My Absolute FAVORITE Thanksgiving Recipes!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission for purchases from my links. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting the work put into this article by using my affiliate links!
The best meal of the year is Thanksgiving dinner and I have quite the collection of favorite Thanksgiving recipes! These classic Thanksgiving recipes are great to add to your rotation to spice up your holiday meal! If you’re looking for new Thanksgiving menu ideas, you’re in the right place! I appreciate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner but since that varies from region to region, I have quite a few recipes on my list! Definitely check out my list of traditional Thanksgiving recipes and see if there’s any you want to add to your list!
Looking for a Thanksgiving Planner for Notion? You can grab it here!
I have been curating my Thanksgiving menu for years now. I usually only cook for my family but I cook a LOT because it’s my favorite! While there are some dishes I still haven’t found the perfect recipe for, I share everything I’m making (and more!) in the free Notion link below! You can snag all the recipes, neatly organized in Notion, by signing up in the form below!
And, if you’re looking for a place to organize your own recipes, check out the Thanksgiving Planner for Notion! Not only can you organize your recipes but I’ve included over 20 tasks to help you prep your kitchen (and yourself) for Thanksgiving! Click here to learn more!
Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes for Breakfast
I bounced around for Thanksgiving breakfast for a few years before deciding I wanted to curate a consistent meal full of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes for breakfast. I get up early to prepare breakfast because I love watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and don’t want to spend the morning in the kitchen. Instead, I make a big breakfast with plenty of things to pick on throughout the early afternoon while I’m getting dinner ready.
Our nostalgic Thanksgiving breakfast consists of Sally’s Baking Addiction’s Apple Cinnamon Rolls, Karen’s Kitchen Stories’ Mushroom, Sausage, and Spinach Strata, The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Apple Sausage, Sunny Anderson’s Sweet Potato Hash, and Taste of Home’s Crockpot Apple Cider! I regularly make rustic loaves of bread that we can use as toast if anyone needs more food!
Classic Thanksgiving Recipes for Appetizers
Because of our large breakfast and even larger Thanksgiving dinner, I don’t have many Thanksgiving recipes for appetizers! If I was hosting more folks or was going somewhere and needed to bring an appetizer, here are my favorite ideas!
I absolutely LOVE Half Baked Harvest’s Baked Brie Pull Apart Bread, it’s delicious, fairly easy to prepare, and is one of those dishes I get asked to make all the time. Ina Garten’s Fig and Cheese Toasts are another super easy appetizer to get on a platter that people will gobble right up! On of our favorite fall salads is Chrissy Teigen’s Butternut Squash Salad from her Cravings-Hungry for More cookbook. We make it all the time and it always gets rave reviews! Finally, you can’t go wrong with a charcuterie board with things you pick up at Aldi and Trader Joe’s! You can get everything prepped ahead of time and task someone else in your family with setting it up if you’re busy cooking!
Thanksgiving Menu Ideas: Side Dishes
The area I get so stuck on when coming up with Thanksgiving menu ideas is the side dishes. Not because I can’t find any recipes I like but because I literally want to make every side dish. So here is my long list of favorite side dishes!
Starting off, I’m not actually sure if it counts as a side dish but I always make the McCormick Slow Cooker Cranberry Sauce. It’s tasty, easy, and can be made ahead of time! I don’t even love it for the day of, I use it more in my leftover recipes! It’s not Thanksgiving without carbs and I need a dinner roll and a cornbread. Sally’s Baking Addiction’s Cornbread and Half Baked Harvest’s Parmesan Popovers with Crispy Sage Garlic Butter are perfect options! For stuffing, I actually love the blue Pepperidge Farm stuffing with sausage, mushrooms, and celery!
In the “vegetable” category, I love Summer Tomato’s Brussels Sprouts with Bacon. I make them all year long but since they’re my favorite, I also make them on Thanksgiving! Grandbaby Cake’s Collard Greens recipe is so tasty and fingers crossed my collards grow in time for Thanksgiving! I haven’t found the perfect carrot recipe yet but I’m trying Allrecipe’s Honey Roasted Carrots this year. I love a fresh green bean casserole, I know some people prefer the canned one, and Smitten Kitchen’s Green Bean Casserole is amazing! I cheat and use Trader Joe’s fried onion pieces rather than take the time to fry shallots like she has in her recipe. Finally, I’m also making Smitten Kitchen’s Unstuffed Mushroom Casserole this year because mushrooms are so great for Thanksgiving!
And, it’s not Thanksgiving without potatoes. I make the yams and marshmallows recipe my mom gave me (I don’t like them but my husband’s a fan). But I love Katie’s (one of my favorite Tiktokers for recipes!) Maple Sweet Potatoes with Whipped Goat Cheese! It’s one of those recipes you make and you know will be good but you don’t realize exactly how good. I also love Half Baked Harvest’s Crispy, Cheesy Potato Stacks for an unexpected potato! I don’t make those every year but I do always make a variation of Funeral Potatoes and mashed potatoes!
The Main Event: A Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner…or not!
I’m in the turkey camp when it comes to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner! I love Half Baked Harvest’s Herb and Butter Roasted Turkey recipe. I don’t make her gravy but the turkey is perfect every year. If you’re not a turkey lover, you could try So Much Food’s Apple Cider Braised Pork Shoulder for a yummy meal that will feed a crowd! And if you’re a ham family, the Barefoot Contessa’s Baked Virginia Ham is a solid choice!
Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes for Dessert
As much as I would love to make a large number of desserts, I stick with three traditional Thanksgiving recipes for our post dinner snack (and breakfast Friday morning)! Smitten Kitchen’s Even More Perfect Apple Pie is a great option for apple pie lovers. I’m making Sally’s Baking Addiction’s The Great Pumpkin Pie Recipe to satisfy our pumpkin pie need. And this year I asked my daughter to pick a pie and she said chocolate! So we’ll also be making Sally’s Baking Addiction’s Mocha Chocolate Pudding Pie! Is three pies too many pies for three people? Maybe. But it’s only once a year!
Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes for the BEST Leftovers
My second favorite day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving, when I can start my favorite Thanksgiving recipes for leftovers! We start the day with Just a Taste’s Stuffing Waffles, which I serve with leftover turkey, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Next I make at least two Thanksgiving Pot Pies, one to eat now and one for the freezer! We love making Thanksgiving Leftovers Nachos for an easy dinner-just throw everything on some chips, add cheese, and bake! We also love Turkey Quesadillas dipped in sour cream and cranberry sauce as an easy lunch or snack. This year, I’m also trying The Stay at Home Chef’s Thanksgiving Leftover Pizza!
I hope this glimpse into our Thanksgiving dinner has inspired your own! The perfect Thanksgiving menu can’t be created in a day, it’s developed year after year with input from your family and friends. I hope you find your own favorite recipes and thank you for sharing a bit of your Thanksgiving with me!
If you know you need a Thanksgiving Planner for Notion, click here to get yours today!
