from oven and let it rest.
For the Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts:
Now is the perfect time to finish the potatoes and the Brussels spouts.
- Since your oven is still hot, lay the potatoes on a baking sheet, skin side up. Make sure they are patted dry. Roast them at 425°F (220°C) for 10 to 15 minutes.
- As for the Brussels sprouts, melt some butter in a skillet and finish them on the stove.
Carve the turkey:
One last thing! Carve the turkey and garnish it with fresh herbs or fresh cranberries or however you want to decorate it. Put that baby in the center of the table. Now it’s time to raise a glass!
Post-Thanksgiving Meals
Have leftover turkey? Turn it into 6 exciting leftover turkey recipes in the following week. It will be gone fast.
Here you have it—a step-by-step sous vide meal prep guide for Thanksgiving. I hope it sparks some ideas for you to reduce some of that mental and physical stress during the holidays so you can enjoy yourself more.
If you decide to follow this sous vide Thanksgiving feast meal plan, please leave a comment and let me know how it goes. I cannot wait to hear from you.
Sous Vide Once, Savor All Week
Are you intrigued by sous vide meal prepping? Check out my Sous Vide Once, Savor All Week meal prep program to learn my system for making restaurant-quality, healthy, and non-repetitive meals in your own kitchen in 15 minutes, six days a week, with only two hours of hands-on time each week.
About the Author
Sharon Chen is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and author of the Complete Sous Vide Cookbook. She believes food not only brings healing but also connection. As the creator of StreetSmart Kitchen, she aims to make meal prep easier than ever and help you find balance, ease, joy, and simplicity in the kitchen as you improve your well-being.