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The best way to plan your Thanksgiving menu is to stay organized and plan ahead. After all, this fall holiday is a marathon, not a sprint. From the and to pies and yes, the turkey, friends and family expect a lot during this food-centric holiday.
Luckily, with some forward-thinking and structured planning, Thanksgiving can be a cinch. The first thing to do is plan the menu. Choose the main dish, sides, and desserts, then think about whether you want to include appetizers or starters.
If you have vegetarian or vegan guests attending, consider adding a plant-based dish to the menu or adjusting a handful of the recipes (say mashed potatoes or stuffing) to be meat-free and dairy-free. And of course, you’ll need to weigh whether you want to serve store-bought or homemade cranberry sauce. The second step is deciding what you can and can’t make ahead.
Our best advice is to make a rough schedule with some room for deviation. Oven space is at a premium on Thanksgiving, especially while the turkey is roasting. Make-ahead side dishes or desserts that can be prepared on the stovetop are life savers.
For the most part, desserts can be made ahead, according to cookbook author . “Pie dough needs to chill and blind bake, so I usually take care of that a few days in advance,” Seneviratne says. The same goes for many side dishes and even the turkey to an extent — brining the bird takes time, so that’s a good thing to get done at least 24 hours in advance.
The third step is delegating tasks. The odds are your guests will want to bring something, so think about how to put them to work. Sometimes that means assigning dishes potluck-style; other times that means designating family members to take care of tasks such as peeling potatoes, crumbling bread for stuffing or even setting the table.
The final step? Turkey time! With these tips and recipes, your holiday is guaranteed to go smoothly and that’s something to be thankful for. Before the main event begins, put out a few nibbles for your guests to snack on. The key is to find a good balance between appetizers that are satisfying but not so filling that you’ll be too full to enjoy the Thanksgiving feast.
You don’t need to go too wild here. One or two starters passed around with drinks will keep everyone happy while they wait for the main event. Kick off your holiday meal with an ultra-seasonal starter.
Roasted butternut squash and buttery caramelized leeks are piled onto ricotta toasts that can be enjoyed in just a few bites. Mixed nuts are a great make-ahead option, but they don’t need to be boring. Here, nuts are toasted with fresh rosemary, red pepper flakes and garlic powder for a poppable snack.
Deviled eggs never disappoint — especially not with a genius make-ahead hack. Boil and peel the eggs and mix the filling ahead of time so you’re ready to pipe and serve just before guests arrive. is arguably the most important part of the meal, so it’s something you should start thinking about early on.
When shopping for a turkey, look for one with pale pink skin — if there’s any gray color, that can be a sign that the turkey is not fresh or it was previously thawed and re-frozen. Aim for 1 to 11⁄2 pounds of meat per person, especially if you want to send people home with leftovers. If you’re buying a fresh turkey, purchase it one to two days before Thanksgiving.
Frozen turkeys can last several months in the freezer, and the USDA recommends thawing it in the refrigerator — it takes about 24 hours of for every four to five pounds of meat. If you plan to brine your turkey with either a wet or dry brine, move this timeline up another day or two. Seneviratne likes to dry-brine her turkey, which can take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours.
This genius hack for cooking turkey will blow your mind. The bird is tucked into a parchment pouch and roasted until mostly cooked through, then the oven temperature is raised to allow the skin to become crisp and golden brown. Here, the turkey is wrapped on both sides with bacon-lined cheesecloth and basted with red wine and chicken broth.
The bacon fat infuses into the turkey meat, while the cheesecloth prevents the skin from browning too quickly. This bird is dry-brined several days in advance with a thyme and lemon-infused salt mixture. This creates the most tender, succulent meat because the brine permeates every bite of the turkey.
Ina roasts and carves the turkey in advance, then lets it rest on a bed of gravy, which keeps the meat moist through Thanksgiving. Homemade gravy is so easy to make that you can whip it up in just a few minutes while the turkey is resting. However, it can also be made up to four days ahead if you’re so inclined.
That way, all you need to do is warm it up on the stovetop and add another splash or two of broth to thin it out, if necessary. The key to good gravy is all of those delicious turkey drippings. As the bird cooks, the fat from the skin will drip into the roasting pan.
Bonus points if you use the turkey neck and giblets to make a homemade turkey stock a few days in advance. Seneviratne is happy to use store-bought broth — it’s an easy way to save yourself some time. Her trick for perfect, clump-free gravy is to use a flat whisk and a pot or pan with rounded edges.
“By using something without sharp angles, the flour never clumps up in any of the corners,” she says. This gravy is the ideal texture for drizzling over turkey and pooling into generous spoonfuls of mashed potatoes. It’s enriched with lots of butter and comes together in just a few minutes.
Giblets are what take this gravy from good to great. Sauté them with diced onions to create an even richer, deeper flavor. Vegetables like mushrooms, winter squash and leafy greens are abundant this time of year, and they make a delicious addition to an otherwise heavy menu.
Guests with certain dietary restrictions will always appreciate a hearty, holiday-worthy dish or two that they can enjoy without worry. Plus, it’s just nice to have more plant-forward options to balance out the meaty mains. Instead of stuffing a turkey this year, opt for colorful roasted acorn squash instead.
The cavities are filled with an umami-packed mushroom, kale and chestnut bread stuffing. might not be the most traditional Thanksgiving dish, but it’s similar to other cheesy dishes like macaroni and cheese or potato gratin. Crushed amaretti cookies add a subtly sweet and nutty flavor that complements the butternut squash.
No Thanksgiving table is complete without at least one starchy side — and mashed potatoes are the non-negotiable fan favorite. Seneviratne admits that she could take or leave the rest of the Thanksgiving dinner and be perfectly happy with a bowlful of mashed potatoes all to herself. “All I ever want are really butter and salty mashed potatoes,” she says.
We can relate. Russet and Yukon gold potatoes are the best varieties for this particular dish. Russets will make the potatoes light and fluffy, while Yukon golds will yield a more creamy mash.
Whichever you choose to use, plan to buy at least half a pound of spuds per person, and don’t skimp on the butter and cream. You can reheat the potatoes in the microwave or over a saucepan filled with some water, stirring in more butter and cream as desired. Don’t forget about other crowd favorites like sweet potato casserole and .
Anything cheesy and starchy is welcome on our holiday table. One sneaky added vegetable can be found in this casserole — carrots! They’re less sweet than sweet potatoes, which prevents this marshmallow-topped side dish from being too cloying. Instead of making a bechamel sauce, this Southern-style recipe calls for baking the pasta in a creamy custard mixture made of eggs, milk, heavy cream and cheese.
Some of the cheese is shredded and the rest cubed, so every bite has a generous distribution. One way to make mashed potatoes even better? Cheese. Garlic and herb-flavored goat cheese melts beautifully and packs a flavorful punch.
These mashed potatoes are extra creamy, thanks to the addition of both cream cheese and sour cream. Grated Parmesan cheese and fresh thyme give the dish a sophisticated flair. Combine Southern-style macaroni and cheese and corn pudding casserole and you have your new favorite holiday side dish.
Each bite has three types of cheese and a few kernels of canned creamed corn. Add a little something nutritious to creamy gratin by incorporating sweet butternut squash. It bakes along with the Yukon gold potatoes with garlic-infused cream sauce and sharp cheddar cheese.
Make the cheesy bechamel sauce months in advance and keep it frozen until the big day. It’s flavored with canned sweet potatoes, maple syrup and brown sugar to mimic the flavors of sweet potato casserole. Truth be told, you’re always going to have leftover cranberry sauce.
But that’s just fine — it can be used in all kinds of leftovers. Some people are staunch advocates for store-bought jellied cranberry sauce, but Seneviratne says that while she understands the allure, she prefers the flavor and texture of homemade sauce. If you agree, cranberry sauce is one of those dishes that can and should be made a few days ahead of time.
All you need is fresh or frozen cranberries, sugar and a handful of spices from the pantry. The naturally occurring pectin in cranberries thickens the sauce without any additional starch. As a rule, plan on serving between 1⁄4 and 1⁄3 cup of sauce per guest.
To maintain the cranberries’ texture, Guarnaschelli cooks the berries just until they pop, then strains them and simmers the syrup further. It’s flavored with cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg and finished with some seasonal apple cider. The cranberries in this sauce simmer with orange juice, which incorporates additional freshness.
Walnuts have a buttery, bittersweet flavor but you can swap in other nuts such as pecans or cashews. If you’re a fan of chunky cranberry sauce, this shortcut recipe is for you. Start with canned whole-berry cranberry sauce and stir in chunks of apples, pecans and raisins.
is just the beginning. Root vegetables, winter squash, Brussels sprouts and more are abundant around Thanksgiving, so why not add some fresh vegetal sides to the mix? Hit up your local farmers’ market the weekend before the holiday and see what looks good. Depending on how many people you’re feeding, we recommend serving at least two vegetable side dishes.
Salads in particular are an easy thing to prepare in advance — make the dressing, cook grains, roast vegetables and chop the greens the day beforehand, then toss to serve just before dinner. Even skeptics will love this one. The sprouts caramelize cut-side down on a hot sheet tray with garlic, rosemary and berbere seasoning.
This lightened-up version of green bean casserole adds a vibrant pop of color to the table. The green beans and shallots quickly sauté in the rendered bacon fat. This light and hearty salad is the epitome of fall.
It’s packed with filling ingredients like leafy greens, crispy roasted chickpeas and squash. Garlic-roasted butternut squash steaks are delicious on their own, but they’re even better with a sprinkle of spicy Parmesan-pecan crumble. Creamed spinach doesn’t need to be fussy, but white truffle oil is a great way to amp up the flavor for the holidays.
Salad can be exciting when each component is delicious in its own right. Here, roasted autumn vegetables are tossed with salty feta cheese, maple-mustard dressing and crispy toasted quinoa and squash seeds. Thanksgiving is a time to go all out with the sides, so some sort of bread is strongly encouraged, whether it be dinner rolls, biscuits or popovers.
Rolls are the most popular option because they are easy to make and can be baked the day before. Common types include Parker House and snowflake rolls. Parker House rolls are perfectly light, chewy and buttery.
Snowflake rolls are similar if not slightly less sweet — they have a snowflake pattern on the top from a dusting of flour. Make one to two per person. Worst case scenario, you have some homemade bread to use for leftover sandwiches the next day.
Biscuits are good and well, but why not add a seasonal twist? Serve the flaky biscuits with a maple-cayenne butter for smearing. Salty butter and whole milk make this bread dough soft and moist. Instead of sugar, this recipe uses honey to sweeten the rolls.
This recipe is a hybrid between crusty French bread and baked brie. We use dried cranberries, but you could swap in a few dollops of cranberry sauce. These yeasted rolls are special because they’re rolled in melted butter before baking, which makes them irresistible.
Classic dinner rolls get the pretzel treatment — brush them with a baking soda-water mixture and sprinkle generously with pretzel salt. Popovers are easy to put together and don’t require any proofing time, which makes them one of our favorite additions to the Thanksgiving menu. These have the added benefit of cheese and cranberries.
Just blitz the wet and dry ingredients in a blender and pop them in the oven so you can serve them hot when dinner is ready. This Thanksgiving, balance classic dishes like apple pie with modern takes on seasonal classics. You can go a completely new direction by serving something like cheesecake or meet in the middle.
Seneviratne likes to serve cream pies for a holiday dessert instead of the usual apple, pumpkin and pecan. “I rotate between chocolate cream pie, banana cream pie, maple cream pie..
. you name it,” she says. You can make a lot of these (or at least certain components of the recipes) a few days in advance of Thanksgiving.
Bake the pie crust the day before (or purchase one you know you love from the grocery store). Measure out dry ingredients for cakes and bars well ahead so you’re ready to go. As a general rule, people will be full enough that one piece of dessert is sufficient.
We doubt anyone will say no to a dessert doggy bag, though. Lightly spiced cakes are sweetened with reduced apple cider and sandwiched between homemade apple pie filling and a luscious cream cheese frosting. There’s no intricate crimping required for these slab pie bars.
Part of the streusel is used for the crust, which is topped with an apple filling and the remaining crumbly streusel (plus some pecans). What might appear to be a straightforward cheesecake is hiding a seasonal surprise. Inside, you’ll find a layer of buttery apples that have been sautéed with brown sugar and warming spices.
No matter how you pronounce pecan, this pie is an all-American classic. Pro tip: pull the pie from the oven while it’s still a little jiggly in the center. That way the filling will be gooey and delicious once it cools.
A buttery graham cracker crust is the base for a silky smooth cheesecake filling. Drive home the pecan flavor by drizzling a gooey pecan caramel sauce over the top. Sometimes pie isn’t.
.. well, as easy as pie.
These pumpkin pie bars sure are, though. They have all of the flavors you know and love with half of the time and effort. A good pumpkin pie should have a crisp crust and creamy custard.
This one is sweetened with condensed milk and spiced simply with a touch of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Here, French silk pie gets a pumpkin makeover, making it ideal for the holiday season. The white chocolate-studded blondie base is layered with a light and airy pumpkin filling and lots of whipped cream.
Riley Wofford is a freelance recipe developer and food stylist based in NYC. She has spent the last decade in the culinary field, transitioning from large-scale catering to editorial and commercial food media. Previously, she was a food editor at and an in-house food stylist at Marley Spoon and Dinnerly.
She loves teaching people how to cook, especially when it comes to plant-forward meals. In her free time, she enjoys spontaneous road trips, baseball games, and hanging out in the park with her dog, Millie..
