This complete Thanksgiving meal for two is prepared in the slow cooker, letting you enjoy Thanksgiving all year long. Plus an easy clean up!
I love all things Thanksgiving, and this recipe has everything all at once! You can also try Slow Cooker Turkey with Gravy, Candied Sweet Potatoes & Green Peas. For more easy Thanksgiving meals, Sheet Pan Thanksgiving Dinner is a great all in one dinner.
Sabrina’s Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Dinner (for 2!) Recipe
So I guess you’re wondering either why, how, or pfft, yeah, right. But trust me when I say this recipe has all your Thanksgiving favorites in one easy to make meal. You’ll enjoy a full holiday dinner minus the cranberry sauce (it’s ok to pop open a can!) and have precisely five dirty kitchen items to wash. If only actual Thanksgiving with a crowd could be this simple!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
TURKEY
- 1 Turkey thigh , (largest one you can find)
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper
- 1 tablespoon butter , melted
BRUSSELS SPROUTS
- 1 pound brussels sprouts , washed and cut in half through the stem (trim the bottom off the stem a little but not all the way)
- 1 tablespoon butter , melted
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
SWEET POTATOES
- 1 pound sweet potatoes , peeled and cut into 1” chunks
- 1 tablespoon butter , melted
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
STUFFING
- 6 slices bread , day old (cubed)
- 2 links breakfast sausage , cooked and chopped
- 1/2 green apple , diced
- 1/4 cup celery , chopped
- 1/2 large egg
- 1 tablespoon butter , melted
Instructions
- Put the turkey thigh skin side up in the cooker and sprinkle on salt and pepper.
- Pour over the 1 tablespoon of butter over the turkey.
- Using the same bowl: Toss the brussels sprouts in butter, salt, and pepper and put into foil section.
- Using the same bowl: Toss the sweet potatoes in butter, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and brown sugar and put into foil section.
- Using the same bowl: Toss the stuffing ingredients and put into foil section.
- Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Video
Nutrition
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Note from Sabrina
If you want good browning, preheat your oven to 400 degrees and finish it for 10 minutes. If your insert is not oven-safe, you may want to finish the food on a cookie sheet in the oven.
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Thanksgiving Dinner for two with only a slow cooker, mixing bowl, knife, spoon, and cutting board, but with all the side dishes. I know that may sound crazy, but I assure you that as someone who loves Thanksgiving every month of the year, you will love me when you try this out.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- You don’t need the butter; skip it if you’d like, but turkey benefits from it for flavor. It would also make a good quick gravy as to not dirty an extra saucepan.
- Salt and pepper your turkey well! Browning in the oven for hours will not help this bird, so season your food!
- Add a single large sweet potato pierced with holes to the slow cooker for a healthier option, split it, and serve.
- Don’t cut the sweet potatoes into cubes that are too small. Remember, they’ll cook for a while!
- If you have small Brussels Sprouts, you can leave them whole, just trim the bottoms.
- Any stuffing recipe will do, so pare it down to 1/5th or 1/6th of the recipe.
- I like adding apples because they make the rest of the cooker smell good.
- A small pat of butter on top for the last hour would be amazing.
What to Pair With
While your dinner is in the slow cooker, this gives you time to bake some Perfectly Easy Dinner Rolls to dip in the gravy or slather in butter. If you have a second slow cooker, you can even make Slow Cooker Pumpkin Pie Pudding for dessert.
Ideas to Serve
If you want to make a gravy of the turkey juices (who doesn’t love gravy with Thanksgiving dinner?), melt some butter in a saucepan. Add an equal amount of flour (2 tablespoons of each should be good) and cook until lightly browned. Add in the juices and whisk until thickened. Season with more salt and pepper.
Variations
- Seasonings: Try adding rosemary and lemon or thyme and garlic to your turkey for more flavoring.
- Veggies: I chose Brussel sprouts because they’re hardy green vegetables that stand up to extended cooking. If you want something green you can add in the last hour, try tossing in a mixture of broccoli, green beans, or zucchini.
- Bacon: If you have any left over bacon from breakfast, this is a delicious add in for your veggies.
- Stuffing: Try adding apples to your stuffing. Plus they make the rest of the cooker smell good!
Related Recipes
More Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Recipes
Photos used in previous version of post
Thoughts on adding another thigh and cooking until 165 degrees F . . .it would be cramped and not ideal to put one thigh on top of the other but it can work . . . there is packaging with 2 turkey thighs . . .that is why I’m asking. Your thoughts?
Sounds like you know the risks. Did you try the recipe with the extra thigh?
As a recent widow, I really enjoyed this! Thanks.
I often shy away from using my crockpot (it was a gift) because it’s just me and my son. We’re not huge fans of leftovers or freezing. I would have never thought in a million years to use foil to section off and cook smaller batches of different things. Thank you SO MUCH! This is inspiring to say the least 🙂
So glad you enjoyed!
Can I make it with a chicken breast
Haven’t tried it myself, but t never hurts to experiment!
This was way over cooked at 8 hrs. on low. The Brussels sprouts gave off a sour taste. I had to throw it all out. UGH!
Oh no! I’m wondering if your slow cooker runs hot. I’ve made this so many times and have never had an issue.
I’m eager to try this! I’m thinking, perhaps, that I can make a mini- green bean casserole instead of brussels sprouts for my husband.
This is awesome! I’m a temporary apartment without a stove. I’m now able to have Thanksgiving thanks to you!
So glad to have helped.
Great idea and recipe! ! Our small town only carries a name brand turkey tenderloin, boneless and skinless. I think with the skin, it definitely would have kept the edges that touched the crockpot from drying out. The only thing I would change is the 4 hrs cooking time at the top of the recipe. I didn’t see the 4 or 8 hrs on the second page until later.
So glad you enjoyed it!
This looks delicious. Would a small turkey breast work as well?
I’m always leary of cooking breast in a slow cooker because they tend to dry out quicker than thighs.
This is AWESOME!!! Thank you SO much! This is EXACTLY what I needed 🙂
Yay, I’m so glad you found it!
What size crock pot did you use?I only have a 3 quart.woyld I need to half the receipes?thanks
I used a 6 qt (http://amzn.to/2khqfDu). I would halve the recipe if using a 3 qt. 🙂
Ingenious!! Could you do this with a turkey breast with no skin or bones?
You can use it with turkey breast but I would look for bone in/skin on. It really helps with keeping it moist during the cooking process. If you want to go forward with boneless/skinless, I recommend wrapping it in bacon 🙂 You can never go wrong with that, am I right?!? Enjoy!
I’m stunned by this! What a fabulously wonderful way to prep a meal for two! Wonderful!
Thank you, Patricia!
I love how easy this come together!!!
Thanks, Abeer!
Hi. Can you do the prep ahead of time and freeze everything to be put in the crockpot at a later date?
Unfortunately, you really aren’t able to prep and freeze this. The turkey will take on too much liquid from being frozen and become waterlogged. I really don’t think it’ll turn out well. So sorry.
This is an ingenious idea! I would hate to cook huge amounts of food just for it to go bad.
Definitely! Though I do love holiday leftovers too, haha!
I’m seriously impressed and a little obsessed with how you did this!
Thanks, Cathy! Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
I did not get to make everything, but the ones I made, my family and I loved them, and plan to make them for Thanksgiving, but on a larger scale.
Oh, this is BRILLIANT! We love Thanksgiving dinner, but it’s normally such a BIG DEAL that it only gets made 1-3 times a year. (Because food blogging, haha.) Can’t wait to try your slow cooker version!
It definitely allows you to enjoy it more often!
This is soooo smart! I can’t wait to share this with my child-less friends!
Thank you!
This is a creative way of making Thanksgiving! I think I will do this for a couple in our church that will be on their own for the holiday! It is just enough to feed them and perfect for the taste! Great idea! XO
Such a wonderful thing to do for them, Jamielyn!