Easy, Tasty, Stress-Free Holiday Recipes for People Who Hate Cooking

Written by
Sabrina Grotewold
If you can't cook or hate to slave over cookbooks in the kitchen, there's no shame in preordering cooked holiday meals or buying ready-made foods at the grocery store; it gets the Herculean task of feeding a small army of family and friends at holiday parties done, and somebody else endured the effort of preparing the food.

But precooked holiday meals can be expensive and often have cut-off ordering dates (likely that have passed by the time you get around to ordering). Store-bought pies, ready-made whipped cream, fried onions in a tin, ready-to-roast turkey in a bag, jarred gravy, or dehydrated stuffing and mashed potatoes in a box are often loaded with chemicals, preservatives, sodium and unhealthy fats.

When you prepare your own holiday dishes at home, you control the cost, quality of ingredients and the shopping and preparation schedule. Yes, it's more effort to make your own holiday food, but that doesn't mean the process has to be hard, time-consuming or stressful. The following shopping list and recipes are fuss-free, crowd-pleasing ideas that even those who detest working in the kitchen can create successfully.

Don't forget to print this shopping list so you can take it with you to the grocery store.

Herbed Turkey
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What makes this turkey recipe manageable: It only requires parts of the bird—breasts for white-meat lovers and legs for dark-meat eaters. This approach:
  • Makes it easy to double or triple the recipe for a large crowd
  • Doesn't require that you buy a roasting dish with rack that hogs cupboard space (and that you might only use once a year). However, you do need cookie sheets and wire cooling racks for this method
  • Means you don't have to spend days thawing an entire frozen bird
  • Cooks in 1 1/2 hours.
The following recipe feeds 8 adults.
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Herbed Turkey con't
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Ingredients
  • 1 12- to 14-pound turkey, legs and breast separated with breast left whole on the bone (ask your butcher to do this)
  • 6 ounces butter, softened
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup turkey stock
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the softened butter and herbs, and season with salt and pepper. Carefully slide your hands under the skin of the turkey pieces until it separates from the flesh; spread the herb butter evenly between the meat and skin. Season the turkey pieces with salt and pepper.

Place the pieces, skin side up, in a single layer on a wire cooling rack (the ones you cool cookies on) sprayed with nonstick spray on top of cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil. Transfer to the oven.

Warm turkey stock in a small pot over medium-low heat.

After 15 minutes, baste the turkey with warmed stock. Continue basting every 15 minutes, until both breast and legs reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees when a thermometer is inserted in the thickest parts, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove the turkey from the oven and tent loosely with aluminum foil. Let it rest for 15 minutes before carving.
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Herbed Shallot Gravy
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Ingredients
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 shallot, finely minced
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 1/2 cups turkey stock
  • 1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1/8 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1/8 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste
In a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm olive oil. Add minced shallot and cook until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Sprinkle in flour. Using a wire whisk, stir flour vigorously until all lumps are removed. Stir in turkey stock and herbs. Reduce heat to medium-low and bring stock to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until stock resembles the consistency of gravy.
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Mashed Potatoes
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Ingredients
  • 2 pounds russet potatoes
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups turkey stock
  • 2 cups milk
  • salt and pepper
Peel potatoes and place in a large pot of salted water over high heat. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook until fork tender.

Drain potatoes and place back into pot. Mash potatoes with a large wooden spoon, potato masher or immersion blender until potatoes reach your desired consistency (Note: the potatoes will smoothen out some once you stir in the remaining ingredients). Add butter, stock, milk, salt and pepper and stir.
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Green Beans With Caramelized Shallots and Breadcrumbs
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An easier, healthier spin on green bean casserole, the trick to developing evenly bronzed, sweet shallots is to cook them low and slow, stirring frequently.

Ingredients
  • 2 pounds green beans, ends trimmed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 8 shallots, peeled and cut into half moons
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • salt and pepper
In a large pot of boiling water, sprinkle in a handful of salt. Add trimmed green beans and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove beans from pot and place into a large bowl of ice water.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring every couple of minutes, for 15 to 20 minutes. You may need to adjust the heat if you hear anything louder than a slight sizzle so you don't burn the shallots. Season with salt and pepper, stir, then set aside in a bowl.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add cooled and drained green beans and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add salt and pepper, herbs and apple cider vinegar. Cook until liquid has absorbed, then remove from heat. Stir in shallots and top with breadcrumbs.
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Pan-Toasted Sausage and Apple Stuffing
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It's hard to get stuffing that's cooked in the oven right—it's usually either too mushy or too dry. This stovetop method includes crisping the major ingredients—bread cubes, sausage and apples—in a large skillet in separate batches to achieve the ideal texture.

Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 package sausage, cut into a small dice (this chicken and apple sausage works well)
  • 1 loaf bakery-fresh bread, cut into crouton-sized cubes
  • 3 apples, cored and diced
  • 1 leek, white and light green parts only, diced
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh sage
  • 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1 to 2 cups turkey stock (depends on how moist you like your stuffing)
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • salt and pepper
In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add diced sausage and cook, stirring frequently, until browned, about 3 minutes. Dump into your serving dish.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet and add bread cubes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss or stir bread cubes in pan every few minutes until bread is lightly toasted on all sides. Dump into your serving dish.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the same skillet and add apples, leek and shallots. Cook until softened, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add fresh herbs. Add stock and vinegar and cook until liquid has reduced by half.

Pour apple mixture on top of bread cubes and sausage in your serving dish and toss to combine.
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White Chocolate, Cranberry and Macadamia Nut Bark
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If pie is a holiday staple in your house, ask one of your guests to bring one. But after all of the carb-heavy sides and tryptophan in the turkey, a one- or two-bite sweet treat might be all that you and your guests need. For those who don't bake, this recipe is a great fake-out: It looks like an artisan treat from a gourmet candy shop, but is so easy, your kids could make it.

Ingredients
  • 16 ounces white chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2 cup Macadamia nuts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Put 3/4 of the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high for 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and stir. Heat again for as many 30-second intervals as necessary to melt chocolate. Immediately add remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature (stir often) until smooth.

Pour melted chocolate onto parchment paper. Spread it lightly into a rectangle (doesn't have to be perfect; you're going to cut it up anyway). Sprinkle the top evenly with nuts and cranberries. Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes, or until firm. Carefully remove from parchment paper with a skillet and cut into pieces.
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