These Are My Three Favorite Appliances to Cook Thanksgiving Dinner (Besides the Oven)

Thanksgiving dinner has a funny way of turning a perfectly normal kitchen into a high-stakes traffic jam. The turkey is claiming the oven like it signed a long-term lease. The casserole needs “just 20 more minutes.” The rolls are waiting with the silent disappointment of tiny bread judges. Meanwhile, someone is asking where the gravy boat is, even though no one has seen it since 2019.

That is exactly why I believe the best Thanksgiving cooks are not just good at recipes. They are good at appliance strategy. The oven may be the star of the day, but it should not be forced to do every job. A smarter holiday meal spreads the work across dependable tools that can cook, hold, crisp, steam, and rescue dishes while your oven handles the big-ticket items.

After cooking more holiday meals than my dishwasher would like to discuss, my three favorite Thanksgiving appliances besides the oven are the slow cooker, the electric pressure cooker, and the air fryer. Each one solves a different holiday problem. The slow cooker is the calm, patient helper. The pressure cooker is the fast problem-solver. The air fryer is the crisp-making magician that acts like it has something to prove.

Below, I will explain why these three appliances deserve counter space on Thanksgiving, what to cook in each one, and how to use them without creating a new kind of chaos. Because the goal is not to show off every gadget you own. The goal is to get dinner on the table hot, delicious, and preferably before everyone starts eating olives directly from the relish tray.

Why Thanksgiving Needs More Than the Oven

The classic Thanksgiving menu is secretly a scheduling puzzle. Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, pies, roasted vegetables, and casseroles often want the same space at different temperatures. Most home kitchens have one oven, maybe two racks, and a family member who opens the door every ten minutes “just to check.”

Using extra appliances is not cheating. It is smart cooking. A slow cooker can hold mashed potatoes warm without drying them out. An electric pressure cooker can steam potatoes or cook cranberry sauce while your stovetop is busy. An air fryer can crisp Brussels sprouts, reheat rolls, or cook a small turkey breast when the main oven is already booked.

Food safety matters, too. Turkey and poultry should reach an internal temperature of 165°F, and hot foods should be kept hot until serving. A food thermometer is not optional on Thanksgiving; it is the referee. No appliance, no recipe timer, and no “that looks done” should outrank the thermometer.

Appliance #1: The Slow Cooker

If Thanksgiving dinner had a reliable best friend, it would be the slow cooker. It does not demand attention, it does not panic, and it is perfectly happy to sit in the corner doing useful work while the rest of the kitchen behaves like a cooking competition finale.

The slow cooker shines because Thanksgiving is not only about cooking food. It is about holding food. That is the part many people forget. You can make beautiful mashed potatoes, but if they sit uncovered on the counter for an hour, they become a sad potato sculpture. A slow cooker helps keep creamy sides warm and spoonable until the meal is ready.

Best Thanksgiving Dishes for the Slow Cooker

Mashed potatoes are my number one slow cooker dish. You can cook peeled potato chunks with broth, butter, garlic, salt, and a little cream, then mash everything right in the insert. This method saves stovetop space, avoids draining a heavy pot of boiling water, and keeps the potatoes warm until serving. That last point is important, because mashed potatoes have a dramatic personality. They go from fluffy to gluey if mistreated.

Stuffing or dressing also works beautifully in a slow cooker, especially if your oven is occupied by turkey. The edges will not get as deeply crisp as oven-baked stuffing, but the texture stays moist and tender. For better flavor, sauté onions, celery, herbs, and sausage on the stovetop first. Then transfer everything to the slow cooker with toasted bread cubes and enough broth to moisten without drowning.

Other strong candidates include creamed corn, glazed carrots, green beans, macaroni and cheese, cranberry meatballs for appetizers, and even mulled cider. Basically, if a dish benefits from gentle heat and does not need a hard crispy crust, the slow cooker is probably interested.

Slow Cooker Tips That Actually Matter

First, do not overfill it. A slow cooker works best when it is about half to two-thirds full. If you pack it to the brim like a suitcase before vacation, the food may heat unevenly and take longer to reach a safe temperature.

Second, keep the lid closed. Every time you lift it, heat escapes, and the appliance has to recover. Thanksgiving is already full of delays. Do not create another one because you wanted to admire your potatoes.

Third, use the warm setting wisely. The warm setting is for food that is already fully cooked and hot. It is not meant to cook raw ingredients from scratch. For holiday holding, check that your dish stays hot enough for safe serving, especially if it will sit for a long time.

Appliance #2: The Electric Pressure Cooker

The electric pressure cooker, often called an Instant Pot-style cooker, is the appliance I use when the schedule starts laughing at me. It is fast, contained, and excellent for dishes that normally monopolize the stovetop. It can steam, pressure cook, sauté, and keep warm, which makes it one of the most useful Thanksgiving sidekicks.

Its biggest advantage is speed. Thanksgiving ingredients like potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, and dried beans can take a while by traditional methods. A pressure cooker uses steam and pressure to get them tender quickly. That means you can produce a side dish in the time it takes someone else to ask whether the turkey is ready for the fifth time.

Best Thanksgiving Dishes for the Pressure Cooker

Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite pressure cooker wins. Instead of roasting them for ages, you can pressure cook them whole or cubed until tender, then mash with butter, maple syrup, orange zest, cinnamon, or a savory twist of rosemary and black pepper. If you want a casserole-style topping, transfer the mash to a serving dish and finish with toasted pecans or a quick broil if oven space magically appears.

Cranberry sauce is another excellent choice. Fresh cranberries cook quickly with sugar, orange juice, zest, and a pinch of salt. The pressure cooker helps the berries burst down into a glossy sauce, and the dish thickens as it cools. It is much better than treating canned cranberry sauce like a holiday obligation.

The pressure cooker also handles turkey stock for gravy. Add turkey necks, giblets if you like them, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf, peppercorns, and water. In a relatively short time, you get a flavorful stock that makes gravy taste like it was supervised by a grandmother with very high standards.

Mashed potatoes can also be made in the pressure cooker. Steam the potatoes on a rack or cook them with a small amount of liquid, then mash with warm dairy and butter. This is a great backup plan if the slow cooker is already booked for stuffing or corn pudding.

Pressure Cooker Tips for Thanksgiving Success

Plan for the full time, not just the pressure-cooking time. Recipes may say “cook for 8 minutes,” but the appliance also needs time to come to pressure and release pressure. On Thanksgiving, those extra minutes count.

Use the sauté function before pressure cooking when flavor needs a boost. Browning onions, garlic, sausage, or mushrooms first can make a dish taste deeper and more finished. Pressure cooking is fast, but browning still brings the flavor party.

Do not pressure cook dairy-heavy dishes without caution. Milk, cream, and cheese can scorch or separate under pressure. For creamy dishes, cook the base first, then stir in butter, cream, cheese, or sour cream after pressure has released.

Appliance #3: The Air Fryer

The air fryer is the appliance I use when Thanksgiving food needs crunch. It is not really a fryer in the deep-oil sense. It is more like a compact convection cooker that circulates hot air around food, helping it brown and crisp faster than a traditional oven in many cases.

This is especially helpful on Thanksgiving because so many foods become soft while waiting. Brussels sprouts lose their charm. Rolls get floppy. Roasted vegetables turn sleepy. The air fryer is the wake-up call. It brings back texture when the table needs something crisp, browned, and lively.

Best Thanksgiving Dishes for the Air Fryer

Brussels sprouts are a perfect air fryer side. Halve them, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder, then air fry until browned at the edges. Finish with balsamic glaze, lemon, Parmesan, bacon, or toasted pecans. The result is the kind of vegetable dish that convinces people they were wrong about vegetables, at least temporarily.

Green beans also work well. Toss them with oil and seasoning, air fry until blistered, then add toasted almonds and lemon zest. It is fresher and lighter than a heavy casserole, which can be a relief on a table where butter is basically a food group.

Small turkey breasts can be cooked in some air fryers, depending on the basket size. A boneless or bone-in turkey breast can develop crisp skin and juicy meat when cooked carefully and checked with a thermometer. The key is leaving room for air to circulate. If the turkey is wedged in like it is riding economy class, it will not cook evenly.

The air fryer is also great for reheating rolls, crisping stuffing muffins, warming roasted potatoes, and giving leftover turkey skin a second chance at greatness. It is the appliance version of “let me fix that.”

Air Fryer Tips for Better Holiday Food

Do not overcrowd the basket. Air fryers need airflow. If you pile in vegetables too thickly, they steam instead of crisp. Cook in batches if needed, and keep finished batches warm in a covered dish.

Shake or turn food halfway through cooking. This promotes even browning and prevents the bottom layer from feeling ignored.

Lower the temperature slightly when adapting oven recipes. Because air fryers circulate heat intensely in a smaller space, many foods cook faster. Watch closely the first time you make a recipe, especially with sugary glazes or buttery toppings.

How I Divide the Thanksgiving Menu Among These Appliances

Here is the basic game plan I like: the oven handles the main turkey or the dish that truly needs oven space. The slow cooker holds mashed potatoes or stuffing. The pressure cooker makes sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, or gravy stock. The air fryer crisps vegetables and reheats rolls right before dinner.

This division works because each appliance has a clear personality. The slow cooker is for low-stress holding and gentle cooking. The pressure cooker is for fast tenderness. The air fryer is for crisp edges and quick reheating. When every appliance has a job, the meal stops feeling like a pileup.

A sample appliance-friendly Thanksgiving menu might look like this: roasted turkey in the oven, slow cooker mashed potatoes, pressure cooker cranberry-orange sauce, air fryer Brussels sprouts, stovetop gravy, make-ahead pie, and rolls warmed in the air fryer at the last minute. Nothing about that feels like a shortcut in flavor. It just feels like a cook who would like to enjoy the holiday instead of becoming part of the kitchen equipment.

What Not to Cook in These Appliances

As much as I love these tools, not every Thanksgiving dish belongs in them. A whole large turkey should not go into a slow cooker. Large poultry needs reliable, even cooking, and a full-size holiday bird belongs in an oven, roaster, or another method designed for its size. Always use a food thermometer and make sure poultry reaches 165°F in the thickest parts.

Delicate pies are usually better in the oven. The air fryer can handle hand pies or small pastries, but a classic pumpkin pie needs steady baking and enough space for the filling to set properly. The pressure cooker can make certain cheesecakes and custards, but it is not my first choice when the family expects a traditional pie.

Huge casseroles are also tricky. If a dish depends on a browned, crunchy top, the slow cooker will not deliver that texture by itself. You can cook the filling in a slow cooker and add a crispy topping separately, but do not expect the same result as a bubbling oven-baked casserole.

My 500-Word Experience: How These Appliances Saved My Thanksgiving Sanity

The first time I truly appreciated these three appliances, I was hosting Thanksgiving in a kitchen that looked spacious until people arrived. Suddenly, every inch of counter space had a job. One corner held the pies. Another corner held a cutting board, three bowls, a half-zested orange, and a spoon nobody admitted using. The oven was full, the stovetop was crowded, and I remember looking at a mountain of peeled potatoes like they had personally betrayed me.

That year, the slow cooker became my mashed potato bodyguard. I cooked the potatoes earlier than usual, mashed them with warm butter and cream, and transferred them to the slow cooker on warm. Every so often, I stirred in a splash of milk to keep them silky. Instead of doing the last-minute potato panic dance, I had a creamy side dish waiting patiently. Guests thought I was organized. I did not correct them.

The pressure cooker earned its place when I forgot that cranberry sauce still had to exist. Fresh cranberries, orange juice, sugar, zest, and a pinch of salt went into the pot. A few minutes later, the berries had burst into a bright, tart sauce that tasted like I had planned it all along. That is the beauty of the pressure cooker: it turns “oops” into “of course.”

The air fryer became the closer. Right before dinner, I used it for Brussels sprouts. They came out browned, crisp, and just bitter enough to balance all the buttery richness on the table. Then I used the same appliance to warm rolls. The rolls came out lightly crisp on the outside and soft inside, which is exactly the kind of small victory Thanksgiving needs.

Since then, I have treated these appliances like part of the holiday team. I do not use them just because they are trendy. I use them because they solve real problems. The slow cooker protects food from getting cold. The pressure cooker creates time where there was none. The air fryer brings back crunch when the menu starts leaning too soft.

My best advice is to assign jobs before Thanksgiving Day. Do not wait until the turkey is resting to wonder whether the air fryer can handle twelve servings of vegetables. Test your recipes, check the size of your appliances, and write down a rough schedule. Thanksgiving cooking does not have to be rigid, but it does need a plan.

Also, keep expectations realistic. These appliances are helpers, not miracles in stainless steel. They will not wash dishes, find the missing serving spoon, or stop your uncle from asking if the turkey is “supposed to be that color.” But they will make the meal easier, warmer, faster, and more delicious. On Thanksgiving, that is more than enough.

Final Thoughts

The oven may get the glory on Thanksgiving, but it should not have to carry the whole meal alone. The slow cooker, electric pressure cooker, and air fryer are my three favorite appliances because they help solve the biggest holiday cooking problems: limited space, tight timing, and the constant battle to keep food hot and appetizing.

Use the slow cooker for mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, or other dishes that benefit from gentle heat. Use the pressure cooker for fast sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stock, or steamed vegetables. Use the air fryer for crispy Brussels sprouts, green beans, rolls, or a smaller turkey breast. Together, they turn Thanksgiving from a frantic juggling act into something closer to a well-rehearsed kitchen parade.

And if dinner still runs ten minutes late? That is fine. Thanksgiving has always been less about perfect timing and more about gathering around good food with people you love. Besides, with the right appliances working behind the scenes, at least the mashed potatoes will still be warm.

Note: This article is based on current U.S. food-safety guidance and widely used Thanksgiving cooking practices from reputable culinary and consumer sources. Always verify doneness with a food thermometer, especially for poultry.