Thanksgiving meal in a crockpot

Earstou

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 18, 2003
Inlaws have down-sized, so this year we are gathering at a hotel. So..I'm trying to come up with a way we can cook in a suite hotel room with a very small kitchen area.
Has anyone else done this? Any good Thanksgiving crockpot recipes or tips?
I have to travel, plus I'll be in a hotel, so things need to be fairly simple.
 
Inlaws have down-sized, so this year we are gathering at a hotel. So..I'm trying to come up with a way we can cook in a suite hotel room with a very small kitchen area.
Has anyone else done this? Any good Thanksgiving crockpot recipes or tips?
I have to travel, plus I'll be in a hotel, so things need to be fairly simple.

Most hotel rooms have microwaves so you can make potatoes, veggies and stuffing in one (mixes/instant and canned...gotta work with what you have). You can do a turkey breast in the slow cooker. Just use your favorite seasonings and a bit of broth ( you can put potatoes, carrots & onions down first with the meat on top if you want). A boneless breast would cook faster as would turkey tenderloins (shady brook makes nice ones - Google for the selection). Use the disposable Chinette casseroles (they are very sturdy) and dishes so there is no real cleanup and you can use the slow cooker liners so you just have to throw that away and no washing afterwards.
 
Have you considered just ordering a full holiday meal from a local restaurant or grocery store? I hear that they are very tasty and affordable.
 
Have you considered just ordering a full holiday meal from a local restaurant or grocery store? I hear that they are very tasty and affordable.

:thumbsup2 My grandparents did this one year when the whole family couldn't make it and they wanted Thanksgiving without all the fuss.

Obviously, I don't know about restaurants or supermarkets where you'll be, but here in Florida Publix does a very nice job, but you'd have to pick it up the night before as they're closed Thanksgiving day. But, if there's a fridge/microwave you can obviously reheat everything. I bet you could get a great meal from Cracker Barrell or Boston Market, too. It would give you so much more time to enjoy yourselves and not be trying to prepare a big meal in a small space with sub-par equipment.
 


Thanks for the ideas, but this is a very small rural community I will be traveling to.
The nearest Boston Market is over 100 miles away. The grocery stores in the area are small and don't have meals available, as far as I can tell.
So this was why I was asking for some good crockpot recipes!:)
 
Thanks for the ideas, but this is a very small rural community I will be traveling to.
The nearest Boston Market is over 100 miles away. The grocery stores in the area are small and don't have meals available, as far as I can tell.
So this was why I was asking for some good crockpot recipes!:)

Will you be driving to the hotel? How many crockpots will you have access to? How many people will you be feeding?

If you can find a Costco nearby or somewhere along your route, they have so many great options.

I recently purchased a precooked turkey breast there. It was wonderful, just warmed and sliced it. I used my crockpot with just a couple favorite spices and a small amount of liquid. No real recipe, but very simple. You can also microwave it.

Costco also sells delicious fresh gravy near the holidays, so that would be easy. Jarred gravy would also be fine.

They have pre-made mashed potatoes that are great and just need warming.

Of course they have wonderful selection of other easy foods and desserts that could round out your meal. All can be pre-purchased and will keep for a while. If you don't have Costco, lots of supermarkets carry these items around the holidays.
 
Yes, I'm driving.
I have 3 crockpots (I just bought a 7 qt for this purpose, plus I have 2 smaller ones.) My SIL has one also.
Our numbers keep shrinking! We are now down to 8 -10 people.
No Costco membership, plus no Costco here or anywhere between here and there!
I've been looking for pre-cooked items locally and I've been unable to find much of anything, which has really surprised me because I know I've seen things in the past.
We found turkey tenderloins, so we'll crockpot those, and pair that with jarred gravy.
I'm thinking to use frozen shredded hash brown potatoes with a little milk and butter, instead of mashed potatoes.
I suppose I could do green bean casserole in the crockpot, too.
 


Our grocery stores here have premade mashed potatoes. I have no idea how they taste but you could look and try them before.

Stuffing can be done in a crockpot too.

I would make a list of the must haves. Then google crockpot recipes.

This blog has a ton of recipes: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
 
I am the queen of crockpots and I use them a lot for Thanksgiving. I make dinner at my house and bring it to my in laws 40 minutes away (they don't have an oven. Don't ask long story)

I have done an entire chicken in a crockpot so you could do a turkey breast in one. It will come out very juicy. I have cooked my sweet potatoes and white potatoes in a crock pot since if I cook the turkey in the oven I don't have room for the potatoes and I will not boil them. I guess you could cook the stuffing in a crockpot but I have never tried it.

Any questions just ask.
 
Will there be a microwave at the hotel? If not, maybe you could buy a small one? If you have any family members heading off to college or their first apartment, they can then take the microwave.

I've done the refrigerated mashed potatoes and mashed sweet potatoes for a pot luck dinner before. At my supermarket they sell them near the meat case. I put them in the oven, but I think they can be microwaved. They're actually not bad and the sweet potatoes are pretty tasty. Not my grandma's recipe, but they'll do in a pinch!

I've done crockpot stuffing before. It was o.k. but maybe I had a bad recipe. It was too dry for my taste.

Microwave veggies are fine. If you can make biscuits ahead of time you can reheat those in a microwave, too.

I crockpot a lot - at least twice a week - and have to recommend you buy the crockpot liners by Reynolds - zero clean up! They are my new favorite thing!

Next year everyone needs to go to Disney :flower3:
 
I crockpot a lot - at least twice a week - and have to recommend you buy the crockpot liners by Reynolds - zero clean up! They are my new favorite thing!:
Last time I crockpotted in a hotel, I took these and then forgot to use them. :furious: I was so mad at myself!!

Next year everyone needs to go to Disney :flower3:
LOL, that was always my dream but I've now given up on getting everyone to WDW! In-laws have quit traveling and others don't travel unless to visit family.
Oh well. Will do it with my kids when they have families!
 
Sorry, I've been so busy I haven't checked back.
Things went really well. I bought a turkey breast, put it in a cooking bag with spices, dried onions, parsley, and broth. It was so good,very juicy and tender, now sil has sworn off full turkeys and is going to do a breast next time. Also did dressing in another cooking bag in the same crockpot, it was a little on the dry side, so will add more liquid next time.
I think maybe next year I need to try something different with the potatoes. They were a little bland, but ok with the gravy.
SIL made green bean casserole in the microwave, so I didn't try it in the crockpot.
I made pre-seasoned pork tenderloins (that come in a bag) for another meal and that worked really well in the hotel.
Overall I was very happy with both meals and my inlaws were very appreciative!
I will do it again!
 
I love doing my turkey in the crockpot with a liner. Put it in before bed and wake up to the wonderful smells of turkey.

Clean up was a breeze.
 

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