Use Breakfast Meats To Take Your Turkey To The Next Level

The holiday season always kicks off with a bang, as Thanksgiving opens the doors for hearty foods, festive vibes, and plenty of cups of cheer. And while fixings like mashed potatoes, stuffing, and sweet potato casseroles are all worth looking forward to, there's nothing like an old-fashioned roasted turkey to feast your eyes on.

Some home cooks love traditional methods of cooking turkey, namely, roasting the bird in an oven. Others love to experiment with more advanced cooking methods, such as smoking, deep-frying, and even utilizing the beer can method, per The Daily Meal. Rubbing the bird with mayonnaise before roasting is also an interesting option, but probably not as popular as a wet or dry brine.

But creativity doesn't always have to spotlight cooking methods. Spice rubs and aromatics can certainly carry a whimsical and often global-inspired spin, as well as creating a "theme" for your turkey. For instance, a barbecue theme may involve a barbecued turkey with corn on the cob and collard greens on the side. Or, you could sprinkle a hefty amount of hot Cheetos on the turkey for a crunchy, cheesy, and spicy exterior, as shared by Today.

An even better idea, though, has to do with a breakfast theme for the ultimate turkey brunch!

Bacon goes with just about anything, and Thanksgiving turkey is no exception. The Kitchn explains that a bacon-wrapped turkey is not only a crowd pleaser, but it also removes any brining, basting, or salting steps, too. That's because bacon is packed with tons of sodium (579 milligrams per three slices of bacon, to be exact, per Very Well Fit). So, any extra salt via seasoning or dry brining will render the turkey practically inedible.

But perhaps one of the best parts about wrapping a turkey in bacon strips lies in the flavor it provides. Taste of Home states that bacon locks the moisture in and provides a constant stream of heavenly bacon drippings throughout the turkey. Not only will the turkey taste like bacon, but you'll also get to enjoy a crispy combination of turkey skin and bacon.

Now if you're really a fan of breakfast, you can take things up a notch and poke the entirety of your turkey with skewered, halved sausage links. Taste of Home recommends roasting this sausage-turkey hybrid for about 1.5 hours and then serving the sausage links as a snack for guests to enjoy. The links should also provide some salty, sausage-flavored drippings to the exterior of the turkey. And extra bonus points if you'd like to add both bacon and sausage links to the turkey (and maybe even sprinkle the side dishes with bacon bits) for the ultimate breakfast-themed Thanksgiving.