The Best Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes on Our Dinner Menu

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Time to start thinking about all the yummy things that will be gracing your Thanksgiving table. Cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, roast turkey, green bean casserole…what are the highlights of your Thanksgiving menu? Are you hosting this holiday season or will you just be taking one of your favorite classic dishes to add to the feast?

I don’t know about you, but for me, a traditional Thanksgiving feast is all about the sides. The main course…a traditional turkey…is great for next day leftover sandwiches, but the Thanksgiving side dishes are the real star of the show. 

So, what is a part of your traditional Thanksgiving dinner? In our house that list includes the following:

-Thanksgiving Turkey

-Sweet Potato Casserole

-Creamy Mashed Potatoes

-Thanksgiving Stuffing

-Green Beans

-Cranberry Sauce

-Salad

-Homemade Gravy with turkey drippings

-Apple Pie

-Pumpkin Pie

-Dinner Rolls (get my delicious orange rolls recipe here)

This year we are going to host a big group and I know that the Thanksgiving staple turkey is not a fan favorite amongst this crowd so I am going to try a new Thanksgiving recipe or two, including adding some additional protein like a roast beef or possibly some smoked tri-tip. Yum. Also on my list this year….mac n’ cheese made with lactose free cheddar cheese for my little dairy intolerant princess, brussel sprouts with bacon and honey, and finally creamed corn – an easy and delicious recipe with cream, butter and parmesan cheese. For dessert we’re going to add a pecan pie to the mix too. 

Classic Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving Turkey – Can I tell you my secret about our Thanksgiving Turkey? I cheat. For YEARS I have spent days getting the perfect turkey, making the perfect brine to soak it in, getting the cooler and ice ready to hold it over night, waking up early to get it ready to cook and then letting it take up half of my oven space for the entire day…only to have it still just not be awesome. Don’t get me wrong…it’s a good turkey, but turkey just isn’t that great to eat as a main protein because it’s often dry and a little flavorless. (Smoke me a turkey though and then we’ll talk!) So, a few years ago the kids went to a youth group Friendsgiving and the lady hosting it served these amazing turkey breasts from Costco. They were flavorful and moist and delicious…and didn’t take up the entire oven all day. I decided that I was going to give serving those a try myself at our family Thanksgiving dinner and they were a hit. And they make AMAZING sandwiches the next day. When I did cook a turkey, I used Alton Brown’s brine recipe which was by far the best one I found so if you are going to brine a turkey, I highly recommend that recipe.

Green Beans – I have tried several different types of green bean casserole recipes over the years. You know the one…with cream of mushroom soup and the crispy onions on top…and we just don’t love them. So fresh green beans sauteéd in butter, garlic and salt are our green beans of choice. I like to leave them bright green and just a little crisp.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes – No Thanksgiving menu would be complete without a few creamy types of potatoes. Good old mashed potatoes are my favorite. Golden Yukons, boiled in salted water and mashed with butter, sour cream, cream cheese and salt and you can’t go wrong. 

Homemade Gravy – Top those creamy mashed potatoes with some homemade gravy with turkey drippings and you feel like your life is complete. The recipe I have been using for years…and frankly I think is THE BEST gravy around, is Ina Garten’s Homemade Thanksgiving Gravy. The secret is in the low and slow cook of the onions. Don’t rush it. It brings in SO much flavor. 

Thanksgiving Stuffing – for years I tried stuffing recipe after stuffing recipe…cornbread stuffing, sausage stuffing you name it, I tried it. Finally, I just went ahead and developed my own with the things we like in it, like fresh herbs, cranberries and apples. One of the biggest must-do steps when making stuffing is to cut your own bread. It really does make such a difference.

I like to pick a few types of bread to add color and texture to the stuffing, and then I cut it and dry it. It is SO much better than the little bags of dried bread cubes. You can get the recipe here.

Salad – I mix up the salad option every year. Do we really NEED a salad…no, but it makes me feel better about all the other really caloric options I have on my plate. HA! Although…I’m not exactly known for making super calorie friendly salads either. lol! This one is definitely a favorite fall salad.

Rolls – Ok, so maybe it’s a stretch to call incredibly sweet and dessert-like Orange Rolls “dinner rolls,” but we do in our house, ok? 😉 If you’ve been following along with the blog for awhile, you know that these rolls are a family tradition and are always on our dinner table during the holidays. 

Sweet Potato Casserole – I admittedly am not the biggest fan of sweet potatoes…although I do like them fried, so for years I didn’t bother making a sweet potato Thanksgiving side, but then we had a few guest one year that like them and I decided to whip something up. Instead of the traditional sweet potato chunks bathed in butter, brown sugar and marshmallows, I found a recipe for a sweet potato casserole filled with warm spices and topped with the most incredible sweetened, chopped pecans. It is a deliciously sweet dish. 

Cranberry Sauce – Tangy, sweet and citrusy this is my favorite cranberry sauce recipe. I developed it several years ago and it has been a hit with crowds since. I’ve passed this recipe along to a lot of people and it has become a staple on their Thanksgiving menus as well. It is fab on Turkey sandwiches too. 

Apple Pie – I am a sucker for a dutch apple pie. The crumbly strudel like topping is the perfect compliment to those tart apples. This recipe has been a family favorite for years, so I always make a couple. 

Pumpkin Pie – I follow the recipe on the back of the Libby’s pumpkin can for these. Pretty simple. If you want a sweeter pie, sometimes I’ll add condensed milk in place of the evaporated milk. And whatever I make I ALWAYS top it with homemade whipped cream. If you’re not a fan of the texture of pumpkin pie, give this pumpkin dump cake a try. Top it with ice cream…it’s a favorite for sure.

I’ll let you know how the mac n’ cheese, creamed corn and brussels turn out this year and it they are a hit I’ll be sure to add the recipes to the blog. 

I hope that this Thanksgiving list of foods is just what your looking for this year and that you find the perfect dish for your holiday table. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with the whole family!

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xoxo-

Tammy