Menu: A Mexican-Inspired Thanksgiving

The flavors of Mexico are now as much a part of our national palate as traditional roast turkey and apple pie. This year, add some spice to your Thanksgiving table with turkey doused in chile sauce, brussels sprouts with chorizo, Oaxacan stuffing, and sautéed potatoes and chiles. These festive, warming dishes carry enough variety of flavor, from sweet to spicy to savory, to have something for everyone.
See 8 more complete Thanksgiving menus (with no recipe overlap) in our gallery »

The Menu

More About This Menu

This chile and tomatillo salsa is a perfect compliment to tortilla chips and roast turkey, but check out our gallery of Mexican salsas for alternate (or additional) recipes.
The turkey recipe comes from SAVEUR contributor Javier Cabral's mother. Says Javier of his mother's turkey: "When she was growing up in rural Zacatecas, Mexico, meat was a luxury, eaten sparingly. This turkey of hers is an American invention, an artifact of the life she's lived since immigrating to Los Angeles in 1961, but it tells the story of where she comes from, too. She begins by rubbing the turkey with a spice paste, and from the smell of the ground cinnamon, cloves, and New Mexico and �rbol chiles as the turkey roasts, you might think she had a mole or a birria on the stove." Read more �
Try pairing wines from Baja with dinner—they have a pleasant saline quality that tastes great with Mexican food. After dinner, rum-spiked Mexican eggnog is a rich, thick, delicious alternative to the store-bought stuff. A nutty Horchata made with pumpkin seeds, almonds, and dark chocolate is great for those who wish to imbibe something sweet but prefer to forego alcohol.
See our collection of Mexican-Style Thanksgiving Ideas for even more menu inspiration.

Comments (3)

by EFERRARI on 2012-11-01

Folks, you can't have a holiday meal without tamales. Goat cheese, black bean, pork, something. :)

by LMCHEATHAM on 2012-11-15

Sorry, these recipes sound GROSS. Being partially Mexican, and married to an American we prefer an old fashioned THANKSGIVING, besides there's no Plymouth Rock in Mexico is there? Let's leave well enough alone.

by HOLDONOWGO on 2012-11-29

No need to apologize, LMCHEATHAM...your loss. Not only do these recipes look delicious they also taste amazing! I hosted Thanksgiving this year and I haven't stopped receiving praises for the meal based around this menu. Top-notch. My girlfriend's family demanded the recipes. I actually came back here gather the info for them. Don't get me started on the delicious leftovers. Wow!

BTW LMCHEATHAM, why should anyone care that there is no Plymouth Rock in Mexico...or for that matter, about the random circumstances of your parentage? Weird.

Keep 'em comin', Saveur!