Tried and True Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Thanksgiving is just a week away and if you’re finalizing your menu plan or deciding what you’ll be contributing to a family or group meal, this is the post for you. It’s not secret that I love to cook and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Over the last 10 years or so, I’ve handled every part of Thanksgiving at some point from creating the dinner menu and assigning tasks to baking rolls to contributing side dishes to providing the sweet stuff to brining and roasting the bird.

In this post I’m going to share a compilation of my favorite tried and true Thanksgiving recipes. Some you can find on my blog and others are outside recipes that I’ve relied on for years. Hope you’re hungry…here we go! 🙂

Appetizers

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I don’t know about you but Thanksgiving is one holiday where I prefer to bypass apps and snacking to save room for the main feast. That said, a friend introduced me to relish trays during a friendsgiving back in 2007 and it’s been my go-to ever since. They’re fun to put together, aesthetically pleasing, light and versatile.

The Modern Relish Tray
How to Build a Relish Tray
Thanksgiving Inspiration: The Modern Relish Tra

The Main Event

First things first, BRINE YOUR BIRD! I swear it makes the biggest difference. I cooked this turkey two years ago and brined overnight in a huge bucket from Home Depot. This is the full recipe that I swear by when it comes to cooking the bird, from brining through roasting. It’s the Good Eats Roast Turkey from Alton Brown.

And if the Big Green Egg is your thing, I highly, highly, highly recommend my dad’s take on Alton’s recipe for the Big Green Egg. You can find it on my old blog!

If you want to mix it up this year and steer away from the traditional turkey or add another option, consider my cider-brined pork loin stuffed with butternut squash, apples and cranberries.

And if you want to go meatless, my stuffed acorn squash with brown rice, kale, cranberries and pecans is where it’s at.

Sides

I am obsessed with this sweet potato recipe from Southern Living and have been making it since 2007! I love the alternating rows of marshmallows and cornflake topping…it’s a crowd pleaser and tastes amazing!

My dad and I have been making this classic white dressing from Cuisine at Home forever and ever. Nothing fancy here, just your basic white dressing but this recipe is delicious!

I discovered this macaroni and cheese recipe in the Gourmet Cookbook back in 2009 when I was doing a 68 Days of Gourmet Challenge on my old food blog back in 2009. It remains my go-to mac and cheese recipe to this day.

Orange ginger cranberry sauce. I love the addition of crystallized ginger along with orange juice and zest in this cranberry sauce recipe.

My dad taught me to make homemade gravy from scratch and for that I am thankful. It’s a bit of a process but worth it 100%. I don’t have the recipe on my site or a link to it online but I made a pdf of the recipe my dad emailed me back in 2008 just for you guys! 🙂 Click here.

Other delicious side dishes to check out…

Creamed Leeks
Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Caramelized Shallots
Tuscan Kale Salad with Golden Beets, Figs and Feta
Kale Salad with Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Pumpkin Seeds
Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Green Beans with Caramelized Onions and Almond

Desserts

You can never go wrong with this Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake. I make it almost every year!

This Maple Apple Spice Bundt Cake is so yummy.

My dad makes this gorgeous Apple Cranberry Pie from Cook’s Illustrated almost every year.

I could keep going all night long but I think this covers my absolute favorites.

Do you have any tried and true Thanksgiving recipes?

Favorite way to cook the bird? Smoke? Roast? Grill? Fry?

Favorite Thanksgiving dessert?

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