One-Hour Thanksgiving Dinner
This recipe is for an entire thanksgiving dinner that takes one hour to cook. The recipe uses various pre-cooked ingredients and instant foods, and is designed for those cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, such as college students.
Ingredients
- 1 ea. 5–6 lb fully pre-cooked smoked turkey breast (see notes)
- 2 cans of desired vegetables
- 1–2 package(s) of instant potatoes or stuffing
- 1 package of 12 instant frozen biscuits
- 1 package of turkey gravy mix
- Nonstick cooking spray or vegetable oil
- 1 pre-made pumpkin pie (optional)
- 1–2 cans cranberry sauce (optional)
Steps
- Thaw frozen turkey breast 1 day in refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Remove turkey from bag. Place in aluminum roasting pan. Spray with cooking spray, or rub breast with vegetable oil.
- Place turkey breast on middle rack. Cook 15 min.
- Prepare gravy mix per package directions.
- Place vegetables on stove over low heat.
- Prepare instant potatoes or stuffing per package directions.
- When turkey has cooked 30 min, lay frozen biscuits on small pan, touching one another.
- Place biscuits on lower oven rack with turkey. Bake 25–30 min; check after 20 min to prevent burning.
- Finish instant potatoes or stuffing, instant gravy and vegetables. Place in serving dishes if desired.
- Place cranberry sauce in serving dish. If serving pie, place on serving dish; reheat frozen pie per instructions.
- After 1 hour, remove turkey. Check internal temperature with thermometer; minimum 160°F, to kill remaining bacteria.
- Carve turkey. Serve with side dishes.
Notes from the original
- Turkey breast: certain brands are readily available in almost every U.S. supermarket, but they must be fully-cooked frozen turkey breast, as they will only be cooked for 1 hour. The words "heat and serve" may be on the package. Avoid processed turkey breast loaf.
- Biscuits: The frozen home-baked butter variety works best. It is important that the biscuits in a can are not used.
- There are many uses for the leftover turkey. Sliced turkey leftovers can be used to make sandwiches or turkey biscuits.
- The portion along the bone can be used to prepare turkey soup by placing it in a soup pot along with 4 cups of water, 1 chopped onion, 2 tablespoons salt, and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 2 hours. Add another cup of water, spices to taste, vegetables such as carrots or potatoes, and noodles. Simmer for an additional hour and a half.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:One-Hour Thanksgiving Dinner” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2026-04-12, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.






