Quick Skillet Cheesy Fajita Nachos
This quick and tasty recipe for cheesy fajita skillet nachos is packed with flavor and can be on the table in less than 30-minutes!
So?? If you were cooking for/celebrating the big holiday last week, how did it go?
I’ve seriously been dying of curiosity all weekend. If you can spare a few minutes, I’d love to know what you made, how you celebrated, what worked, what didn’t! I live for details like that.
Our Thanksgiving holiday was very, very quiet.
It ended up just being our little family, which was wonderful, but we missed out on the crazy energy of a larger Thanksgiving crowd.
We had an extremely simplified Thanksgiving menu (that included hurrying up with the dishes so we could make it to a movie, wherein we were nearly the only ones in the theater).
So tell me everything! I really want to know how it went – your favorite parts. And even maybe some of the not-so-favorite parts, if you have them.
In the meantime, if you are swimming in leftover turkey, I have a super quick and delicious skillet nachos meal for you today (assuming you didn’t use all the turkey and cranberry sauce in that life changing sandwich I shared last week).
This works wonderfully with cooked chicken, too…and I’ve included super simple instructions for cooking the meat in the 1st step if you don’t have cooked chicken/turkey on hand.
We love this easy skillet meal over tortilla chips and loaded with all sorts of favorite fajita or taco toppings. However, you could absolutely use the filling in quesadillas, fajitas, tacos, burritos, over rice, or just by itself.
Versatile. Yummy. Easy. Flavorful. Fast. I don’t know, could skillet nachos be the perfect meal?
That’s a bold statement to make. Let’s just say it’s the perfect meal for a busy night when you need dinner on the table fast and want it to be exceptionally tasty.
And I don’t know about you, but I’m glad the Thanksgiving recipe craze is behind us. I’m ready to chill out and share some of my favorite easy dinner recipes this month + a few holiday treats that will make you cry, they are so delicious.
What to Serve With This
- Fresh fruit
- Skillet Green Beans
- Mexican Rice
One Year Ago: Holiday Fruit Soup
Two Years Ago: Smothered Crispy Pork Cutlets with Cauliflower Mash
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Chip Toffee Blondie Mix in a Jar
Quick Skillet Cheesy Fajita Nachos
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ cup sliced red or yellow onion
- 1 bell pepper, any color, seeded and sliced or diced
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 cup chopped Roma or cherry tomatoes
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 3 cups cooked chopped chicken, (or leftover turkey!)
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or sharp cheddar cheese, or a combination
- Tortilla chips
- Optional toppings: sour cream, salsa, olives, fresh cilantro, avocado, or any other topping you like
Instructions
- In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions, bell pepper, corn, salt and pepper.
- Saute the vegetables, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until they have softened and onions have turned translucent.
- Add the beans, tomatoes, broth, cumin, and oregano. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
- Stir in the chicken and lime juice. Cook until heated through, 1-2 minutes. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper, if needed.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the mixture and cover with a lid or foil until the cheese is melted, 2-3 minutes.
- Serve the fajita mixture over tortilla chips with any taco/fajita toppings you like.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Finally got around to making these. Wow, so easy and the whole family loved them. I already plan to make them within the next ten days!
Hi! Longtime reader, first time commenter here! We loved this tonight. I didn’t have chicken or chicken broth (I’m pregnant and chicken is somewhat of an adversion and I’ve been too worn out to make broth), so we used ground beef and beef broth. It was great! My husband loved it! Thanks for a keeper recipe!
Thanks so much, Amanda!
Love this one! I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand. All my kids will eat it, and whenever I make it I can have dinner made, eaten and cleaned up in 45 minutes.
I made this with leftover pork from your Cuban sandwiches recipe. YUM! {Best Instant Pot pork recipe ever!}. Thanks, Mel!
I made these last night for supper. I loved the fact that I didn’t have to heat up the house by turning the oven on!!! I also really like the fact that if there are leftovers the chips don’t become soggy in the fridge. These are a total win!!! Thanks.
I brined a turkey for the first time this year–I was afraid I wouldn’t sleep worrying about the outdoor temperatures being right. It ended up being so tasty and cooked so much faster than the recipes I’ve been using. I also did the rolls and potatoes, so no stress there. My sister-in-law always brings a lot of side dishes, and we had a small group, but the turkey was a hit. I also tried the fat separator for the first time and loved it. I just bought a cheap one at Winco, and it worked great. Thanks so much for all of your recipes. I know I can trust them and the clear instructions and pictures are fantastic!!
My husband and I loved this meal!
We were traveling to visit in-laws so I wasn’t sure what I’d be cooking/contributing to. But when I heard the only dessert was going to be store-bought pumpkin pie, my heart hurt! I volunteered to make my sister’s banana cream pie (with a chocolate layer…heavenly!) and your chocolate chip cookie pie and they were both the first ones gone (obviously). But now I’m trying to detox from that weekend sugar overload and you’re not helping 😉 Lol
Haha, sorry about that! Love the idea of a chocolate layer in classic banana cream pie…yum!
My favorite part of the day was watching my 16 year old make your Coconut Cream Pie by herself. It was the first pie gone and she got all the glory! We also had your pretzel stuffing (amazing!), herb roasted turkey, confetti corn, parmesan garlic mashed potatoes, chocolate caramel pecan pie and apple toffee pie, oh and dutch baby pancakes for breakfast! What can we say…we’re fans of all things Mel and those recipes did not disappoint! Hope your holiday was great.
That sounds amazing! And I love hearing all these stories of kids/teenagers baking up a storm. SO impressive!
I made your chocolate caramel pecan pie and it was the hit of the day. So, so good. And, the southwestern rice and beans with sweet and spicy dressing helped me dispose of leftover turkey so, so well. I swear, Mel, every recipe I’ve made from you is an instant family favorite. Thank you!! I miss you!
Crockpot Turkey breast was AMAZING! Your recipes are always a winner. My daughter keeps asking when you can come for dinner and we can finally meet you! 🙂
Haha, so cute!
Because my Husband and I have had Bariatric Surgery, and can’t eat plate-fuls of food, and because the Kid is used to her fringe parents, we had OUR traditional Thanksgiviing dinner. Scallops in a Saffron Cream sauce, and Spinach Salad with apples, walnuts, and Gorgonzola Cheese. I made Pumpkin Pie Pudding for dessert. 20 minute prep time, and no leftovers!
Nice!
Mel – I’ve been reading your blog and using your recipes for some time now. I’ve never posted. I decided today was the day to start! I changed up my traditional pie choices this year and made the Chocolate Chip Cookie pie recipe. It was a huge hit. I also made the Pecan Chocolate Caramel Pie. It was also quite popular. Both recipes will now become tradition and my family requested the Choc. Chip Cookie Pie to be made again in the near future. I can see it will become a well used recipe for us. Thanks, Mel!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Kay! That means a lot. So happy you loved those two pies!
TDay was a joint effort between my MIL and me. We had 11 people, a 20 lb turkey, 10 lbs of mashed potatoes, 8 lbs of sweet potatoes, a bunch of sides, and 6 pies. We had very few leftovers 🙁 Next year, if hosting the same crowd we will do two turkeys. I wanted a turkey sandwich sooooo bad. Already looking forward to Christmas and Chinese food!
Oh, I like that idea of Christmas + Chinese food!
Our Thanksgiving was at my sister’s new farm house. We had about 25 people, including my in-laws and family friends. I took glazed carrots and your parmesan corn!! The corn was a HUGE hit! (Thank you so much!!). Everyone brings something and it is always a great buffet.
What I wanted to share was that the Tuesday before Turkey Day my daughter (a senior) had a “Friendsgiving” celebration with about 14 of her friends. We did the turkey and your corn (!) and everyone else brought a dish. I did your crockpot turkey and it was AMAZING! I actually borrowed a crock pot and did two turkeys. The boys ended up hanging around the kitchen talking and picking the bird clean right from my cutting board. Gross, but a sign that it was a yummy recipe. Thanks for sharing your talents. It is making my life easier and way more delicious!
Thanks for sharing, Stacy! I love that idea of a Friendsgiving! And I agree…the boys definitely showed the signs of it being a great turkey. 🙂
This recipe looks fantastic! Can’t wait to try it! We hosted 29 people for Thanksgiving this year and I made your pumpkin white chocolate mousse cheesecake, chocolate chip cookie pie, creamy confetti corn, holiday fruit soup and mashed potatoes. It was definitely a MKC Thanksgiving! Everything was a complete hit! My sister cooked the turkey using your simple herb roasted recipe and it was seriously the best turkey I’ve ever had. Thank you for all you do to make us rock stars in the kitchen. I just adore your blog and also love your gift guides. They are full of fantastic recommendations for all the people in my life. 🙂
PS. I’m crossing my fingers that you have plans to share your vanilla bean caramel recipe next month…I haven’t been able to get them off my mind since tasting one at BYU. 🙂 Caramel problems, I know!! Thanks Mel!
I want to kiss you for making that holiday fruit soup. Seriously, I wish everyone would make that and love it as much as I do. 🙂 Sounds like such a yummy spread! And yes! Those caramels are going up next week. I’ve made them at least a dozen times since that BYU presentation – definitely a new fave.
This looks amazing! I think it may make the dinner roatation this week…
For thanksgiving, I made sweet potato soufflé, rolls, pumpkin and lemon meringue pies, and cranberry sauce. My friend made the rest and everything we great except that she didn’t quite cook the turkey long enough so we could only eat the top layer!
Oh my, I’ve been there on the undercooked turkey thing!
Made this for dinner tonight! Amazing way to move that turkey along. Very tasty! And PS: you “made” our Thanksgiving stuffing. Incredibly delicious and easy. You’re my hero!
Thanks, Bernadette! So happy you loved this one!
I went to my fiance’s parents’ house. His mom cooked almost everything, but asked a daughter-in-law and me to bring a pie or dessert, other than pumpkin pie since she had one. So I bought a frozen (don’t hate me!) Hershey’s chocolate pie because I wanted to try it, and because I don’t really care for pie, other than ice cream pie and the occasional chocolate cream. And then I baked one of your giant chocolate chip cookies. When we got to the house, we saw that the daughter-in-law had brought 5 pies plus a cheesecake, and then other relatives showed up with anothe pumpkin pie. So we had 15 pies/desserts for 10 people! needless to say, some of the pies didn’t get touched, but the giant cookie was almost completely devoured!
Oops! I just reread this – I wrote that backwards. We had 10 desserts for 15 people. But we still had some that weren’t touched!
Talk about dessert overload! I love that the giant cookie got eaten better than anything else!
We spent most of Thanksgiving week at the beach, ate turkey at a buffet, and then hosted my husband’s family for a Taco-travaganza on Saturday. I made the mistake of putting hubby in charge of the menu–we ended up with seven kinds of meat for fifteen people! It was a hit, but we have loads of left overs that would work so well with this recipe. It’s like you read my mind!
(And I would love to see a post about how to plan food for a crowd and not end up with a month’s worth of leftovers … ) 😉
Haha, I definitely think I could use a post like that myself! I cook for 100 people every month for a lunch and have done so for over a year, and I still end up with a lot of leftovers…although I am learning to be a bit more intuitive about quantities. I love the idea of a taco-travaganza! So many great ideas from you lovely readers.
I don’t often take the time to comment, but its not because I don’t love your recipes! I use many of them on a regular basis. I made the cornmeal dinner rolls for my husband’s family and they were so good -probably the softest rolls I’ve ever made. Thanks for all the time you put into your blog! Jo
Thanks, Jo – that made my day!
Those nachos look good! Especially since they don’t involve mashed potatoes and stuffing. Haha 🙂 This was my first time making Thanksgiving alone since we recently moved away from family, and it wasn’t as intimidating as I first thought it would be – thanks to good make-ahead instructions from people like you! We had a roasted bacon wrapped herb turkey (which had awesome leftovers), mashed potatoes (in the Instant Pot thanks to Sara at OBB), gravy, your pretzel stuffing, your confetti corn, and your buttery cornmeal rolls. We kept it pretty simple since it’s just my husband and out two little ones. But it was a success! I made your chocolate chip cookie pie to take to friends house in the evening, and it was the most eaten pie! I was so bummed, because I wanted more to take home and eat later. By myself, during nap time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you do! We had a MKC Thanksgiving and loved it!
Congrats on rocking your first Thanksgiving by yourself! We ended up in the same situation this year. Too bad all of us loners couldn’t somehow get together from all across the country. 🙂
YUM YUM YUM!!! Looks. So. Good. !!! Thanks for all these amazing recipes and ideas, Mel! My mom hosted Thanksgiving, so I was only in charge of a side and a relish tray, but my garlic and thyme braised carrots were a big hit! One thing I love, that I highly recommend (and is a non-negotiable Thanksgiving tradition) is this: cream cheese covered green onions! A bite of turkey, gravy, yams, and one of these babies is to DIE FOR!!! You just need about 1/4-1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese (grated), about 1/4 of a block of cream cheese (softened) and 2-3 bunches of green onions (depending on how many people eat them… ha!). Wash the green onions and peel off the outer layer on the white part, trimming them just after the first “fork”of the green part (does that make sense???) and of course, cut off the root. Do this to all of them- they should be about 6-8 inches long. Then, take the cream cheese and smooth it onto the white ends of the green onion, from the tip of the white end to about 1-2 inches past it, covering the end with cream cheese. Then, dip the cream cheese end into the shredded cheddar and voila! You have deliciousness to garnish every Thanksgiving plate. Might sound kind of strange, but we LOVE them!! Hope you are doing well! Thanks again, and I’m looking forward to all of your fun holiday recipes and ideas! Love ya, Mel!
I love that, Amy! Can’t wait to give those cheesy green onions a try…you have the best taste in food!
I’m from Norway (and love your blog btw), and here we don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving (although all the stores are crazy about Black Friday of course..). But I’ve been kind of drawn to the idea of a holiday that’s all about (at least for me) family, great food and the fact that I have a lot to be thankful about. Kind of like Christmas without the pressure of all the gifts (but don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas too) Anyway, for the last few years I have hosted Thanksgiving, and I love the part where I get to plan and experiment with all the cooking. This year I made it slightly more simple than previous years, since I gave birth to my second child only a month ago. But I still managed to prepare turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet potato casserole and a simple apple crumble pie. In a weak moment I slightly burned the potatoes, but I think I managed to save them 😉
I loved your comment, Kristin! I’m impressed you tackled the “holiday” after just having a baby. You re amazing! I love your description of how Thanksgiving should be – a great reminder of what it should be about. Thank you!
I feel like the last week of my kitchen life was “brought to you in part by Mel’s Kitchen Café” blog as I made many of your recipes! Instant Pot cranberry sauce (the BEST I’ve ever had, by itself or on that aforementioned life changing sandwich), the chocolate chip cookie pie (once I finally stopped eating the batter and actually baked it, BIG HIT), the instant pot pumpkin puree and then the perfect pumpkin pie, just to name a few! Our main dish was a brined, herb butter rubbed, bacon wrapped turkey that my husband put on the smoker and it was ahhhhh-mazing. Thanksgiving is like my SuperBowl as I love all the prep and recipe searching and cooking of it, thanks in large part to this blog and the awesome recipes you post. My sister and I call each other all the time with “Mel recommendations” as we are both avid readers and maker of all the things on your blog, not just at holidays but all year long. Keep up the great work!!! <3
Oh my gosh, that turkey sounds AMAZING! I love that comparison of Thanksgiving being like the Super Bowl. So true! Thank you for your comment!
I made the buttery cornmeal dinner rolls and they were heavenly, my in laws couldn’t believe how good they were( yay for brownie points ). And I was hoping to have extra to make turkey sandwiches….but I can’t stop eating them! I will just have to make more mwhahaha. But I’m going to be trying this nacho recipe, my husband lives and breathes for nachoes like these!!! I’m excited – thanks for all the amazing recipes!
Thanks, Jill – glad those cornmeal rolls were a hit!
These look amazing! I recently just found out that I have a gluten intolerance, and these are going to make a super yummy dinner that my husband won’t consider torture!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Not only did I do the usual Thanksgiving cooking (made your herb turkey and corn dinner rolls recipes), two weeks before we made 14 dozen cupcakes (froze them) for my son’s wedding open house that was held the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I spent Friday and Saturday making frosting. I’m so thankful my daughter is off from school and she could help me. Yesterday the thought of baking anything sounded horrible but today I’m thinking of cookie and candy recipes for the holidays. Anyone want a leftover cupcake?
Wow, Paula! That’s crazy to fit in that kind of intensive baking during Thanksgiving! I hope the open house went well!
While we changed things up this year & went to a Historic Inn for Thanksgiving dinner, I have been whipping up Thanksgiving food for the past two weeks in doubles & triples! The easy turkey breast in the slow cooker did not let me down this past week OR the week before. Served up most recently with the new parm corn recipe, my mother said she had never tasted a vegetable so delicious! When we joined extended family for dessert on the big day I was thrilled to bring pumpkin pie sheet cake, all cut up in to squares & a blueberry topped cheesecake. The fruited cheesecake somewhat unexpectedly delighted everyone enormously! The two things that I have continued to get requests for (from immediate fam members) all week/weekend is the amazing turkey Panini sandwich & the easy choc chip pie, two recipes you posted very recently. The sandwich is really other worldly & the fact that I am making the choc chip pie again today (for the 3rd time in a week) speaks for itself. I have been making pie crusts from scratch in recent months & do not think I will ever be able to buy red box again–homemade is sooooo delicious…My husband says he feels like the luckiest man in the world. (He is always telling people about my -your!- pie crust.)#morethan23yearsofmarriage. Thank you for all you do, Mel.
Loved this, Lauren! I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets slightly obsessed with recipes and makes them multiple times in a weeks’ span. 🙂 And isn’t that sandwich dreamy? I could eat it every day. Your Historic Inn Thanksgiving sounds wonderful…and I love how you still fit in Thanksgiving classic foods before and after. (Plus, I love you so much just for loving and embracing that pie crust…it’s one of my favorite recipes of all time and changed my outlook on pies forever.)
I made your Green Bean Casserole because I don’t really like green beans and thought the other ingredients made them sound palatable and it ended up being my favorite non-sweet food of the day! Thanks for sharing because I probably never would have gone looking for a green bean casserole recipe. I made your cornmeal crescent rolls which my son calls “Christmas Rolls” since I made them at Christmas for the first time and now every time I make them he gets very excited and still calls them that. They are my favorite rolls of all time and the only ones I make now.
Aside from the food, my favorite part of Thanksgiving Day was a Family Marshmallow Fight. My sisters came up with it and had each of my siblings’ families make forts. We were each given a bag of large marshmallows and soon the 24 of us (Not 24 siblings, 24 with kids and parents lol) had marshmallows flying everywhere as we had the best indoor “Snowball Fight” ever! My 6 year old daughter, who broke her leg a couple weeks ago and is sporting a huge neon orange cast scooted along the floor, stuffing all she could gather off the floor into a bag, planning to eat them all later – she had probably about 300 marshmallows! Sadly they got “lost” after the fight…
Anyway, Thanksgiving was wonderful, and you are partly responsible for that! Thanks for being awesome and for sharing yourself with all of us in the blog world! I don’t think I ever comment but I read all your posts. I LOVE your recipes and your writing style and am just so happy that you do what you do!!
Haha, that whole marshmallow thing had me laughing out loud (particularly the part about your daughter’s bag of loot getting “lost” after). So fun! I love that idea. Seriously, it’s the traditions and fun activities like these that really make it special. Thank you for sharing! And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. 🙂
As cliche as it sounds, I have to say that this was really the best Thanksgiving ever. Everything was ready at the right time (shock!), and everyone helped with the cooking- so it was fun to be in the kitchen (instead of being alone doing all the work). It helped that we made assignments a couple weeks in advance, and I printed all the recipes and taped them around the kitchen. We loved the cornmeal rolls- I doubled the recipe to get us through the next day (four boys, dad, and two adult brothers visiting). Brother #1 said to call him anytime we are having those rolls and he’ll come up for dinner. My husband and I made your roasted turkey and my mother in law was impressed that I didn’t use an oven bag this year 😉 The gravy was so good! My 15-year-old made your apple pie (using the cherry pie crust)- it is our favorite that way and we wished he had made 3 of them instead of one (note for next year)!!! My 13-year-old made the banana cream pie- he claims this as his “specialty”. My 10-year-old made the cranberry sauce. The four-year-old washed potatoes (for a long time) and brother #2 mashed them. Hubby did the sweet potatoes. We had your recipes taped up all over the kitchen- and all the conversation was- “Mel says…” and “check with Mel” (meaning the recipe)- You were definitely there with us in cooking spirit- as always THANK YOU for helping us all to be rockstars in the kitchen!!!
Haha, thanks for the smile! I’m glad I’m not the only one who will now have recipes taped all over my cupboards for holiday cooking. 🙂 Honestly, your Thanksgiving plan/execution sounds like a dream. So glad it turned out well! (And wow, kudos to your 13-year old for making the banana cream pie and your 15-year old with the apple pie – amazing!)
Hi Mel,
My daughter and her BF hosted Thanksgiving this year. The turkey was in the form of deep friend turkey legs infused with sauce and seasoned on the outside. They were to die for. I roasted turkey legs last year and they are da bomb. Not sure I’ll ever buy a full turkey again!
Don’t be discouraged that I didn’t make any of your divine recipes for the holiday. I made a traditional pumpkin dessert (dry cake mix sprinkled on top with melted butter makes a “crumble” topping) that we always have in place of pie, fresh cranberry sauce (using the recipe off the bag!) and spinach/strawberry salad. I didn’t make the potatoes but they were au-gratin something or other. Whatever they were, they were very tasty. Corn and Hawaiian sweet rolls rounded out the dinner!
I did make your pumpkin chocolate muffins as I mentioned on your facebook page. And as I type this, I’m having leftover hearty beef stew that turned out amazing! Your blog is and has been my go-to when looking for recipes! Thanks so much for all you do!
P.S. A couple of weeks ago, I made your chicken wild rice soup. That’s another “make again!” LOL
Oh heavens, I’m not discouraged – sounds like a yummy menu! 🙂
Our Thanksgiving was so fun and yummy. I’m in charge of cornbread stuffing (used your awesome cornbread recipe) and appetizers. I’m kicking myself for forgetting to make herbed butter, which I’ve done for the past couple years. I use a recipe from annies-eats and it makes everything amazing.
Our unusual addition every year is a couple batches of Mama Stamberg’s cranberry horseradish relish. If you listen to NPR, you’ll hear about this every year. As it says in the link, it sounds horrid, but it tastes amazing! Every year, we have reluctant guests who (mostly) end up converted to this recipe. It’s sweet, tart, cold and has a little kick. I highly recommend! http://www.npr.org/2006/11/23/4176014/mama-stambergs-cranberry-relish-recipe
I love hearing about new recipes like that, Susan! I’m not going to lie…I’m a bit skeptical, but I’ll definitely be checking it out. 🙂
Mel, I used most of your recipes for Thanksgiving and they were SO good! Here’s what I made for 22 people:
Sparkling Cranberry Apple Cider Punch
Confetti corn (my husband said it was his favorite thing of the whole meal)
Lion House rolls
Pretzel Rolls
Pretzel and sausage stuffing (probably my favorite thing-I used turkey drippings instead of chicken broth)
Caramel Chocolate pecan pie
Pumpkin roll
Peanut Butter Cup cheesecake
My husband smoked a 25 lb turkey, cut up in quarters, on his weber grill (not your recipe, but we used http://www.amazingribs.com, which has completely revolutionized how we grill)
Other people brought:
Mashed potatoes
Mac and cheese
Salad
Cranberry sauce
Corn casserole
All the food was out of this world thanks to you! Happy Thanksgiving!
You’re amazing, Ashley! And isn’t that confetti corn something else? It’s so simple yet completely takes over a meal with its deliciousness. Love the idea of using turkey drippings in the stuffing – yum! I’m jealous of your smoked turkey (and agree that website has GREAT grilling/smoking tips). Thanks for checking in with your lineup. I’m so glad it went well!
Our Thanksgiving turned out wonderful. I combined two of your turkey recipes to make an over the top delicious turkey! I brined first and then slathered herbed butter underneath the skin. Turned out amazing. I also made your cranberry chutney and loved, loved, loved that. For dessert I contributed a pecan pie made with your no fail crust and your fabulous pumpkin cheesecake. Thank you for your awesome recipes!
Holy cow, that turkey sounds amazing, Cindy!
My sister and I did thanksgiving together this year and it was probably our best year yet! We made your confetti corn (heart eyes) and your cornmeal dinner rolls and OH MY WORD we both thought they were the best rolls either of us had ever made! We brined the turkey this year and for dessert we made 4 pies. She had a family recipe lemon sour cream that was so so good. But the best pie we made was the our best bites chocolate french silk pie they posted recently, it was killer that day but 5X better the day after. My new favorite for sure! And also we made mashed potatoes using OBB slow cooker method and we thought they were the best potatoes ever! Not too often that you have several “favorite evers” in one meal! It was a smashing success! And she has an awesome backyard and our 2 year olds played in the dirt for hours and hours. Can it be thanksgiving again???? Looking forward to Christmas!!
Hey, that’s pretty awesome if you are already wanting it to be Thanksgiving again! I’d say that’s a success! Those recipes sound amazing.
You helped make our Thanksgiving a wonderful success–thank you! I was cooking with our three little boys under age 7, so I had lots of “help.” 🙂 I made the Simple Herb-Roasted Turkey, and I’m telling you, I am never going back to the mess of brining again! It couldn’t be easier, and the meat was so moist and tender. Your no-fail gravy was super-easy, and we were all fighting for Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie leftovers. Thanks a million! 🙂
Haha, I know how that kind of “help” goes! I’m so happy you loved that simple turkey! Sounds like a yummy lineup (thanks for sharing!). Seriously, I love hearing all the details.
This may be a really long comment… just remember, your asked for it 🙂 It’s been a busy couple of weeks of cooking around here. I had to make pies for a church activity the Thursday before Thanksgiving so I made 5 .. 2 Banofee, 2 chocolate Chip cookie pies , and an apple crumb. I ended up making 2 more Banofee and another chocolate chip cookie pies for the family Thanksgiving (that chocolate chip cookie pie is definitely a new favorite!!) I made 4 batches of french bread rolls in the past 5 days and cooked 3 turkey breast roasts .. in gravy in the crock pot… I am now officially in love with that recipe and the gravy it makes!! I made the cranberry sauce (I did it on the stove and let it simmer while I made some other things)… so amazing. I made the Turkey and cranberry panini’s And I made cranberry salsa 2 times too… because since I first made it 2 years ago we now can’t have Thanksgiving or Christmas without it!! Yesterday … along with another turkey breast roast in the crock pot, and another 2 batches of french bread rolls and cranberry sauce I made 2 things I have been dying to try for months… Stuffed apple and sweet potato with bacon casserole and cauliflower bake … AND I made extra topping and put it on cheesy potatoes.. because I was out of cornflakes.. I think I will be topping my cheesy potatoes with that now all the time in place of cornflakes… Ok, so basically we would all be starving to death if it wasn’t for your recipes !! What a whirlwind cooking week it has been… and I know I left some things out, but so much deliciousness coming from this blog!! And with all the leftover turkey I now have, I’ll be making turkey noodle soup this week and more turkey panini’s … and I can’t wait to make these nachos, probably today. OH and in case you think we don’t eat breakfast .. we also had crepes, eggnog french toast, and fell in love with the Chocolate German Pancake!! And whipped tons of sweet cream 🙂
Oh my gosh, Helen – I can’t believe you made it through all that cooking! That’s insane! You are amazing…and I LOVED all the details, so thanks for typing it all up for my reading pleasure. 🙂
First of all, this looks amazing! I’m going to make another turkey breast so I have meat for the sandwich you posted on Friday and, now, for this!
We had a very Mel Thanksgiving 🙂 I always make your turkey breast in the slow cooker (it’s a small crowd) and a family recipe for wild rice casserole. I also made your favorite romaine salad, quick cranberry sauce (on the stove top, but I’m getting an instant pot for Christmas!), and cornmeal dinner rolls…as rolls for leftovers and crescents for the meal. Plus, I made the chocolate chip cookie pie on a graham cracker crust. Our guests brought other things! The only thing that kind of didn’t work was that some of my crescents didn’t stay crescent-ed, but that’s no big deal 🙂
Glad you had a great holiday!
Thanks for chiming in, Becky! First of all, super excited you are getting an Instant Pot. Life changing, I tell ya. And I love that the chocolate chip cookie pie transitioned well to a graham cracker crust!
Mm… best part? I finally discovered your perfect pumpkin pie recipe and made FOUR! One to give away and the rest for thanksgiving dinner. And my in-law family ate 3 pieces! Normally I would be distraught at having so much yucky pie left, but this time I was thrilled because it tastes amazing and I had 20 years worth of pumpkin pie to make up for. I’ve eaten so many tiny slices hoping to finally love this classic, traditional pie only to keep hating it. Thanks again for saving the world one amazing recipe at a time. You’ve revolutionized food at our house!
Four? That’s a lot of pumpkin pie love right there! I’m so happy it converted you to pumpkin pie (kind of how I felt about it). The best part of pumpkin pie leftovers? Blending up a couple slices with some vanilla ice cream for an amazing pumpkin pie milkshake. 🙂
That’s what I did with your crustless pumpkin pie cupcake thingies! It made a delicious milkshake. Yum!
Those nachos look fabulous! I made the sandwich on Saturday and it was really delicious. A great way to use the leftovers! Brought a sweet potato casserole to my brother’s house. I only make it once a year, but it is so yummy. Cream cheese mixed into the mashed sweet potatoes, then topped with a mixture of oatmeal, brown sugar, butter, fresh chopped apples, and fresh cranberries, all baked up. Seriously awesome. I always have any leftover potato casserole cold out of the fridge!!! Thanks for all your great recipes these last few weeks.
Holy cow, Teresa, that sweet potato casserole sounds ridiculous! Is it a family secret? If not, I’d love if you felt like sending me the recipe. 🙂 No pressure, though.
Mel, I would love to send it to you–I share all my recipes! It makes a good amount and surprisingly is not too sweet. I hope you get to try it. I am really enjoying reading through all of the comments on the yummy food that was served.