How to Fry Your Entire Thanksgiving Dinner

— -- There’s a lot to be said for tradition; it’s the reason we share Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family each year. And it’s the reason we include delicious dishes like stuffing, cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole on our holiday tables each November. However, it’s also nice to create new traditions, try new recipes, and mix things up once in a while. If you want to try something different this Thanksgiving but don’t want to stray too far from traditional holiday flavors and dishes, why not try frying all your favorite parts of the meal? Better yet, why not fry your entire Thanksgiving dinner?

Click here to see the How to Fry Your Entire Thanksgiving Dinner (Slideshow)

There’s been a lot of talk about deep-fried turkey in recent years. Deep-fried turkey is juicy and delicious with a golden, crispy skin. The problem with deep-fried turkey, though, is that it requires special equipment and planning (you need a very large vessel in which to fry your turkey and it must be done outdoors) and it can be extremely dangerous. Turkey-frying accidents are responsible for 60 injuries, five deaths, and more than $15 million in property damage to more than 900 homes each year. If you want to eat deep-fried turkey this Thanksgiving, we suggest deep-frying smaller pieces in a very large stovetop pot instead. Or, try breaded and pan-fried turkey.

And, since you’re frying the turkey, you might as well get good use out of your frying pan or pot of frying oil; there are a number of other Thanksgiving dishes that can be fried as well. Try dipping your favorite Thanksgiving dishes into batter and deep-frying them, coating them in bread crumbs and pan-frying them, or wrapping them up in thinly rolled pie dough and frying them on your stovetop. You won’t be disappointed with the results.

Looking for more guidance? We have enough recipes to help you fry your entire Thanksgiving dinner.

Fried Stuffing Fritters

(Credit: Shutterstock)
Since you won’t be stuffing your fried turkey cutlets, make these deep-fried cornbread stuffing fritters instead. They’re loaded with celery, onion, and sausage for that traditional stuffing flavor you love.
Click here for the recipe.

Fried Mashed Potatoes

(Credit: Shutterstock)
If you’re going to fry your entire Thanksgiving dinner, you’ll have to find a way to fry mashed potatoes too. This clever recipe takes mashed potatoes, rolls them in bread crumbs, and then pan-fries them for a delicious, golden potato fritter. This is also a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes any time of year. 
Click here for the recipe.

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Click here to see the How to Fry Your Entire Thanksgiving Dinner Slideshow

Kristie Collado is The Daily Meal’s Cook Editor. Follow her on Twitter @KColladoCook .