Last updated on November 21st, 2024 at 04:36 pm
With so many amazing ingredients to choose from, creating a traditional Thanksgiving feast can be a daunting task. But with the right Thanksgiving recipes, it can be a smooth ride.
Thanksgiving is the perfect day to celebrate with your loved ones. It’s a time when you spend quality time with your friends and relatives. And it’s also a great opportunity to cook up a feast and enjoy every single moment together. Because good food is truly worth sharing together.
If you are looking for ideas on how to prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal, then you came to the right place. In this article, we will help you find some easy-to-follow recipes that you can try out.
So here goes… find the most mouth-watering recipes for you to enjoy this holiday season.
Turkey: the Ultimate Roasted Bird
First, let’s talk about the main dish. I know that many of you will be making a roast turkey on Thanksgiving Day, but what recipe to follow?
One of the most popular Thanksgiving foods is turkey. It is the centerpiece of the holiday meal. The goal is tender and flavorful meat. Turkey has a reputation for being dry, but that all comes down to overcooking.
If you do want to roast your own turkey, the best advice for making sure you don’t end up with dry meat is to take a bit of time in the kitchen to ensure you get the most out of your bird.
My recipe calls for using a meat thermometer, not stuffing the turkey, and making sure to let it rest to make sure it is cooked perfectly. That and a lot of sage for added flavor.
Mashed Potatoes: the King of Side Dishes
Potatoes are such simple ingredients. But that might be why they are so amazingly versatile. After all, there are a million ways to cook a potato. Mashed just happens to be the method of choice for Thanksgiving.
For Thanksgiving recipes, this one is super easy to prepare. It takes very little effort to cook up a batch of these luxurious potatoes.
Peel the potatoes (or thoroughly scrub them if you want skins in the mashed potatoes), and toss them into a large pot of water to boil. Cook the potatoes until tender.
After boiling the potatoes, drain them and allow them to cool off. Then peel and mash the potatoes with a potato masher, fork, or hand mixer. Add in some butter and cream. Mmmmmm.
Gravy: A Great Sauce for All Food
Gravy is an essential part of my Thanksgiving recipes. Plus you start it off by making a roux, the namesake of my website!
Gravy is a great condiment that adds extra flavor to foods. And, unless you are like my wife who detests even the thought of gravy (idk how…), it can go over almost anything.
Gravy is one of the most versatile sauces out there. It is the most versatile because it is so simple. You only need 3 ingredients to make gravy: fat, flour, and liquid. Then add in a few other things for more flavor – garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. That’s all you really need.
Use drippings from the turkey if possible, otherwise a solid turkey or chicken stock will work fine.
After making the roux, add in drippings or turkey/chicken stock and salt and pepper it to taste. Then stir until smooth. Now lather it over all those delicious potatoes and turkey slices.
Dinner Rolls: Bread with a Little Twist
Dinner rolls are a staple in American households. And this roll recipe comes from my mom and was one of my favorites from growing up. She would always make huge batches and then we’d have rolls for days. Perfection!
In this case, we’ll be making dinner rolls from scratch. But, the process is very similar to making basic white bread. And that means we’ll be making yeast dough and baking it in the oven.
What makes this particular dinner roll recipe unique is the way that it includes a big twist – literally.
Instead of just making dough balls and packing them together in a pan to cook, this dough is rolled out, cut, and then twisted together like an XL-sized garlic knot. Just without any added garlic butter or parm on top. Trust me, they’re still delicious and pillowy soft inside.
Glazed Carrots: A Sweet Side Dish
Carrots are a great side veggie. They have a naturally sweet flavor and a nice crunch to them.
Start them off by building the glaze in a large frying pan. Honey, brown sugar, spices, and broth. They combine for a spiced sweet glaze that’ll really complement the flavors of the carrots themselves.
Then just add the carrots and let them cook until perfectly tender. It’s as simple as that.
Glazed carrots are one of those side dishes that almost everyone likes. They are simple, sweet, and go well with everything.
You can serve it by itself, or you could add some nuts, raisins, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, etc. to make it more interesting.
Salad: Fall Flavors with Greens
There are many different kinds of salads you can prepare. And on a day when it has to compete with all of the other Thanksgiving recipes, you don’t want a plain, bland salad.
Now, let’s mix it up with this fall-flavored salad.
First, we’ll be starting with an interesting dressing. This salad has a mustard-maple dressing that gives hints of fall flavor in a warm almost honey-mustard flavor.
Next, we’ll be adding in some greens. Whatever mix of greens you have available will work. I tend to use a spring mix, even though it isn’t springtime…
Add in some pomegranate seeds, pecans, cheese, apples, and pears.
This salad is very simple. It doesn’t really need much else. But you can always play around with the ingredients to see what you think. You can use any combination of lettuce you like.
Punch: Mixed Drink for All Ages
This recipe comes courtesy of my wife’s family. It was one of their Thanksgiving recipes that became a tradition. And so now we continue that tradition.
Why? Because punch is awesome and it is great to just have out for everyone to serve themselves.
Bubbly, fruity flavors make this a drink that the whole family can enjoy. Just make sure that you have a huge punch bowl ready to go.
This is a super easy recipe, just get the ingredients and pour it all together and then add a few scoops of sherbet to float on top.
Pumpkin Pie: A Classic Dessert
Now we’re ready to finish off our meal with some pie! Or maybe wait for a few hours after the meal so there is room to eat some dessert.
Pumpkin pie is one of the most popular desserts at Thanksgiving. There are so many different varieties that you can make, but here’s a recipe for pumpkin pie that everyone loves!
It is one of the most common desserts you will find in the grocery store. But I frequently find those store-bought pumpkin pies bland and lacking in complexity.
So trust me, it is definitely worth making from scratch. And, one of the best parts, you can make it the day before and then just keep it in the fridge until it’s time to serve.
Make sure to have some whipped cream on hand for topping your pie slices.
