24 Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (2024)

You’re guaranteed to please your crowd every single year with these highly-rated Thanksgiving recipes. From roasted mains to classic sides and desserts, these four- and five-star dishes will leave your guests craving your cooking for months after the holidays. Recipes like our reliable Herb-Roasted Turkey and Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Goat Cheese & Pomegranate are fragrant, flavorful and festive recipes everyone will be asking for this Thanksgiving.

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Herb-Roasted Turkey

24 Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (1)

This easy method produces all the good looks and moist flavor you dream of in an oven-roasted turkey. Make sure you show this beauty off at the table before you carve it. Garnish your serving platter with fresh herb sprigs and citrus wedges for a showstopping Thanksgiving turkey.

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No-Sugar-Added Sweet Potato Casserole

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Instead of loading up this comfort food side with tons of brown sugar and marshmallows, we have turned to sweet spices, vanilla and inherently sweet dried fruit to enhance the natural sweetness of the sweet potatoes. A topping of pecans and pepitas replaces traditional marshmallow topping to keep it healthy and add texture and color for a beautiful casserole.

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Beet Salad

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This simple beet salad recipe uses just a handful of ingredients to create a delightful side dish. Roasted beets add a sweet, earthy and aromatic flavor that shines in this side salad.

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Vegan Pumpkin Pie

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This easy vegan pumpkin pie gets its structure from aquafaba (the leftover water from a can of chickpeas) whipped up into a meringue-like foam. When it's combined with pumpkin and poured into a gluten-free pecan crust, you would never know beans had anything to do with this vegan pumpkin pie recipe.

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Instant Pot Garlic & Rosemary Roast Pork Loin

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Using an Instant Pot is a game changer for this pork loin recipe. The gravy is rich and flavorful, the meat is moist and perfectly cooked, and it all comes together in a fraction of the time compared to oven roasting.

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The Best Homemade Cranberry Sauce

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This is our go-to recipe for homemade cranberry sauce. It's simple (just five ingredients!), is lightly sweet without being too sugary and has just the right amount of zesty flavor from orange peel. Plus, it's so easy--it goes from stove to table in just 20 minutes!

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Carrot Casserole

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Carrot casserole is a great holiday side dish that’s both creamy and savory with just a touch of sweetness from the carrots. Coriander and dry mustard add lovely background flavors to the cream sauce. Microwaving the carrots gives them a jump-start in the cooking process and ensures that they’re cooked through. The carrots should all be sliced thinly so they cook evenly. If you have one, a mandoline can make quick work of the slicing, but a good sharp knife will also do the trick.

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Kale Salad with Cranberries

24 Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (8)

This easy holiday salad gets its flavor from a sweet citrus dressing that's infused into the kale by massaging the greens and the dressing together with your hands. We like a mix of kale for this recipe, but any type of kale will work.

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Diabetes-Friendly Carrot Cake

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With this luscious take on an all-time favorite, you can fit this low-added sugar cake into your eating pattern.

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Fennel & Meyer Lemon-Stuffed Salmon

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For this simple baked salmon recipe, just order the right size whole salmon from your grocery store or fish market and have them clean and scale it. You can also use two smaller fish (1 to 2 pounds each) and reduce the roasting time by about 10 minutes. If you like, you can opt for other species, such as striped bass, snapper or tilapia.

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Garlic Mashed Potatoes

24 Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (11)

What could be more satisfying than mashed potatoes? In this garlic mashed potato recipe, the potatoes are flavored with poached garlic, thinned with chicken stock and enriched with a small amount of sour cream. The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled if you're cooking for a crowd--say for Thanksgiving dinner.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Goat Cheese & Pomegranate

24 Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (12)

This gorgeous warm salad with nutty roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet-tart pomegranate seeds and creamy goat cheese is perfect for any winter meal—from a weeknight dinner to Christmas dinner or any other holiday celebration. The recipe is easily doubled if you are entertaining a crowd: just be sure to spread the sprouts out (use 2 pans if necessary) so they roast instead of steaming.

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Wild Rice Stuffing with Apple & Sausage

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This amazing wild-rice stuffing recipe is bursting with fall flavors, including rye bread, sausage, apples, dried cherries, pecans and fresh herbs.

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Cranberry Buttermilk Pie

24 Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (14)

This custard filling is what takes this buttermilk pie recipe to the next level. It tastes like a panna cotta with a bit of attitude from the tang of the buttermilk and a generous sprinkling of cranberries on top.

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Spatchco*ck Turkey with Sage & Thyme

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When it comes to cooking a whole turkey quickly and evenly, spatchco*cking--removing the entire backbone from the bird and splaying it open--is a great technique. This skin on this spatchco*cked turkey gets crispy and browned because nearly all of the skin is exposed. This recipe uses a simple blend of oil, fresh herbs and spices for classic roasted turkey flavor. Look for a small turkey, about 12 pounds, as it fits better in most roasting pans.

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Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

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Sweet cherries complement the tart goat cheese in this easy shaved Brussels sprouts salad. Pistachios add an extra layer of crunch. A sharp chef's knife works well to slice the Brussels sprouts thinly. A microplane grater is best for finely shredding the goat cheese.

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The Best Mashed Sweet Potatoes

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This healthy mashed sweet potato recipe has just 5 ingredients and is dinner-ready in 20 minutes. Using sweet potatoes for this classic side dish adds color to your plate along with a little sweetness and a boost of vitamin A. With classic and simple flavors, it can easily be paired with any of your favorite dishes.

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Slow-Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

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The genius hack in this recipe: topping sweet potatoes with marshmallows while they're still piping hot from the slow cooker yields a baked marshmallow topping that's typical with baked sweet potato casseroles.

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Cranberry-Balsamic Chicken Thighs

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To round out this healthy chicken dinner recipe, put some farro on to cook before you start cooking the chicken. Add some steamed broccoli and serve with a glass of pinot noir.

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Apple, Onion & Cranberry Stuffing

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Apples and fresh cranberries add a unique twist to this variation on the classic stuffing. Use fresh sage or rubbed sage in this healthy stuffing recipe; the ground version is too bitter.

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Balsamic Oven-Roasted Carrots

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Roasting carrots in the oven brings out their sweetness, which is enhanced further with a tangy balsamic and maple glaze. Serve these balsamic roasted carrots as an easy weeknight side dish.

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Vegan Scalloped Potatoes

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These scalloped potatoes are surprisingly rich and creamy even though they're made with no dairy (milk, butter or cheese)--vegan comfort food at its best. We use almond milk, herbs and spices to make a flavorful sauce and finish the dish with a crunchy almond topping. This makes a satisfying side dish if you're cooking for dairy-free or vegan diets.

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Apple & Pecan Stuffed Butternut Squash

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Let this cute little vegetarian stuffed squash side dish steal the show at the dinner table! Butternut squash is stuffed with a sweet and savory filling that gets a crispy finish under the broiler. If you can't find small butternut squash, honeynut squash is a great alternative. Shaped much like a butternut squash (but smaller), the honeynut squash has a deep orange skin and sweet flesh.

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Vegan Green Bean Casserole

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Now everyone can enjoy classic Thanksgiving favorites, like this dairy-free green bean casserole. We make a homemade vegan cream of mushroom soup using almond milk for the creamy base that's combined with fresh green beans. Top it off with classic french-fried onions (we have a vegan recipe for that, too!) for a side dish everyone will devour.

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24 Thanksgiving Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever (2024)

FAQs

What are the 10 most popular Thanksgiving foods? ›

Top 10 Thanksgiving Dishes
  1. Turkey.
  2. Stuffing/Dressing.
  3. Pumpkin Pie.
  4. Sweet Potato Casserole.
  5. Mashed Potatoes.
  6. Ham.
  7. Green Bean Casserole.
  8. Cranberry Jelly.
Nov 22, 2023

What are 5 traditional Thanksgiving foods? ›

The classic Thanksgiving dinner includes old-time favorites that never change: turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, and pie. But the way these dishes are made or added to is everchanging because of food trends and different dietary requirements.

How many dishes to make for Thanksgiving dinner? ›

How many dishes should I serve with the turkey? For 4 people, choose 1-2 appetizers and 3 sides. For 8 people, choose 1-3 appetizers and 3 sides. For 16 people, choose 2-3 appetizers and 3 or more sides.

What is the perfect Thanksgiving menu? ›

Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas
  • Roast Turkey. So, what are the top five traditional Thanksgiving foods? ...
  • Pumpkin Pie. If you only make one dessert for your traditional Thanksgiving food ideas, make sure that it's pumpkin pie. ...
  • Sweet Potato Casserole. ...
  • Smoked Turkey. ...
  • Stuffing. ...
  • Cranberry Sauce. ...
  • Green Bean Casserole. ...
  • Gravy.
Jul 25, 2024

What is the most unpopular Thanksgiving food? ›

The Most Disliked Traditional Thanksgiving Foods
  • Ham — 25.57%
  • Coleslaw — 25.57%
  • Pumpkin Pie — 24.28%
  • Mashed Potatoes — 18.66%
  • Macaroni and Cheese — 17.47%
  • Carrots — 16.98%
  • Apple Pie — 16.29%
  • Corn — 15.50%
Nov 21, 2023

What are 3 main foods on Thanksgiving? ›

The 10 Most Popular Thanksgiving Dishes
  • Roast turkey. We've already filled you in on how to carve a turkey like a chef. ...
  • Stuffing. Good stuffing is key to a successful Thanksgiving dinner. ...
  • Mashed potatoes. ...
  • Green bean casserole. ...
  • Corn casserole. ...
  • Sweet potato casserole. ...
  • Honey-glazed Brussels sprouts. ...
  • Cranberry sauce.
Nov 2, 2022

What is a complete list of Thanksgiving dishes? ›

Get the Sweet Potato Casserole recipe.
  • Cranberry Brie Bites. Kat Wirsing. ...
  • Dry Brine Turkey. PHOTO: ANDREW BUI; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE. ...
  • Green Bean Casserole. ...
  • Easy Pumpkin Pie. ...
  • Mashed Potato Casserole. ...
  • Creamed Brussels Sprouts. ...
  • Classic Stuffing. ...
  • Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Bites.
Nov 15, 2023

What is the famous meal of Thanksgiving? ›

A traditional Thanksgiving meal consists of roast turkey and many sides including stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans and cranberry sauce, with pumpkin pie as dessert.

What are the 5 most common sides served on Thanksgiving Day? ›

First things first: If you're going for the most quintessential Thanksgiving, you've got to have the classics. We're talking stuffing, sweet potato casserole, gravy, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce

What is the main meal for most Americans on Thanksgiving? ›

Turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, to the point that Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called "Turkey Day." Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that "no citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day", and Benjamin Franklin had high regard for the wild turkey as an ...

What is the most important food on a Thanksgiving table? ›

Just as it's a traditional meat used for Christmas dinner, turkey is favoured because it's big – and that means it can feed a whole family. Turkeys are usually stuffed with chestnuts and/or sausage meat and grains and baked in the oven before being carved at the table for everyone to enjoy.

What is the most common main dish for Thanksgiving dinner? ›

Turkey is a classic main course for Thanksgiving dinner, but that certainly doesn't mean you have to serve it every year.

What is the number 1 rated side dish for Thanksgiving? ›

Mashed potatoes are a traditional Thanksgiving side dish for a reason, and we definitely look forward to serving up this delicious dish every November. Click here for the recipe!

What is a true Thanksgiving dinner? ›

Traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes but the First Thanksgiving likely included wildfowl, corn, porridge and venison.

What is everyone's favorite Thanksgiving food? ›

Turkey and/or ham, mashed potatoes and gravy (usually made from the turkey or ham drippings), a stuffing (there are many varieties made many ways), green beans in some manner (green bead casserole is very popular), sweet potatoes (usually in a casserole topped with marshmallows but could be in a pie for dessert too), ...

What are the top 10 side dishes for Thanksgiving? ›

Thanksgiving side dishes: Here's the 10 most popular for your...
  • Sweet potatoes.
  • Brussels sprouts.
  • Gravy.
  • Bread.
  • Stuffing/dressing.
  • Cranberry sauce.
  • Squash.
  • Corn.

What are the top 5 Thanksgiving foods purchased in the US? ›

Popular Thanksgiving foods ranked
  1. Stuffing.
  2. Potatoes. ...
  3. Pies and other sweets. ...
  4. Other random foods. ...
  5. Rolls. Though rolls are certainly not a main dish, they are a key element of any Thanksgiving meal. ...
  6. Turkey. The classic entree for Thanksgiving is definitely a large turkey dish. ...
Nov 10, 2023

What are 4 commonly consumed foods at Thanksgiving other than turkey? ›

Thanksgiving Main Dishes That Are Better Than Turkey
  • Roast Chicken With Maple Butter and Rosemary. Image. Credit... ...
  • Beef Wellington. Image. ...
  • Ombré Gratin. Image. ...
  • Skillet Pork Chops and Apples With Miso Caramel. Image. ...
  • Samosa Pie. Image. ...
  • Maple-Baked Salmon. Image. ...
  • Lasagna. Image. ...
  • Ina Garten's Make-Ahead Coquilles St. Jacques.
Nov 10, 2022

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