Still lurking around the interwebs for Thanksgiving menu inspiration? Scroll through this post for plenty of easy, delicious and family-friendly Thanksgiving recipes from the apps to the sweets and everything in-between. These are some of my absolute favorite, most-treasured, tried-and-true Thanksgiving recipes we make for my family every year.
My Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes
How are we feeling about Thanksgiving — excited? Stressed? Hungry? Anxious? Maybe a lil’ bit of all of the above? Same, same. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, but the planning involved leading up to it can often feel daunting. I GET IT. This is why I make a Google spreadsheet with our holiday menu every year (yes, yes I do).
I’m not about to ask you to be as neurotically Type-A as I am, but if you’re still in the planning phase of your Thanksgiving preparations, I’d love to share with you some of my most-loved recipes to make for the big day of thanks. Even if it’s just you and your dog this year, let’s make the holiday full of gratitude and good food. <3
Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes
You know those fancy crackers you can get in the fancy cheese section of the fancy grocery store that cost like $7 for a dozen of them? These are those crackers, except made from scratch and 1,000x cheaper and equally (if not more) delicious. They’ll pair perfectly with a pre-Thanksgiving meal cheese plate.
These French Onion Tartlets are an ever-popular appetizer recipe on GVD around the holidays, and it’s no surprise — the filling tastes just like French onion soup but with extra cheese (OK, YES) and the flaky, buttery phyllo cups make them both portable and poppable… right into your mouth. Flavor + function = win-win.
Calling all you blue cheese lovers! You could eat this stuff with a spoon, but if you’re trying to keep it classy, maybe add a cracker just for looks. This spread would be a great addition to that aforementioned Thanksgiving appetizer cheese plate, just sayin’!
Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes
I struggle with the side breads at Thanksgiving — because you see, I want them ALL. But if I had to, MUST, choose just one, it would be these sweet potato biscuits topped with gooey marshmallow icing. They’re just too good (and totally unexpected!).
Half of my family lives for Brussels sprouts, and the other half won’t touch them with a ten-foot pole. I’m in the former camp, and there WILL be Brussels sprouts at my holiday table — specifically, these Dijon- and paprika-spiced sprouts with their crispy edges and tender interiors. Honestly, I could just eat these and be a happy human.
I cannot recall a Thanksgiving when we did not have this streusel-topped sweet potato casserole on the table. I know they existed, but my mind must have erased them from memory because it’s not worth remembering any Thanksgivings prior to the arrival of this delicious side dish. The recipe is passed down from my Aunt Lynn in Alabama, so may we all bless her and thank her for bestowing upon us this sweet, creamy and crunchy casserole that pleases literally everyone.
I do believe this casserole has graced our family’s Thanksgiving table every year of my life, but if not, there will never be a year henceforth that it does not make an appearance. It requires five ingredients, including bacon and ground beef and barbecue sauce (I’m serious, bear with me) and only three steps to make it… and I know you’re thinking, “How is this a Thanksgiving side dish?” and the answer is I have no idea, but it just WORKS. And when you mix the leftovers with some mashed potatoes, you’ll fall off your chair from happiness. You’re welcome.
Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes
At my house, there is no Thanksgiving if there is no pie — and this cranberry-filled one is a sub-requirement. A sweet-tart filling, a buttery pie crust, a thick streusel topping? You cannot say no.
Why go the plain ol’ pumpkin pie route when you can bake a deep-dish version with actual mini cinnamon rolls made out of pie crust placed on top? That’s a rhetorical question. It’s like eating two desserts in one and no one will be mad about it.
What did the pumpkin-pecan pie say to the bourbon-maple whipped cream when they met on top of a plate? Nothing, because I was too busy stuffing it all into my face. (Trust that this pie is 1000x better than my Mom jokes.)
This recipe is fresh on the blog, but it’s already one of my new favorite Thanksgiving recipes. The layers of sliced apples, salted caramel and buttery streusel are all just begging to be on your Thanksgiving dessert table (I know because they told me so).
A Few Extra (Non-Pie) Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes
- Easy French Apple Tart
- Maple Cream Cookies
- Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Mini Cream Cheese Apple Crisps
Thanksgiving Drink Recipes
Apple spice simple syrup. Vodka. Ginger liqueur. Apple cider. HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
These drinks are as fun to look at as they are to imbibe! Pomegranate juice, champagne, a few dashes of Angostura bitters and some sugar cubes and you’re ready to toast to all the Turkey Day festivities.
Since this drink recipe uses cranberry sauce (not kidding), either save these strong sippers for after dinner or buy yourself an extra can o’ sauce just for these. It’s worth it.
For a yummy non-alcoholic beverage, I highly recommend this Nutella-flavored latte to kick off the day (or end the day, with decaf!). They’re creamy, sweet, warm and cozy and will perk you right up for the day’s festivities (even if “festivities” means eating or watching football on the couch).
I hope you’ve found one or more recipes in this roundup of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes to add to your holiday menu this year — I know I’m already hungry just looking at this list and now I need to update all the things on my Google spreadsheet. But I digress. In the coming weeks, I’ll have a couple of new recipes to share for you (hints: dessert + a co*cktail, wee!). In the meantime, may your planning days be calm and collected — and if not, I suggest you try one of the drink recipes above (FOR THE RESEARCH, obviously).
Bonus Thanksgiving Recipes!
- Bacon-Wrapped Maple Bourbon Turkey Breast
- Brown Butter Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls
- Pumpkin Pie Brioche Rolls
- 5-Ingredient Smoked Salmon Pinwheels
- Oma’s Creamy German Potato Salad
