The Thanksgiving of 2020 will be different for many people. Gone, in many cases, are large family gatherings with vats of stuffing, 30 pound turkeys, and tureens of gravy. This Thanksgiving, because of the Pandemic of 2020, will be a scaled-down affair for many. Turkey for two? Well, smaller turkeys have been in short supply this year so if you couldn't find a small turkey, don't want a large turkey, perhaps you could try a "mock turkey." This is where Emma Miller's Amish Mock Turkey comes in.
This recipe comes to us from an Amish woman in Montana, it's a loaf-type concoction that's made of some soup, ground beef, and bread and it firms up. Thanks to Jessica for making it for us last-minute last night.
It does kind of resemble a mock turkey in look and taste (meaning not a ton of flavor, turkey usually doesn't, which is why ladling some gravy over this would probably be super)
Observations
A few observations from Jessica about Amish Mock Turkey. You might want to use a thicker bread, perhaps a broken loaf of artesian bread to better soak up the liquid as it bakes, because there isn't really much instruction on whether to drain the hamburger or not. I'm inclined to say don't drain (since it is telling us to brown the hamburger in butter). Jessica split the difference and partially drained and that seemed to work OK.

We used fresh hamburger from Aldi, but Amish cooks would have their own home-butchered beef to use.

Use a loaf of bread like this or, perhaps, something tougher and crustier like an artesian bread loaf.

Hamburger is the mock turkey.


The mock turkey pairs well with a fresh vegetable like green beans and maybe make some gravy to spoon over the "turkey", which kind of slices like a loaf.

Now, let's check out the recipe!
🦃Mock Turkey Ingredients
2 pounds hamburger, brown in butter
4 cups milk
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 loaf of bread, broken
salt and pepper to taste
📋 Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, mix together everything and pour into a 9 X 13 casserole dish.
Bake for 1 hour at 350.
👨🍳More Amish "Mock" Recipes
Nothing like a good imposter recipe, the Amish are great and concocting some!
You'd never know these are not real!
Tastes like the real thing!
Ham salad using hot dogs
Oatmeal pie sure masquerades well as pecan pie!
🖨️Printer-Friendly Mock Turkey

Amish Mock Turkey
Ingredients
- 2 pounds hamburger brown in butter
- 4 cups milk
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 can cream of celery soup
- 1 loaf bread broken
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Mix all ingredients together and spread into a 9 X 13 casserole.
- Bake at 350 for an hour.
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