We have a lot to be thankful for; family, friends, neighbors…and our grilling experts! If you thought the grill was only used for meat, prepare to be amazed. Everything your family loves to eat during Thanksgiving dinner can be cooked on the grill this year; turkey, baked beans, twice baked potatoes, apple crisp, mac n’ cheese, and more! All the favorite Thanksgiving appetizers, sides, main courses, and desserts have been made into recipes for your pellet grill or smoker. Enjoy!

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Appetizers

Pulled Pork Jalapeno Poppers

For our Thanksgiving dinner we made pulled pork poppers, but if you’re not a fan of pulled pork, we made an alternate Grilled Bacon Jalapeno Popper recipe.

Ingredients

• 12 Medium Jalapenos
• 6 slices bacon, cut in half
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 c shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp shredded cooked pulled pork

Directions

Heat up your grill to 375 degrees. Slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise. Scrape out any seeds and ribs with a small spoon.

Mix softened cream cheese shredded cheese and pulled pork. Spoon mixture onto each jalapeño half.Wrap with bacon and secure with a toothpick.

Place the jalapeños on a rimmed baking sheet. Place on grill and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from grill and let them cool before serving to your Thanksgiving dinner guests.

 

Cold Smoked Cheese

Ingredients

• Preferred Block Cheese: Mozzarella, Provolone, Cheddar, etc
• 1 Large Disposable Roasting Pan or bowl
• Ice
• 4-10 Toothpicks

Directions

Set your pellet grill to smoke and let fire establish (about 4-5 minutes). Place bowl or pan full of ice on the grill. Place Cheese on your grill. Smoke cheese for 1 hour.

Open grill and flip cheese over. Add more ice if the ice is melted. Continue to smoke for another hour. Remove cheese from grill and wrap in parchment paper. Place in fridge and allow to rest for 2 to 3 days for a mellow flavor.

If you like a strong flavor, you may eat right away.

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Thanksgiving Dinner Sides

Smoked Mac N Cheese

Ingredients

• 2 ½ c, (plus more if needed) half and half or whole milk
• 8 oz package cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 4 T, Chilled Butter
• 1 t Dry Mustard
• ¾ T black freshly ground black pepper
• 16 oz pasta (
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 ½ c  (6 oz) Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1 ½ c (6oz) Shredded Smoked Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 c Dry Bread Crumbs
• 2 Tbsp Melted Butter

Directions

Set your pellet grill to smoke with the lid open until the fire is established (4 to 5 minutes). Set the temperature to 225F and preheat, lid closed, for 10 to 15 minutes.

Don’t forget to start boiling your noodles if you’re not using cooked pasta!

Make the sauce: Combine the half and half, cream cheese, 4 tablespoons of chilled butter, dry mustard, hot sauce, if using, and black pepper in a large (12-inch) well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Place the skillet on the grill grate, uncovered, and smoke the mixture for 30 minutes. Remove the sauce from the grill and whisk until smooth.

Increase the temperature to 350F.

Drain your pasta, rinse with cold water, drain again, and return to the pot. Toss the cooled pasta with the shredded cheeses. Pour the smoked sauce over the pasta and cheese, stirring gently with a rubber spatula to coat the pasta.

Rinse out the cast iron skillet and dry thoroughly. Tip the macaroni and cheese into the clean skillet or a buttered 3-quart baking or casserole dish, smoothing the top. Sprinkle evenly with the breadcrumb mixture. Place on the grill grate. Bake the macaroni and cheese until it is bubbling, and the top is lightly browned (30 to 40 minutes).

 

Twice Baked Potato

Ingredients

• 6 Russet or Yukon Gold Potatoes
• 1 ½ c Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 8 sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
• ½ c butter, melted
• 1 c sour cream
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Heat grill to 375 degrees. Poke potatoes with a fork and place straight onto the grill. Cook for 1 hour. At the same time, cook bacon on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes; remove, cool, and crumble.

Once potatoes are done, remove and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Cut each potato lengthwise, creating long halves. Use a small spoon to scoop out about 70% of the potato to make a boat. – keep a thick layer of potato near the skin. Place excess potato in a bowl and reserve. Lightly mash extra potato with a fork; add butter, sour cream, ½ cup cheese, and season with salt and pepper.

Take the potato skins and fill with potato mixture, then sprinkle with extra cheese and bacon. Place back on the grill for about 10 minutes or until warm and cheese has melted. Garnish with green onions and extra sour cream.

 

Bacon Wrapped Corn on the Cob

Ingredients

• 4 Ears Fresh Corn
• 8 Slices Bacon
• 1 tsp Fresh Cracked Pepper
• 1 tsp Chili Powder
• Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

Heat grill to 375 degrees. Peel back the corn husks, remove silk strings, and rinse corn under cold water. Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each ear of corn, securing with toothpicks. Sprinkle each ear of corn with some chili powder and cracked black pepper. Place the ears of corn directly on the grill for approximately 20 minutes or until the bacon is cooked crisp. Take the corn off the grill. Carefully remove the toothpicks and season with a little more chili powder and a grating of parmesan cheese, if desired, and serve.

 

Baked Beans

Ingredients

• 1 lb Pork and Beans
• 1 Large onion, diced
• 8 oz (½ lb) Bacon, cooked and coarsely diced
• ¾ c brown sugar
• 1/3 Cup Ketchup
• 1 ½ tsp mustard

Directions

Heat grill to 300 degrees. Cook bacon and onions together. Drain the beans and stir in the all of the ingredients (including bacon grease from cooking bacon and onion). Pour into roasting pan (I like cooking mine in a cast iron skillet). Cover the beans and bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, or until the beans start to bubble. Uncover for the last 15 minutes of cooking.

 

Crack Green beans

Ingredients

• 5 (15-oz) cans green beans, drained or  4 (12-ounce) bags frozen green beans, thawed.
• 12 slices bacon, cooked and coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 7 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

Directions

Heat grill to 350. Put the drained beans in a 9×13 roasting pan. Add the cooked bacon pieces. Mix the remaining ingredients (the crack sauce). Pour over the beans and bake 40 minutes. Toss and serve.

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Main Course

Turkey is the most popular main course of a Thanksgiving dinner. We’ve included the smoked turkey recipe from our Facebook live demo, but we’ve also come up with a few options for families that want variety in the Thanksgiving dinner. We even have a vegetarian option!

Juicy Thanksgiving Turkey on the Pellet Grill

For our demo, we chose to smoke only turkey breasts versus whole turkeys for simplicity.

Directions

Start with your saltwater brine. The salt penetrates the muscle and tenderizes and plumps it up with water. Visit our Brining blog post for step by step instructions.

Once you’ve pulled your bird from the brine, you should use paper towels to pat dry the skin. This will help you develop a crispy skin in the cooker. After this, you want to peel the skin back to expose the meat without tearing the skin all the way off. Even if you don’t eat the skin, it acts as a barrier to help you cook the bird more evenly as well as have a piece of meat that is consistently tender all the way through.

Once the skin is pulled back, generously apply your rub or glaze to all sides of the meat. Then, pull the skin back into place and apply your rub or glaze to the skin. At the demo, we used John Henry’s Mesquite Rub to flavor the turkey.

Once the birds are well seasoned, it’s time to put them on the grill. We set the turkey breasts in foil pans on the smoker, which allowed us to reserve the drippings to pour over our finish product or help leftovers stay juicy longer. Our pellet grill was set to 350 degrees and we cooked until the breasts reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

Once your goal temp has been reached, the turkey needs to come off the grill and rest under foil for at least 30 minutes. Your meat is actually still cooking when it comes off the hot grill, so you need to let it rest and cool down. This will help keep juice in the turkey longer.

Slice and enjoy!

 

Smoked Ham

  

Ingredients

• 1 Large Ham
• 3 Cups Apple Juice or Cider
• ¼ c honey or maple syrup
• 2 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 pinch of nutmeg
• ½ tsp Ground Clove

Directions

Heat your pellet grill or smoker to 325.

For the glaze, combine the 3 cups of apple cider in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the liquids are reduced by one-third. Whisk in the mustard, honey, and nutmeg. Set aside.

Line a roasting pan with heavy-duty foil for easier clean-up. Pour the apple cider around the ham. Place ham in large roasting pan lined with aluminum foil. Place pan on grill and cook for 1.5 hours.

Open your pellet grill and glaze the ham with the reserved mixture. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes or until your ham reaches an internal temperature of 135 degrees (using a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat).

Remove ham from grill and allow to rest for 20 minutes before serving.

 

Smoked Pot Roast

  

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb Beef Chuck Roast
• 2 Cups beef broth
• Roasting Pan

Directions

Heat grill to 450 degrees. Place the roast in the roasting pan, fat side up. Pour the beef broth in the bottom of the pan. Cook the roast for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the outside is seared. Reduce the temperature to 225F and continue cooking, 3-4 hours, or until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees. Remove from grill and cover with foil for 15-20 minutes to rest before serving.

 

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

• 2 lb Eggplant
• 3 Large ripe but firm tomatoes (I use a tbsp. tomato sauce)
• ½ cup Olive Oil
• 12 oz Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, cut into 12 slices
• 4 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Balsamic Vinegar
• 4 Sprigs of Fresh Basil

Directions

Prepare the vegetables: Slice the eggplants crosswise into 12 rounds, each about ½ inch thick. Discard the small ends. Using a serrated knife, slice the tomatoes into 12 slices, each about 3/8 inch thick, discarding the small ends. Pour ¼ cup of the olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Lay the eggplant slices, cut sides down, in the oil and turn over so both sides are coated. Season with coarse salt and black pepper. Do the same with the tomato slices, adding more olive oil if necessary. Lay the eggplant slices directly on the grill grate in a single layer. Grill until tender (about 20 minutes) turning once with a spatula. If you have room on your grill, put the pan with the tomato slices on the grill grate at the same time and grill for 15 minutes. Do not turn the tomatoes as you do not want them to break apart. (If you do not have room on your grate to grill both vegetables at once, do them in batches.) If desired, grill the vegetables up to 1 day ahead; cover and refrigerate.

Assemble the stacks: Layer an eggplant slice, tomato slice (or 1 tbsp tomato sauce), mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese. Grill the stacks for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese begins to soften and melt. To serve, transfer the stacks to plates. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar. Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil. Can be served warm or cold.

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Desserts

No Thanksgiving dinner is complete without some dessert. Yes, you can make desserts on the grill too! Anything you can cook in the oven is perfect for a smoker/pellet grill!

Apple Crisp

Ingredients

Filling:

• 3 lb Apples (Granny Smith or Honey Crisp), Peeled and Thinly sliced
• ½ c brown sugar, firmly packed
• ¼ c Honey
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice
• 1 ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Vanilla

Topping:

• 1 c Brown sugar, firmly packed
• ½ c flour
• ½ c quick oats
• 1 ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 stick (8 tbsp) salted butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch cubes

Directions

Heat grill to 350. Generously butter the inside of a 12-inch pie pan or a cast iron skillet and set aside.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, and butter. Pulse until the mixture is crumbly and still clumpy and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine apples, brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir gently to combine. Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pan. Drop the topping evenly over the fruit. Bake the apple crisp for about 1 hour, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is hot and bubbling.

Let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

 

Cherry Pie

Ingredients

Crust:

• 2 ½ c All Purpose Flour
• 1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Sticks Butter (8 oz)
• 6-8 tbsp ice water

Filling:

• 5 cups Frozen Cherries
• 1 ½ c Granulated Sugar
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

Directions

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter in a little at a time with a pastry cutter or a food processor. Add the water little by little until dough forms being careful not to put in too much water. Form the dough into a disk and let chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

In a saucepan, mix in cherries, granulated sugar, and the flour. Bring to a boil, turn heat down and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Liquid should evaporate a little bit and should thicken into a syrup.

Take dough from the refrigerator and allow to rest on the counter for 5 minutes. Using 1/2 of the dough, roll it out into a circle large enough to cover the pie pan. Lay it on the pan and prick with a fork. Pour in the filling.

Roll out the other ½ of the dough and place on top of fruit. Tuck top crust under and pinch the sides. Make a hole at the top of the pie. Brush lattice with egg wash and sprinkle coarse sugar on top. Place pie on the grill and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown.