How to Cook Thanksgiving Dinner Sous Vide Using the Sansaire

If cooking Thanksgiving dinner is part of your family’s annual tradition, you likely have the same cooking goals each year: juicy, delicious turkey, rich gravy, tender vegetables, and no stress. Unfortunately, for many home cooks Thanksgiving is rife with the chaos of trying to properly bake your turkey while juggling vegetables, side dishes and sauces, all of which need to be warm, but not dried out, at serving time.

There’s a better and easier way to host Thanksgiving. Using just one Sansaire and a little advanced planning, you’ll produce the best-tasting and least stressful holiday meal of your dreams! Here’s our guide for making sous vide Thanksgiving part of your new annual tradition.

Prep and cook your vegetables sous vide. Hearty vegetables like brussels sprouts and onions will hold up well in the refrigerator after cooking and can be stored and reheated in their cooking original cooking bags just before serving.

Sous Vide Brussels Sprout Confit

1. Preheat your water bath to 85°C / 185°F.
2. Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl to combine.
3. Transfer ingredients to a 1-gallon vacuum bag and seal.
   *If you aren’t using a vacuum sealer, melt the butter before adding to the other ingredients. With the top of the bag open, use tongs to carefully submerge the bag into the bottom of the water bath, without allowing any water into the bag itself. The pressure of the water circulating around the outside of the bag will push any air out and form a seal around the vegetables. Using the side of the water container, carefully seal the bag.
4. Cook for 1 hour.
5. Remove the bag from the bath and chill quickly by plunging it into a bowl of ice water. Store refrigerated until 2 hours before serving. This can be made up to 5 days ahead.

Sous Vide Pearl Onions with Raisins

1. Preheat your water bath to 85°C / 185°F. [Can be cooked in the same bath as the Brussels sprouts]
2. Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl to combine.
3. Transfer ingredients to a 1-gallon vacuum bag and seal.
   *If you aren’t using a vacuum sealer, melt the butter before adding to the other ingredients. With the top of the bag open, use tongs to carefully submerge the bag into the bottom of the water bath, without allowing any water into the bag itself. The pressure of the water circulating around the outside of the bag will push any air out and form a seal around the vegetables. Using the side of the water container, carefully seal the bag.
4. Cook for 1 hour.
5. Remove the bag from the bath and chill quickly by plunging it into a bowl of ice water. Store refrigerated until 2 hours before serving. Can be made up to 5 days ahead.

Roasting a whole turkey is fraught with compromise. Dark meat is best at one temperature, while white meat is best at another. Whole turkeys are heavy and hard to negotiate out of the oven, and in a moment’s inattention, they overcook and become dry.

Using the Sansaire, you can cook the most flavorful, succulent turkey you’ve ever tasted. Carving is a snap, since you buy your turkey in pieces instead of whole. Does your family prefer more white meat than dark? If so, go ahead and cook an additional turkey breast. You can’t do that with a whole bird!

Sous Vide Dark Meat Turkey Confit

Note: The fat from the skin renders during cooking, providing liquid and liquid fat for the gravy. If you wish to add additional fat, as in a traditional confit, you may use duck fat, butter or even olive oil.

1. Preheat your water bath to 60°C / 140°F in a large container.
2. Combine sugar, salt, garlic, rosemary and black pepper in a large bowl. Add turkey legs and toss to coat.
3. Transfer turkey legs and sugar mixture to a bag (or divide into separate bags) and seal. Cook for 24 hours.
4. Keep in the water bath and continue with the Turkey White Meat recipe below. When ready to serve, decant the liquid that has accumulated in the bag and reserve for the gravy.

Sous Vide Turkey Breast

1. Place boneless turkey breasts (skin on) in a bag and add aromatics (optional) and olive oil to
2. Add the bag to the sous vide bath that already contains the turkey dark meat.  Continue cooking at 60°C / 140°F for 2½ hours minimum, up to 8 hours.

Add the bagged brussels sprouts and bagged onions to the water bath.

Note: If you have other sauces or soft vegetables that you want to keep warm, transfer them to bags as well and add to the water bath. When it’s time for dinner, everything will be at the perfect serving temperature.

1. Arrange the top rack of your oven so it is 8-12” below the heating element, and preheat your oven to broil.
2. Unbag the dark meat from the bag, reserving any liquid that has accumulated for gravy (below).
3. Unbag the white meat. Arrange the dark and white meat turkey pieces, skin-side-up, on a baking sheet. Blot the pieces dry with a paper towel.
4. Roast under the broiler, watching continuously, until the skin has browned, about 2 to 5 minutes.
5. Optionally, spread cooked Brussels sprouts into a single layer on a baking sheet and roast under the broiler to crisp the outer leaves, about 5 minutes.
6. Slice the turkey breast crosswise into medallions and arrange on a platter alongside the dark meat pieces.

Rich Turkey Gravy

1. Melt the duck fat in a small saucepan over medium heat.
2. Drizzle in the decanted turkey drippings while blending with an immersion blender (or in a standard blender) until fully incorporated. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can combine the melted duck fat and drippings in a standard blender.

Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Sansaire!