Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Howdy, y’all. Today, I am so glad to share with all of you three Thanksgiving side dishes that Shannon and I have at our table every November. Thanksgiving is every day here at the ranch, because gratitude and faith are so important to us. I am honored for each of you that will serve these recipes to the most important people in your life on a special day for gathering together.
The three recipes we are sharing today are for scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, and my mama’s cranberry marshmallow salad. To top it all off, I’m going to share with you a stacked Dutch oven method for when you’ve got two Dutch ovens but just a little space to cook. I’m not going to wait for you, so lets get going.
Scalloped Potatoes
Scalloped Potatoes is one of Shannon’s recipes and it contains a secret ingredient. This recipe is featured in our Faith, Family, and the Feast cookbook and is perfect for a Thanksgiving side if you don’t make mashed taters. Now, if you love mashed taters, we have a recipe for that too. Stick around, though, because you will want these special scalloped potatoes on your table all year ’round.
Start with slicing the five large russet potatoes into circular slices. Place them in a bowl of cold water.
While the potatoes soak, we are going to add milk, butter, and flour to make a roux-type gravy. Stir continuously to avoid scorching. Now, for the secret ingredient! Dean’s onion dip. Stir into the roux until smooth.
Tip: You can use any onion or green onion dip if you can’t find Dean’s. You can find out where to buy Dean’s Onion Dip here.
If you’re cooking in the house, preheat the oven to 350 and get a big casserole dish. If you’re cooking outside, use a large Dutch oven. Grease the pan and lay half of the potatoes on the bottom. Pour half of the creamy gravy on top. Next, take half of your pre-cooked diced ham. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese all over and season with Red River Ranch Original Seasoning.
Tip: This recipe is an excellent way to use leftover ham.
Layer the rest of the potatoes on top and repeat. Smother them in the cream sauce, cheese, and seasoning. Put a lid on and cook until the potatoes are cooked through.
Green Bean Casserole
Take about six cooked and crumbled slices of bacon and add half a stick of Kerrygold butter with 8 oz. of diced white mushrooms in a second Dutch oven. Brown the mushrooms until soft and then add four minced garlic cloves.
Tip: Add the minced garlic right before you remove from heat to avoid burning.
Pour the mushroom mixture into a bowl. Using the same Dutch oven you just used to make the mushroom mixture, add the other half of the stick of Kerrygold butter. Add the flour to make a roux, whisking constantly over low heat.
Add the mushroom mixture and stir well. Add pepper jack cheese and stir until it’s melted. If you need to thin it out a little, add cream or chicken broth. Not too much -, we want this to be able to seep down around all of the green beans as it cooks. For the finishing touch, add a small jar of diced pimentos. Stir well.
Y’all, there’s no reason to buy canned green beans. If you can’t get fresh, get frozen. Blanche the green beans and put on ice. I put them in ice so that the green beans do not get too tender. We want them al dente.
Place the green beans in the bottom of the pan. Spread the creamy mushroom mixture over the top. Cover the casserole with French fried onions. Bake until bubbly.
Double Dutch
For these two recipes – scalloped potatoes and green bean casserole – I’m going to share with you a technique you can use to double stack the two Dutch ovens to cook all together.
The potatoes need to cook at a slightly higher heat than the green bean casserole does. I start by spreading the coals as usual, adding a trivet and placing the Dutch oven with the potatoes inside on the trivet. I cover the lid with coals.
I want the green bean casserole hot to serve, but all of the ingredients inside are already cooked, so I can use lower heat. Instead of spreading coals over a new area, I’m going to place a trivet on top of the Dutch oven with the potatoes inside. The coals from the bottom lid will heat the Dutch oven with the green beans inside. Then, spread coals on the lid of the green beans and let them cook until they’re done.
As usual, every once in a while during the cooking process, rotate the Dutch oven one way and the lid the other way on each dish. This will prevent hot spots.
Mama’s Marshmallow Cranberry Salad
I don’t remember a single Thanksgiving or Christmas without this dish on the table. Start the night before. Take fresh cranberries and chop with a food processor or chopping tool. Place them in a bowl with sugar and stir until well mixed. Let sit overnight. This will take the edge off of the tartness of the cranberries.
Using a stand mixer, or a drill with a whisk attachment, whip some heavy cream in a large bowl. When the whipped cream has peaks, stir in last night’s cranberry/sugar mixture.
Add chopped pecans, crushed pineapple, and the most important ingredients: mini marshmallows. Stir well. Leave in the ice box for about an hour and serve.
We hope you have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving every day, with all of the people that you love. We love sharing our food with you and are so grateful that you watch our videos and visit the website.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Come back every Wednesday afternoon for a new video. We’ll be waiting for you! See y’all down the Thanksgiving trail.
Green Bean Casserole - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. fresh green beans or frozen
- 6 slices bacon thinly sliced and chopped
- 1 white onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup diced mushrooms
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 stick butter divided
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 ½ cups shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 2 ounce jar diced pimentos
- ¾ cup bread crumbs
- ½ cup fried onions
Instructions
- If using fresh green beans, blanch in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove from the pot and cover with ice water and set aside.
- In a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat add the bacon and cook for about 2 minutes, then add the onions, continue to cook until the onions are soft, stirring occasionally. Strain the contents of the skillet in a bowl and set aside.
- Return to the skillet with the left over bacon grease over medium low heat. Stir in the mushrooms and cook until they are brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the contents of the skillet to the bacon and onions bowl.
- Return to the skillet and melt the ½ stick of butter over low heat. Whisk in the flour and whisk constantly until smooth. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until it thickens.
- Stir in the cream and the bacon mixture. Stir in the cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and smooth. The mixture should be the consistency of a thick gravy. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a little more cream or chicken broth to thin if needed.
- Stir the bacon and mushroom mixture and pimentos into the sauce and mix well.
- Place the green beans in 9x11-inch inch casserole dish and pour the contents of the skillet over the top and smooth it out with a spoon.
- Sprinkle the top with the bread crumbs and fried onions. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F or until bubbling. Serve warm.
Cranberry Salad - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh cranberries
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 10-ounce package mini marshmallows
- 1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, coarsely grind the cranberries. Mix in 1 cup of the sugar. Cover and place in the icebox for 6 hours or overnight.
- In a large bowl, whip the cream with the remaining ¼ cup of sugar until stiff.
- Fold in the cranberries, marshmallows, pineapple and pecans, if using.
- Cover and place in the icebox for 1 hour or until chilled. Serve cold.
Green Onion and Ham Scalloped Potatoes - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups milk
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 16-ounce tub green onion or French onion dip
- 5 Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/8 – ¼ - thick rounds
- 2 cups chopped cooked ham
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Salt and black pepper
- Chopped green onions for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet or 9-x-13-inch casserole dish.
- In a large saucepan, warm the milk and butter over medium heat until the butter has melted. Add the flour and cook just until it thickens to a thin gravy.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the onion dip until smooth.
- Place half of the potatoes on the bottom of the skillet or dish. Pour half of the milk mixture on top. Sprinkle with 1 cup of ham, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and ½ cup Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper, to taste. Repeat the layers.
- Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the tinfoil and continue cooking an additional 20 minutes, or until the potatoes soften and the cheese has slightly browned. You can brown the cheese more by broiling for a couple minutes or moving it to the top rack at the end of baking. Serve warm.
- Tip: We prefer the Hiland brand onion dips.
[…] week, Shannon and I shared with you our three best Thanksgiving side dishes. Today, we’re going to show you how to bake an All-American classic Apple pie with a flaky, […]