Its Thanksgiving. Plan ahead.

Guys happy almost Thanksgiving! If there is one thing I have learned in the 20+ years of cooking on the big day it is this: plan, prep and cook ahead. When my friends at Traeger asked me for a Thanksgiving recipe to share I instantly thought of this Sweet Potato Gratin. It’s easy, simple and elegant. And it can be made in advance and works well on the Traeger.

Skip down to the bottom for ingredients and instructions. For a visual play by play, keep scrolling.

Just 4 ingredients. That’s it.

Sweet potatoes, thyme, heavy cream plus salt & pepper. All stuff you probably have bought already for the big day. I also love this dish because it tastes elegant but ingredients wise, its cheap as hell.

Sharpen your knives.

You will slice these potatoes into quarter inch discs. Sweet potatoes are dense so you’ll need your best vegetable knife(or mandolin) and make sure it’s sharp. My best advice for getting ready for Thanksgiving besides solid planning and prep: get your knives professionally sharpened. Unless you do it yourself and in that case – good for you.

Butter the baking pan.

Another fine piece of advice for Thanksgiving: have plenty of butter and make sure some of it is softened or left out at room temp for things like buttering a pan. Since I was using the Traeger for this version of Sweet Potato gratin, I bought a disposable Aluminum pan(8x8x2) to use. Baking dishes like Pyrex advises not to use on a grill and I like to be safe than sorry.

There will be cream

Look, it’s Thanksgiving and rich foods are the name of the game. Heavy cream makes this dish and it’s simplicity is derived from luscious cream mingling with an earthy herb like thyme. Here I combined the heavy cream and thyme in a measuring  cup before pouring over the potatoes.

Get it in the oven. 425 for 45 min.

One of the best qualities of a Traeger is that it is actually a badass oven. It is my go to for Christmas Prime Rib. Kitchen real estate is scarce on Thanksgiving so use your Traeger or whatever grill/oven you got. Also a Traeger is great for holding food/keeping it warm. Yes, this is a bit of a sponsored post but it’s still true.

Final touches: remove foil and caramelize

After about 45 minutes, the potatoes should be close to done. At this stage, remove the foil and caramelize the sweet potato gratin for about 20 minutes or so. Honestly I could have let this cook a little longer but I was still happy with this:

Eat it now. Save it for later.

I would say the best part about this dish is how delicious it is despite being so easy. But what I like even more is that you can make it ahead and warm up. This is also an excellent dish to bring to a Thanksgiving as well. Use your Traeger or your oven and either way you might never do the marshmallow version ever again. And happy Thanksgiving!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 2 pounds sweet potatoes(peeled and sliced)
• salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped thyme

Directions

1. Heat Traeger to 425 degrees
2. Butter a 2 quart aluminum pan
3. Peel and slice sweet potatoes into 1/4″ slices. Layer the potatoes, seasoning with salt and pepper before adding the next layer.
4. Combine the cream and thyme in a bowl or measuring cup. Pour over potatoes. Cover aluminum pan tightly with foil.
5. Cook for 45 minutes
6. Remove foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes till top layer is caramelized.