Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Trash Casserole

I know it's January.

Thanksgiving has come and gone.

While I try to reserve the whole-turkey roasting for the actual holiday, we have wild turkey meat stashed in our freezer that we often cook with Thanksgiving-like side dishes.  We are huge lovers of anything that contains potatoes, stuffing or any of the ingredients to make green bean casserole.

If you've ever been to Rochester, New York, you may be familiar with a culinary phenomenon known as the "Garbage Plate".  Essentially, this is a mash-up of a main dish and several side dishes into one singular mess on a serving plate.  Usually, it's made of summer-time barbecue foods like hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, macaroni salad, baked beans and whatever else you can think of.

While this might sound absolutely wretched, I can promise you that it's way better than it sounds.  Every forkful contains a hint of your favorite meal, even if it's not the most handsome presentation.  Since I've got these wild turkey breasts sitting in the freezer and a craving for Thanksgiving without all the work, I'm going to make my own version of Nick Tahou's famous Garbage Plate by creating a slow cooker-style Trash Casserole.

I realize that some of you may get slightly bent out of shape at the propsect of using store-bought items in your casserole.  As much as I can, I like to make things all from scratch,  But, this casserole is meant to be indulgent, and easy.  So, to me, it makes sense to use store-bought goods.  We do use wild turkey meat in this, but you could use the breasts off a store-bought turkey if you like.  We also used some frozen green beans we kept from our garden last summer, but I've used canned beans before with the same results.  There are homemade versions of each layer of this recipe, so you can use your judgment as to what you want to use.

This is an easy way to enjoy Thanksgiving favorite without going overboard with the cooking and prepping.  In fact, throwing everything frozen and turning the slow cooker on is the hardest part of the whole process.  Four hours later, it's done and ready for eating!

Happy Thanksgiving in January!












Slow Cooker Thanksgiving Trash Casserole

2 frozen turkey breasts
2 cups frozen french fries
1 box store-bough stuffing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
3 cups green beans

Gravy for serving, if desired
Cranberry sauce for serving, if desired


In a bowl, combine soup and sour cream.

In a large slow-cooker, layer ingredients from the bottom up as follows: turkey, french fries, stuffing mix, sour cream mixture and green beans.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours.

Spoon onto a plate and thoroughly mix ingredients together.  Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with gravy and cranberry sauce, if desired.