Hi friends! I know you don’t usually come to us for culinary advice (unless it’s some ideas for how to use up the 25lbs of apples your kiddos picked on your last orchard outing LOL), but throughout my 15+ years careening through parenthood, I’ve learned that it never hurts to pick up a time-saving tip anywhere you can find one 🙂
Searching for Thanksgiving recipes online these days has become more of a time-waster than a time-saver, in my opinion. I really don’t want the “75 Best Potato Recipes of All Time.” What I want is one amazing mashed potato recipe that I know everyone in my family will love. I get so caught up in all the gorgeous photos of elaborately staged dessert creations, when what I really need is a super tasty pie filling recipe that I can scoop into a store-bought crust. And before I know it, I’ve somehow stumbled onto a blog post about festive tablescapes and I’m on Amazon trying to decide which ceramic turkey candleholders I should get when in fact I don’t even use candles on my table!
In short, I felt like maybe it was time someone got real with the Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup posts.
As someone who is currently preparing to host her 20th family Thanksgiving celebration, I thought I might be in a good position to offer some advice in that department, especially if anyone is taking on hosting duties for the first time (almost as overwhelming as coming home with a newborn!). So as I am gearing up for my own culinary marathon, I thought I would share my absolute favorite recipes with you–including all the ones you will find on my table this year. After decades of testing recipes, these featured below are the absolute best, most outstanding dishes that I’ve discovered that are also available online for anyone to access. So whether you are hosting the whole shindig, or just bringing a dish to share, you can be sure any one of these will be a success. I give you my Out-and-About-Mom-been-there-tried-that-loved-it guarantee.
Don’t forget to check out my FAVORITE APPETIZERS too!
Don’t stress over the bird. These recipes will make it taste fantastic without unnecessary effort.
Dry Brine from Serious Eats (After years of wrestling turkeys into brining bags full of all manner of liquids, I’ve realized that this ridiculously simple two-ingredient method is all you need.)
Herb Butter from Williams Sonoma (This is truly the secret: Make this compound butter and then gently place slices of it all around under the skin of the turkey before roasting. Any combination of poultry herbs will work. I don’t even use the lemon. Just butter and herbs. I make this up to a week ahead.)
Make Ahead Gravy (with made from scratch turkey stock) from Chef John @ MyRecipes.com
Make Ahead Gravy (make with gussied up store bought chicken stock* to save time) from Southern Living
*Easy Chicken Stock Recipe (Adapted from a Southern Living recipe no longer available online): 2 lbs chicken wings, 2 32-oz containers of chicken broth. Preheat oven to 400. Bake chicken wings on a baking sheet 20-25 minutes or until browned. Add chicken wings and broth to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 30 minutes. Remove the wings and any solid bits from the stock by pouring through a wire mesh strainer. Discard wings. Use immediately or cool completely and chill up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 months.
We have several vegetarians in our family so I like to include something “entree worthy” for them. However, any of these recipes can also pull double duty as a delicious side dish.
Roasted Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad from Food Fanatic
Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna from Julia’s Album
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Fontina Cheese and Thyme from Better Homes & Gardens
Forget all those complicated recipes for creative potatoes. On Thanksgiving everyone really just wants the basic mashed spuds, but done extraordinarily well. These recipes deliver.
The Best Mashed Potatoes from AllRecipes (I recommended using roasted garlic for this recipe)
Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole from Eating Well (If you want to keep this vegetarian friendly you can swap the marshmallow topping for a crunchy oat topping like the one in this recipe, or you can use vegan marshmallows such as the brand Dandies.)
Dressing is what you call stuffing that gets cooked separately as opposed to inside the bird. I’ve tried at least a dozen recipes with so many interesting combinations of ingredients over the years–mushrooms, sausage, bacon, cornbread, pears, apples, squash etc.–but the “Simple is Best Dressing” has always been the #1 winner with my guests. Go figure.
Simple is Best Dressing from Epicurious
Cornbread and Apple Dressing from Country Living
Sweet Corn Spoonbread from Southern Bite (a cross between a bread and a dressing)
I like to offer both cooked and fresh vegetable options.
Creamed Spinach from Cooks.com (I may, ahem, double the cheese and sour cream measurements when I’m feeling decadent 😉 )
Creamy Garlic Parmesan Brussels Sprouts from Cafe Delites
Thanksgiving Slaw from The Kitchn
Broccoli Salad from Downshiftology
Mac & Cheese: Our favorite Mac & Cheese recipe is from the wonderful kids’ picture book called Soul Food Sunday, written by Winsome Bingham and illustrated by C.G. Esperanza. You can check out the book (and the recipe!) on this site.
Fall Salad with Maple-Lime Dressing (and bowtie pasta!) from Julia’s Album
Something for every flavor of fall.
Apple Crumb Pie from Martha Stewart (I often use a store bought crust to save time and omit the raisins because my family doesn’t enjoy them.)
Slow Cooker Apple Crisp from All Recipes (A perfect dessert option when oven space is limited and you want that “fresh from the oven” flavor. I like to add about a 1/2 cup of oats to the topping in this recipe.)
Pear-Cranberry Pie with Oatmeal Streusel from Cooking Light (In a season filled with apples, pumpkins & pecans, this unique flavor combination really stands out!)
Pecan Pie from The Pioneer Woman (A store-bought crust is a helpful time-saver.)
No-Bake Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes from A Family Feast (My kids’ favorite holiday dessert!)
Happy Thanksgiving!
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