Blake Shelton Isn’t Afraid to Experiment With New Turkey Recipes

Blake Shelton and his three stepsons love a good Thanksgiving turkey, but the annual caveat is that it has to be done in an outlandish, unconventional way.

Every year, Shelton and Kingston, 15, Zuma, 13, and Apollo, 7, select an off-center turkey recipe and cook up it up, whilst the maternal head of the family, Gwen Stefani, focuses on fixing the rest of the spread.

“The first year, we made a hot Flamin’ Hot Cheetos turkey. We crusted it in the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos,” Shelton tells People. “The next year Apollo — or maybe it was Zuma; I can’t remember — we ended up doing a Funyuns turkey, which actually tasted a lot like a regular turkey. I guess whatever they put in Funyuns, it’s the same stuff.”

Shelton and the boys will be having bacon as their 2021 bird, with much excitement of course.

“One of them saw a picture of the bacon-wrapped — like the whole thing, and we’re doing it,” the country star shares. The fun does not end there.

The couple, who wed in July of this year, will extend the kids’ chucklesome turkey tradition to Christmas where they’ll choose a “really incredible,” yet seemingly arduous recipe that “people can’t really make it.” While he isn’t absolutely certain what new gastronomical concoction might emerge this year, he is positive of the return of the infamous pasta timpano.

“Basically, there are all kinds of different pastas and sauces and layers in this like bread bubble,” Shelton explains. “Then you bake it, and you cut these slices, and it’s literally the most fattening worst thing you could probably ever eat. But it’s also the best thing you ever ate, too.”

Over at the Shelton household, food is more than just food. They take their dishes — old staples and new recipes — very seriously. Before the main event, taste and cooking tests are done to ensure everything is set without a hiccup for the impending feasting.

“I married into an Italian family, and food is, they take that serious around here, and I do, too,” he quips. “So it’s a bad, really bad combination.”

Shelton’s love for the entertainment and the culinary worlds meshed perfectly with Ole Red, a chain of entertainment complexes that combine a restaurant, bar, and state-of-the-art entertainment venue. Locations include Nashville, Gatlinburg, Tenn., Tishomingo, Okla., Orlando and the newly announced Las Vegas, which is slated to open in 2023.