Thanksgiving recipes bring the family together. Creamy vegetables, silky mashes, flaky biscuits, and of course, a big juicy Thanksgiving bird in the center. This holiday, make the dinner time truly special with our best Thanksgiving recipes. Make Thanksgiving easier with our complete guide to Thanksgiving recipes here »
This recipe comes from a true Kentuckian, Rena McClure, who has lived there her whole life. Serve it with cornbread dressing cooked in a cast-iron skillet on the side.
This bracingly tart relish, from Matthew Jennings of Townsman in Boston is the perfect foil for a rich Thanksgiving spread. Whole pieces or orange flesh and peel add texture to balance the creamy smoothness of mashed potatoes and cornbread dressing. Get the recipe for Cranberry Relish »
Make this gravy using the drippings that remain in the pan after you’ve cooked the roast turkey. For additional flavor, add to the finished pan gravy any juices that accumulate on the platter as the turkey rests. Get the recipe for Turkey Pan Gravy »
Oysters are the perfect aphrodisiacs to have on Valentine’s day. Believed to increase fertility, these half shells evoke images of romance. Grill them for your lover and sprinkle some pecorino and bottarga before serving. Get the recipe for Grilled Oysters »
Sweet Potato Purée
Although spiral-cut ham comes fully cooked, a low, slow roast will heat it through and caramelize its sticky, spiced glaze. At Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro, a ham is glazed with pan drippings, local honey, and fragrant cinnamon and clove for their annual Thanksgiving feast, which they serve to veterans and their families. Get the recipe for Spiced Honey-Glazed Spiral Ham »
This classic Southern-style Thanksgiving dressing is tossed with crumbled breakfast sausage and plenty of sage, then cooked in a casserole dish beside the browning bird. Get the recipe for Cornbread Dressing »
Haricots Verts Casserole
The foundation of this creamy casserole is a classic mornay sauce, a béchamel sauce to which cheese has been added—in this case, comté, a French cheese with a complex, nutty flavor that melts beautifully. With lots of freshly grated nutmeg to season it and a golden, crunchy breadcrumb topping, it’s a luscious, satisfying side dish for the Thanksgiving table. The dish comes from Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bistro, in the Napa Valley, where the staff makes it as part of their annual Thanksgiving dinner for veterans and their families.
Chef Pierre Thiam‘s take on this classic autumn soup uses Scotch bonnet chiles for spice and nutmeg for warmth. In Senegal, a similar soup is said to prevent hangovers, so you’ll find hawkers selling it outside the bars late at night. Use your favorite type of pumpkin or other fall squashes to substitute for the butternut in this recipe, if you like. For a vegan soup, substitute vegetable stock for the chicken stock. Get the recipe for Butternut Squash Pepe Soup »
Sautéed garlic and onion, plus a little bit of salt, add a savory note to this sweet-tart relish, which gets its body from the natural pectin in the poached, puréed cranberries. A twist on Thanksgiving’s traditional cranberry sauce, the recipe was given to us by Michael Sandoval, executive chef of Bouchon Bistro in Yountville, California. His staff prepares it as part of the restaurant’s annual Thanksgiving meal for veterans and their families. Get the recipe for Apple-Cranberry Relish »
Thirty cloves of garlic go into this creamy side dish, adapted from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume 1 (Alfred A. Knopf, 1961). The cloves are first blanched whole, which enhances their sweetness, then used to make a rich béchamel sauce that’s stirred into mashed potatoes with cream and parsley. Get the recipe for Julia Child’s Garlic Mashed Potatoes »
Coleslaw gets a makeover as a filling and hearty casserole that test kitchen assistant Sarah Ruth Maier grew up eating at family functions. Get the recipe for Van Valkenberg Hot Slaw »
Instead of plain dinner rolls, we like to serve these fluffy biscuits, fragrant with rosemary and thyme. This recipe first appeared in our November 2011 issue along with Linda Monastra’s story True Harvest. Get the recipe for Honey and Herb Biscuits »
This hearty, chicken stock—braised kraut is smoky, spicy, and well balanced, with sweet onions, garlic, and bacon fat nicely contrasting the brightness and brininess of jarred sauerkraut. If you prefer the end result even more sour, feel free to add a splash more brine from the jar. Get the recipe for Braised Paprika Kraut »
Chef Justin Devillier of La Petite Grocery learned this popular Louisiana fish camp technique—cooking “on the half shell”—after moving to New Orleans from California. Grilling fish skin-side-down with its scales still attached protects the tender meat from ripping and insulates it slightly from the heat, resulting in perfectly tender flesh. Get the recipe for Redfish on the Half Shell with Creamy Grits »
Get your sprouts crispy all over with a quick trip through a deep fryer, then dress them in a sweet-and-sour sauce of honey and balsamic. Fried shallots, walnuts, and Parmesan bring texture and flavor, and a dose of lemon zest ties it all together. Get the recipe for Fried Brussels Sprouts »
The secret to this simple dish is to use the best quality bacon available. Delicious and straightforward, you can whip this dish together quickly while keeping the oven available for other jobs.
Inspired by the flavors of Peking duck, this turkey is infused with a Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, and fresh ginger brine, then lightly smoked over oak.
This classic oyster stew from Justin Devillier, the chef of La Petite Grocery in New Orleans, is packed full of Swiss chard and flavored with smoky ham and absinthe, which perfumes each steaming bite with an enticing note of licorice. The buttermilk biscuits on top are just as delicious cooked separately and slathered with butter and honey. Get the recipe for Oyster Pie with Buttermilk Biscuits »
Fresh mango, mixed into the base and fanned on top of this warmly spiced pumpkin dessert—chef Pierre Thiam‘s version of his wife’s classic pumpkin cake—adds a tropical brightness and dramatic presentation to his Thanksgiving table. Get the recipe for Mango and Pumpkin Spice Cake »
This autumnal dessert is a lighter and more refined version of plain old pumpkin pie, thanks to egg whites folded into the filling. Get the recipe for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie »
With a creamy mushroom sauce and topped with flash fried onions, this holiday classic is the epitome of a crowd-pleasing casserole. Get the recipe for Green Bean Casserole »
The toffee-like interior and beautiful bronze top layer of halved pecans won Rubyane Surritte first place in the pie contest at Oklahoma’s Drummond Ranch. Get the recipe for Blue Ribbon Pecan Pie »
This hearty breakfast dish is perfect for the morning after Thanksgiving. It uses up leftover cooked turkey as well as Thanksgiving pantry ingredients you may not have used up the day before, like cream, stock, and herbs. Get the recipe for Todd’s Turkey Hash »
