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These air fryer Thanksgiving recipes guide you through the process of making a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings for four people in about an hour and a half! Use the air fryer to simplify this holiday meal without sacrificing your favorites.
Holiday meals like Thanksgiving give the oven and stovetop a run for their money. This year I wanted to see if it’s possible to make a full turkey dinner entirely in one of the most versatile countertop kitchen appliances: the air fryer! An air fryer is basically a small-scale convection oven, so why not?
Spoiler Alert: You can cook an entire holiday meal – turkey and all – in an air fryer! And I’m going to show you how to coordinate it so that everything is done at approximately the same time.
The Caveat: Size matters here, at least if you want to ensure all components of your meal are ready simultaneously. I used a 26-quart air fryer, which is necessary for cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner. You don’t need this specific air fryer. However, you’ll need a large capacity air fryer with multiple racks because we’re making multiple dishes. On the other hand, if you want to make these recipes on their own instead of together as a meal, you can use a smaller air fryer.
Making even just one or two holiday dishes in the air fryer can be a good way to help free up some space in the oven or on the stovetop when you’re making Thanksgiving dinner!
The beauty of using an air fryer to cook a holiday meal is that if you don’t have access to a fully functional kitchen (for example, if you’re in a dorm room, renovating your kitchen, staying at an Airbnb, etc.) you can still enjoy a complete turkey dinner with all the trimmings. And with a whole lot less work too!
Another great thing is that small-scale Thanksgiving dinners like this one make it a lot less daunting task. And you don’t have to wait until a holiday to make this! Whip this up if you want a full turkey dinner on a random Sunday for your family’s supper.
Wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving and a holiday season full of love.
Tip: Don’t Make This Rookie Mistake
Let your turkey breast roast thaw in the fridge for 2 days before you want to roast it. Make sure you put it on a rimmed baking tray or in a large bowl to catch any juices that are released so it doesn’t make a mess in your fridge.
Air Fryer Main Course & Side Dish Thanksgiving Recipes
I’m sharing a coordinated game plan for making everything as one cohesive meal in the recipe card below. However, if you want more tips or information on any of these air fryer Thanksgiving recipes, check out their respective posts.
Gravy Options
If you want to serve gravy with your turkey dinner, you have a few different options. And you don’t need turkey drippings for any of them!
If you buy a Butterball turkey breast roast, it comes with a gravy packet. I empty the gravy packet into a saucepan, bring it to a boil on the stovetop, and let it boil vigorously for three minutes before serving (you can add a splash of water if the gravy gets too thick). If you want to heat the gravy in the air fryer, put the gravy in an oven-safe dish, cover it with foil, and air fry at 350F until the gravy boils.
Another option is to make a 5-minute gravy without drippings (aka velouté sauce).
Lastly, you can always buy pre-made gravy at the grocery store or on Amazon! Kinder’s bone broth turkey gravy has the added nutrition of bone broth, but if you want something even easier, you can go with jarred turkey gravy that you don’t have to add water to when you heat it up.
Air Fryer Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes
And because what’s a holiday dinner without dessert, I’m also sharing a classic holiday dessert recipe made in the air fryer: apple crisp!
Bringing it All Together: The Air Fryer Thanksgiving Dinner Game Plan
Here’s how to use a large capacity air fryer to coordinate all these recipes into one meal so that everything is ready around the same time.
How to Make a Full Thanksgiving Dinner in an Air Fryer
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Equipment
- Large capacity air fryer (with multiple racks)
Ingredients
Air Fryer Boneless Turkey Breast Roast with Stuffing:
- 6 cups diced stale bread see Notes
- 2 1/4 cups chicken stock
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced dried onion
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh sage
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 + 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter chilled and diced (plus more for greasing the dish)
Air Fryer Boneless Turkey Breast Roast:
- 3 pound boneless turkey breast roast patted dry
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Air Fryer Sweet Potatoes:
- 4 medium sweet potatoes scrubbed and patted dry
- Any toppings you like such as butter, salt, etc. for serving
Air Fryer Green Bean Casserole:
- 4 cups frozen cut green beans thawed and drained
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup French's Crispy Fried Onions divided into 1/4 cup + 3/4 cup
- 4 ounces cream cheese cut into 8 pieces
Air Fryer Cranberry Sauce:
- 1 cup fresh cranberries rinsed and drained
- 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Prep the Stuffing:
- For the stuffing, add all ingredients (except the butter) to a large bowl and toss to mix. Fold in the butter.
- Grease an 8 by 8-inch oven-safe dish with butter. Add the stuffing to the prepared dish, spreading it out evenly and then creating a well in the center where you’ll place the turkey.
Prep the Turkey Breast:
- If your boneless turkey breast roast came with twine around the outside, leave it on. Otherwise, wrap the outside in twine so it’s a compact bundle.
- Add the butter, salt, poultry seasoning, paprika, garlic powder, and black pepper to a small bowl. Stir until well-combined. Rub the butter mixture on all sides of the turkey breast roast.
- Place the buttered turkey breast roast in the center of the dish with the stuffing and cover with foil.
Prep the Sweet Potatoes:
- Use a fork or sharp pairing knife to poke a few holes in each sweet potato. Wrap each sweet potato in foil.
Cook Time 1 (400F, 40 Minutes):
- Preheat an air fryer to 400F.
- Add the the covered stuffing/turkey and the foil-wrapped sweet potatoes to the air fryer; air fry for 40 minutes. Rotate the sweet potatoes once halfway through (rotate the side that’s facing down and if you have multiple racks in your air fryer, also rotate the racks they’re on; this will help make sure they cook evenly).
Prep the Green Bean Casserole:
- Add the beans, half and half, Worcestershire, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, 1/4 cup fried onions (reserving 3/4 cup for topping), and cream cheese to a large bowl. Toss to combine.
- Transfer the mixture to a 6-cup oven-safe gratin dish (or two 3-cup gratin dishes) and cover with foil.
Prep the Cranberry Sauce:
- Add all ingredients to a small-medium bowl and toss to coat the cranberries. Transfer the mixture to a 1-cup oven-safe dish and cover with foil.
Cook Time 2 (350F, 25 Minutes):
- After the stuffing/turkey and sweet potatoes have cooked in the air fryer for 40 minutes, turn the air fryer down to 350F. Add the covered green bean casserole and covered cranberry sauce, and air fryer for 25 minutes.
Cook Time 3 (Browning, 5 Minutes):
- Check the turkey for doneness (see Notes). If you want additional browning on the turkey and stuffing, remove the foil and air fry for 5 minutes or until browned.
- Check the sweet potatoes for doneness. Wearing potholders, peel back the foil and insert a sharp paring knife; if it slides in and out of the center, it’s done. You can also squeeze each sweet potato and see if they have some give; if they are still hard, they’ll need to air fry longer. Once the potatoes are fully cooked, wearing potholders, unwrap the potatoes, place each potato on top of its piece of foil, and air fry them a couple minutes more to crisp their skin.
- Remove the cover on the green bean casserole, give it a stir, and spread the remaining 3/4 cup of fried onions evenly on top. Return to the air fryer to brown the onions, about 5 minutes.
- Remove the cover on the cranberry sauce. Use a fork to mash a few of the berries to thicken the sauce.
Notes
- Diced Stale Bread: The bread should be stale and hard for this stuffing recipe. You can also buy dry bread cubes for stuffing at the grocery store (look for it in the bakery area or the aisle with the boxed stuffing mixes). Alternatively, you can cut fresh bread into 1/4-inch cubes, spread the cubes out onto a baking tray, and bake at 350F until dry, tossing occasionally.
- Turkey Temperature: As per the USDA, turkey is done when it reaches 165F on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part. I like to pull it out at 160F because carry over cooking will bring the temperature up to 165F, but that’s completely up to you.
- Recipe Yield and Nutritional Information: This meal was designed to feed 4 people. You likely won’t have any turkey leftovers, but you might have leftovers from the side dishes. The nutritional information for this recipe was calculated based on this recipe making 4 servings.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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More Easy Full Thanksgiving Dinner Options
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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