Julie Clark
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Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
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Wondering how to put together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu? Here are classic Thanksgiving recipes that you’ll come back to year after year.
If you’ve ever been in charge of making a full Thanksgiving dinner, you realize what an intimidating task it can be. There are so many different traditions that people hold to when it comes to their holiday feast. Some guests like turkey, others want ham.
“Cranberry sauce?…Ew, mom”.
Here’s what you do.
Make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu.
Whether you have been hosting Thanksgiving for years or this is your first time, you just can’t go wrong with this classic Thanksgiving menu.
We’re making it easy for you. Just choose one or two Thanksgiving dinner ideas from each category and you’ll end up with a traditional Thanksgiving menu that your family will enjoy.
Thanksgiving Food List
We’re helping you think through and organize a Thanksgiving dinner with this printable Thanksgiving checklist.
What is served at a traditional Thanksgiving dinner?
So what should be on a Thanksgiving menu? A traditional Thanksgiving dinner consists of roast turkey, turkey stuffing with onions and celery, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, dinner rolls, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.
Thanksgiving Appetizers
I’ll be honest. Our family generally doesn’t have appetizers at Thanksgiving, because really, we never stop eating.
So really, breakfast and snacks on the hour are our Thanksgiving appetizers, but here are a few easy recipe ideas if you need to take an appetizer along to a Thanksgiving Day party!
Thanksgiving Drinks
I don’t know how many times I’ve planned a nice gathering and completely forgotten about drinks. When you are trying to make an impression, it’s not fun to have to say, “Umm….how about water?”.
Choose a cranberry-inspired drink so perfect for the holidays or choose a traditional punch.
- Cranberry Apple Cider Punch – A delicious hot drink kept warm in the slow cooker.
- Cranberry Pineapple Tea – Easy, ice cold drink!
- Cranberry Ginger Ale Punch – 5 minutes…so easy and delicious.
- Sherbet Punch Recipe – A classic! Use any flavor sherbet and Jello for any holiday.
Thanksgiving Jello Salads
What is traditional Thanksgiving feast without Jello salads? Ok, so maybe these aren’t traditional salads, but we can call them fruit salads and serve them similar to a dessert. They’re a classic and these are a few of our favorites.
- Raspberry Cranberry Jello Salad – Easy, tangy and sweet.
- Black Cherry Jello Salad – With cherry cola!
- Lime Jello Salad– Grinch-like Jello salad perfect for Christmas too!
- Layered Jello – This was my favorite Jello salad when I was younger.
Thanksgiving Turkey
The main course. And this one is golden brown and juicy! They make the perfect centerpiece for your dinner table. Turkey is the most popular food to make on Thanksgiving Day, but it isn’t always liked by everyone. Try one of our unique recipes for a juicy turkey that people enjoy.
- How to Smoke a Turkey. Our rub recipe is delicious!
- The Best Smoked Turkey Recipe – Stuffed with citrus, butter and cola!
- Cooking Turkey in an Electric Roaster – Save oven space and serve a juicy roast turkey.
- Crockpot Turkey Breast – Just need a small turkey? Try this fork-tender turkey breast.
- Bacon Wrapped Turkey – We cooked ours in the slow cooker. Delicious.
- Turkey in a Bag – This method saves time and still gives you a golden brown skin.
Herbs and spices to have on hand.
You may want to have fresh herbs on hand for garnishing. Try fresh thyme, fresh rosemary and fresh parsley. Have salt, pepper and garlic powder on hand for those who’d like to add it.
Thanksgiving Side Dishes
My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner is the easy side dishes.
Pile your plate high with savory side dishes such as mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and stuffing. This is a great way to add in recipes for any vegetarians in your life.
- Traditional Green Bean Casseroles– Or you can serve fresh green beans for a lighter dish.
- The Best Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe – One of our most popular recipes.
- Cornbread Sausage Stuffing – A classic southern recipe.
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce – I’m not a huge fan of fresh cranberries, but I can’t resist this recipe with our secret ingredient.
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes – With secret ingredients to make them deliciously rich. Mash the potatoes in advance and keep them warm in the slow cooker.
- Instant Mashed Potatoes Recipe. Fool everyone with instant potatoes that taste AMAZING.
- Jiffy Corn Casserole – The ultimate in thanksgiving comfort food.
- Homemade Scalloped Corn – A classic my mom used to make.
- Old Fashioned Corn Pudding – Creamier and a little sweeter than the traditional corn casserole.
- Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe I’m a pecan streusel sweet potato casserole kind of girl. Use real sweet potatoes instead of cans for a great homemade flavor. Or try our sweet potato casserole sweetened with maple syrup.
- Foolproof Turkey Gravy – Don’t forget the gravy. This is a great tutorial.
Looking for something a little more unique? Try mac ‘n cheese, roasted carrots or brussels sprouts.
Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls
Here are several dinner roll recipes that both get excellent reviews and are perfect for the beginning baker.
- Pumpkin Dinner Rolls – Soft, fluffy and so easy. Serve them with honey butter. Yum!
- Homemade Soft Rolls These get crazy good reviews and are a great recipe to start with if you aren’t used to working with yeast.
- Brown ‘n Serve Rolls – Skip store bought and make your own.
Thanksgiving Desserts
My second favorite part of dinner, which I usually eat about 4 hours after dinner because I’ve stuffed myself so full of potatoes, is dessert. I stuck with classic pumpkin desserts here, but cakes and candies are a great option, too!
What are the two most popular Thanksgiving pies? Apple comes in first place for the most popular Thanksgiving pies and pumpkin is in second place. (source) Pies are thought to be the most loved part of Thanksgiving dinner!
- Pumpkin Crumb Pie If you love pumpkin dump cake, you must try this pie!
- Pumpkin Cheesecake Easy make-ahead dessert with a gingersnap crust
- Layered Pumpkin Cake Two layers covered with cream cheese frosting.
- Homemade Pie Crust My grandma’s recipe.
- Homemade Apple Pie
- Pecan Pie
- Traditional Pumpkin Pie with adjustments for different pan sizes
- Best Sweet Potato Pie for something a little different!
You could also make lemon bars, which is a favorite of ours during the holiday season.
These look so good. But my problem is my husband and I cannot have ANYTHING with seeds in it. WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE cranberries, do you know if cranberries are easy to deseed or is it our taste in life is clear jelly cranberry out of a can?
I love your ideas my family is big and these ideas help anytime because my grandma is wondering ideas for thanksgiving, my mom, too, This helps people a lot when they are in a rush now all they have to do is come and look here.
Give me thumbs up if you think this person has great ideas and should make more because this person just may have saved my life for thanksgiving ideas
I think that you need websites to show were you get the food so people can go to the websites and learn to make it or buy it
You forgot about Mac and cheese, spaghetti, greens, and corn bread. Thanksgiving food is really basically all the soul foods.
i am only 11 love to cook and we are going camping for thanksgiving so i was finding things for the shopping list
I am not an expert cook, I don’t do fancy dishes. I cook my thanksgiving dinner just the way my mom did it. My turkey is awesome. My side dishes are standard just like mom made them. You don’t have to be a expert cook to make a great meal. My family loves it made just like grandmas.
About Scallop Corn. I grew up eating this as my dad loved it.
We only add milk and crackers to it then bake in the oven. Chiffon
pumpkin pie.
Can I use already made store bought stuffing cornbread cubes for the stuffing?How far in advance can I make the stuffing.
Oh how excited I ma about Thanksgiving! I go to my boyfriends family every year and we do kind of a pot luck dinner, so no on person is responsible for cooking the entire dinner. These are all great ideas for a traditional Thanksgiving! I especially love the homemade rolls and pumpkin cake…mmm pumpkin cake…
Do you have any candy or treat recipes for the holidays?