One Pan Turkey Pilaf with Olives, Orange and Apricots

With the holidays season comes entertaining, get-togethers and big family meals.  From pasta dishes, salads, stuffed turkey breasts, and even cedar plank grilled we love having turkey as a staple in our home and trying out new recipes.  Turkey is a light and lean protein option full of vitamins and minerals.

Entertaining with Canadian Turkey is easy!  Visit canadianturkey.ca to discover everything you need to plan and cook the perfect meal.  With everything from Whole Turkey HOW TOs and Turkey Basics videos to meal solutions that will easily feed a crowd, they have you covered for all your entertaining menus.

Feeling creative?  Turkey is a versatile choice and perfect to feed a crowd, you can easily use different flavor profiles, spice blends, seasoning, stuffing and even glazes to make it your own.  Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Experiment with different brining and marinating flavors, get creative with your own family favorites.
• Use a glaze like maple, cranberry, jalapeno, paprika, Provence or bourbon to baste your bird throughout the roasting process and add a different flavor finish.
• Create your own rub using family-favorites spices for a unique signature style.
• Stuff your turkey with a selection of aromatics to customize and infuse flavor while cooking – a few of our favorites include shallots and thyme, apples and sage, onion and rosemary.
• Created spiced and flavored butters or oils to rub underneath the skin and add a major flavor boost while cooking.

When it comes to getting creative with turkey we’ve got a recipe that will knock your socks off.  This one-pan Turkey Pilaf with Olives, Orange and Apricots takes your turkey to a whole new flavor profile.

One Pan Turkey Pilaf with Olives, Orange and Apricots Recipe

This recipe is simple to make and easily feeds a crowd.  All you need is 25 minutes of prep and about an hour cooking time and you’re all set.  If used as a main dish you can easily feed 6-8 people.

One Pan Turkey Pilaf with Olives, Orange and Apricots

Canadian Turkey

5 from 7 votes

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Servings 6 -8

Ingredients

  

• 4-6 Canadian turkey thighs
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3 shallots
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 2 cups turkey broth
• ½ cup white wine
• 2 cups basmati rice
• 2 ½ cups water
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic
• ¼ tsp. cloves
• 2 sticks cinnamon
• 2 pods star anise
• 5 small pods green cardamom
• ¼ tsp. saffron
• ½ cup golden raisins
• ½ cup chopped apricots
• ½ cup sliced green olives
• 1 can chickpeas
• 2 stalks green onion chopped
• ½ cup sliced almonds
• 1 tbsps. chopped mint
• 1 tbsps. chopped parsley
• 1 tbsps. chopped cilantro
• 1 ½ tbsps. sesame seeds
• 1 tbsps. slivered orange rind

Instructions

 

• Heat vegetable oil in a large pan or Dutch oven.
• Thinly slice shallots and fry until golden, 1-2 minutes.  Remove and set aside.
• Season turkey thighs with salt, pepper and paprika.
• Brown both sides over medium heat.
• Deglaze with white wine.
• Add turkey broth.  Reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for 40 – 50 minutes until turkey is cooked through and almost falling off the bone.
• Remove turkey thighs from the pan to cool.  Once cooled, discard the skin, remove the meat from the bones and break up into chunks.  Set aside.
• Pour out the sauce from the pan into a heatproof container.  Add water until you have 4 cups liquid in total.  Set liquid mixture aside.
• Add 1 tsp. of olive oil to the pan over medium heat.  Add rice, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and cardamom.  Stir to toast rice and spices, 2 – 3 minutes.
• Add liquid mixture, saffron, raisins and garlic.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover until rice is cooked through, 10 – 12 minutes.  Turn off heat.  Uncover, fluff with a fork and cover again for 10 minutes.
• Add chickpeas, apricots, olives and turkey to the rice and combine.
• To serve, top with shallots, green onions, almonds, mint, parsley, cilantro, sesame seeds and orange rind. Enjoy!

You can easily make a variation of this recipe by using turkey breast instead of thighs to make it lighter or a combination of both to use up your leftovers.  It will quickly become a family favorite.

What's your favorite turkey recipe?

I’ve teamed up with Canadian Turkey for this great giveaway where one lucky reader will win an Amazon.ca gift card!

Canadian Turkey #TurkeyTraditions Giveaway

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Giveaway Open to: Canadian Residents, except where prohibited

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