How to Host Thanksgiving Ranch-Style: Our Menu and Make-Ahead Plan
The secret to an easy Thanksgiving is doing most of the cooking before Thursday. Make the cranberry marmalade, dessert, potatoes and stuffing ahead, so the day itself is just the turkey, the gravy and the people around your table.
On the ranch, Thanksgiving is as busy as any other day. We still feed the cattle twice a day and bring the sheep into the barn every evening, and like every night, we feed ourselves after we've fed the animals. So our menu has to fit around chores. Here is what we serve and the plan that makes it work.
What's on our Thanksgiving menu?
- Golden turkey with sausage gravy and Meyer lemon-cranberry marmalade
- Janie's Crispy Cheesy Potatoes, mashed potatoes baked under a cheesy panko crust (Janie's favorite part of the meal)
- Five Marys Sausage-Walnut Stuffing with our pork sausage, leeks, mushrooms, walnuts and cranberries
- Aunt Marge's Jell-O salad, which is a must (Tessa's favorite)
- Something pumpkin. It changes every year. Pumpkin cheesecake is one of our favorites.
In most houses Thanksgiving is all about the turkey. On our ranch it's all about the pork sausage we raise, so it goes in both the gravy and the stuffing.
Do you have to serve turkey?
We don't raise poultry on our ranch, so the turkey is the one thing on our table that doesn't come from home. If you'd rather serve something from the ranch, a prime rib, a pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon or a garlic and rosemary leg of lamb all make a beautiful centerpiece. Hasselback potatoes in cast iron are great with any of them.
What's the Thanksgiving make-ahead timeline?
The weekend before
- Shop for everything but the fresh herbs.
- Make the Meyer lemon-cranberry marmalade. It keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
- Move your turkey or roast from the freezer to the fridge. A big bird needs several days to thaw, so start early. Here is how long frozen meat keeps and our guide to thawing meat safely.
Monday or Tuesday
- Make the pumpkin cheesecake. It's best after a night in the fridge and keeps up to 3 days.
- Buy the bread for the stuffing so it's a day or two old when you make it. It soaks up the butter better.
- Assemble the crispy cheesy potatoes, cover and refrigerate (up to 3 days ahead).
Wednesday
- Make the stuffing and refrigerate it, or bake it, cool it and reheat it tomorrow.
- Set the table.
- Pull out your roasting pan, thermometer and a few pouches of bone broth for the gravy.
Thanksgiving Day
- Take the turkey out of the fridge about 4 hours before you want to eat.
- Roast the turkey (recipe below).
- While the turkey rests, bake the potatoes and stuffing at 350°F. Put the potatoes on the top rack so they brown, and add 5 to 10 minutes if they're coming straight from the fridge.
- Make the sausage gravy with the pan juices, then carve and eat.
Starting with good meat, good fat and simple spices makes holiday cooking easy. You don't need a complicated recipe when the ingredients are this good.
Golden Turkey with Sausage Gravy
Prep: 1 hour 30 minutes (including resting time)
Cook: 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours
Serves: 10 to 12, with leftovers
Ingredients
- 1 (16 to 18 pound) free-range turkey
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 2 Meyer lemons or regular lemons, zested
- 1 head garlic, halved through the middle
- 5 dried or fresh bay leaves
- 1 small bunch fresh thyme
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
- Bone broth as needed, up to 4 cups (turkey, chicken or our beef bone broth)
- For the gravy: 1 pound mild Italian pork sausage, 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, 1/3 cup flour, 1 cup heavy cream, salt and pepper
Directions
- About 1 hour before roasting (4 hours before dinner), take the turkey out of the fridge. Remove the packaging and the parts inside, trim extra fat and pat it dry. Let it sit on a rack for 1 hour.
- Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack near the bottom.
- Rub the salt, pepper, dried thyme and lemon zest together with your fingers. Rub it all over the turkey, inside and out. Tuck the wings behind the back, fill the cavity with the halved lemons, garlic, bay and fresh thyme, and tie the legs.
- Roast on a rack in a roasting pan for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350°F, brush the turkey with the melted butter and roast 30 minutes more.
- Cover loosely with foil, pour the wine and 1 1/2 cups water into the pan and roast 1 to 2 hours more, until the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F.
- Tip the juices from inside the bird into the pan. Move the turkey to a board and let it rest under foil 30 to 60 minutes.
- Pour the pan juices and browned bits into a measuring cup and add broth to make 4 cups.
- For the gravy, brown the sausage in a large skillet, about 10 minutes. Push it to the edges, melt the butter in the middle and whisk in the flour. Slowly whisk in the 4 cups of juices, simmer 3 minutes, stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper.
Where these recipes come from
This menu, the turkey and the make-ahead tips are from the Thanksgiving chapter of my cookbook Five Marys Family Style, along with the full recipes for the potatoes, stuffing, marmalade and pumpkin cheesecake. You can grab it on Amazon or get a signed copy from us here.
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Shop this menu
- Mild Italian Pork Sausage for the gravy and stuffing
- Five Marys Beef Bone Broth
- Prime rib roasts, pork tenderloin and leg of lamb if you'd rather skip the turkey
- M5 Cooking Tallow Sticks and Rancher's Salt and Pepper
Order early for the holidays. We ship Monday through Wednesday on dry ice, so give yourself time for your box to arrive and thaw before Thanksgiving.
Quick answers
How far ahead can I make Thanksgiving sides?
Crispy cheesy potatoes and sausage stuffing can both be made a couple of days ahead and baked while the turkey rests. Cranberry marmalade keeps 2 weeks in the fridge, and pumpkin cheesecake is best made at least a day ahead.
Do I need to brine my turkey?
No. A rub of salt, pepper, dried thyme and lemon zest gives you a golden, juicy turkey without days of brining.
What temperature should a turkey be when it's done?
165°F in the thickest part of the thigh. Let it rest 30 to 60 minutes before carving.
What can I serve instead of turkey?
A prime rib, a bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin or a garlic and rosemary leg of lamb all make a beautiful centerpiece.
Thank you for trusting us with your family's table!
For more of our family's recipes, head to our Five Marys Recipe Library!