Thanksgiving dinner is less a recipe than a logistics exercise: a dozen dishes, one oven, and everyone arriving at once. The trick is knowing which dishes to make ahead, which can share oven space, and which are worth the fuss.
This menu covers the whole table, a centrepiece (a few ways, since not everyone roasts a whole turkey), the stuffing and bread, mashed and sweet potatoes, the green bean casserole, roasted vegetable sides, cranberry sauce, and a dessert spread led by pumpkin and pecan pie. There are even two ideas for the leftovers.
Every recipe links through to the full method, with real times, serving sizes and a cook’s tip. Build your menu from it, and let the make-ahead notes do the heavy lifting.
Five Dishes to Anchor the Menu
- Honey Baked Ham: The easiest centrepiece, with a sticky honey-Dijon glaze and almost no work.
- Classic Stuffing: Sausage, sage and thyme, the side nobody will let you skip.
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes: Six ingredients to silky, festive mash.
- Green Bean Casserole: The icon, with the all-important crispy fried onion top.
- Pumpkin Pie: The dessert the day is named for.
How to Plan a Stress-Free Thanksgiving
- Make ahead where you can. Cranberry sauce, pie, stuffing and casseroles all keep. Do them a day or two before and free up the oven.
- Mind the oven traffic. Roast the centrepiece first and let it rest while the sides bake; most sides are happy at the same temperature.
- Not everyone roasts a turkey. A ham, a prime rib, a roast chicken or a vegan roast all make a fine centrepiece for a smaller or mixed table.
- Plan the leftovers. Cook once, eat all weekend. The turkey-cranberry-brie egg rolls at the end turn Friday’s leftovers into the best meal of the lot.
35 Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes
1. Prime Rib Roast Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
If you are skipping the bird, this is the centrepiece to do it with. A garlic, rosemary, and black-pepper-crusted roast cooked low in beef broth and au jus, resting into something genuinely special. Allow four and a half hours; serves eight.
Key ingredients: fresh garlic, freshly ground black pepper, fresh rosemary, onions, beef broth, au jus mix
💡 Cook’s tip: prime rib roast. Choose well-marbled beef for the best flavor and tenderness.
Total time: 270 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 9
2. Honey Baked Ham Recipe
The easiest showstopper on the table. A spiral-cut ham lacquered in a honey, brown sugar and Dijon glaze, baked until sticky and golden. The spiral cut lets the glaze seep into every slice. About two and a quarter hours.
Key ingredients: bone-in spiral-cut ham, honey, brown sugar, dijon mustard, ground cinnamon, ground cloves
💡 Cook’s tip: bone-in spiral-cut ham. A fully cooked ham works best; spiral-cut allows the glaze to seep into every slice.
Total time: 135 min | Ingredients: 9
3. Lemon Herb Roast Chicken Recipe
A smaller-gathering alternative to a whole turkey. A whole chicken rubbed with lemon, garlic, thyme and rosemary and roasted until the skin crackles. Eight ingredients, under two hours, serves four at 380 calories.
Key ingredients: whole chicken, lemons, garlic, dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried parsley
Total time: 105 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 8 | Calories: 380
4. Clementine Roast Chicken with Fennel and Honey Recipe
Chicken leg quarters roasted over fennel with clementine, honey and white wine, a brighter, more festive bird for a smaller table. Thirteen ingredients, seventy-five minutes, serves four.
Key ingredients: chicken leg quarters, freshly ground black pepper, fennel bulb, dry white wine, garlic cloves, lemon
💡 Cook’s tip: chicken leg quarters. Skin-on is best for flavor and crispy texture.
Total time: 75 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 13
5. Vegan Christmas Roast Recipe
Meat-Free
A proper vegetarian centrepiece, not an afterthought. Lentils, mushrooms and roasted chestnuts wrapped in golden puff pastry, carved at the table like a roast. Thirteen ingredients, under an hour.
Key ingredients: vegan puff pastry, dry brown or green lentils, mushrooms, roasted chestnuts, onion, garlic cloves
💡 Cook’s tip: vegan puff pastry. Provides the flaky golden crust that makes it feel like a true holiday roast.
Total time: 55 min | Ingredients: 13
6. Savory Turkey and Cranberry Crescent Ring Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
If you do want turkey on the table without roasting a whole bird, this crescent ring is the clever answer, sliced turkey, gruyere, cranberry and herbed cream cheese baked into a golden wreath. Forty minutes, serves six.
Key ingredients: crescent rolls, chive and onion cream cheese, dijon mustard, fresh rosemary or thyme, shredded gruyere cheese, thinly sliced turkey
Total time: 40 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 11 | Calories: 420
7. Christmas Stuffing Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
The one side nobody will let you skip. Pork sausage meat, fresh sage and thyme and white breadcrumbs, bound with egg and baked until crisp on top. Ten ingredients, serves eight. Call it dressing if you bake it outside the bird.
Key ingredients: sausage meat, onions, chopped fresh sage, chopped fresh thyme, fresh white breadcrumbs, eggs
💡 Cook’s tip: sausage meat. Provides the rich meaty base and flavour. I used good quality pork sausage meat.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 10
8. Cranberry Turkey Stuffing Balls Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Stuffing and cranberry rolled into crisp, bite-sized balls, brilliant for a buffet or using up the bird. Nineteen ingredients but easy going, serves eight at 380 calories. Make them ahead and reheat.
Key ingredients: ground turkey or 2 cups cooked chopped turkey, day-old bread, yellow onion, garlic cloves, celery stalk, fresh sage
💡 Cook’s tip: ground turkey or 2 cups cooked chopped turkey. Ground turkey works best for binding, but leftover roast turkey is perfect for saving time.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 19 | Calories: 380
9. Southern-Style Honey Butter Cornbread Pepper Recipe
Meat-Free
Soft, buttery cornbread with a honey-sweet edge, the bread basket your Thanksgiving table is missing. Just thirty minutes and ten ingredients, at 149 calories a piece. Brush with extra honey butter straight from the oven.
Key ingredients: cornmeal, baking powder, milk, eggs, honey, vanilla extract
Total time: 30 min | Ingredients: 10 | Calories: 149
10. Creamy Holiday Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Meat-Free
The classic, done right. Potatoes whipped with milk, cream cheese and chives until silky and festive. Only six ingredients and forty minutes. The cream cheese is what keeps them luxuriously smooth.
Key ingredients: potatoes, milk, cream cheese, finely chopped chives
💡 Cook’s tip: milk. Warm milk gives that extra creaminess and helps the potatoes absorb flavor evenly.
Total time: 40 min | Ingredients: 6
11. Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Classic mash with a gourmet twist: smoked gouda and cream cheese fold through russets for a subtly smoky, grown-up side. Seven ingredients, thirty-five minutes, serves eight at 394 calories.
Key ingredients: chicken broth, russet potatoes, cream cheese, white pepper
💡 Cook’s tip: chicken broth. Boiling the potatoes in broth instead of water infuses them with a deep savory flavor right from the start.
Total time: 35 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 7 | Calories: 394
12. Gruyere Potatoes Au Gratin Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Thinly sliced Yukon golds layered with gruyere, parmesan and milk, baked until bubbling and bronzed. Indulgent, comforting and a guaranteed empty dish. Twelve ingredients, seventy minutes, serves eight.
Key ingredients: golden yukon potatoes, whole milk, shredded gruyere cheese, shredded parmesan cheese, garlic powder, onion powder
Total time: 70 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 12
13. Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Layers of tender potato under a blanket of melted cheddar and creamy milk sauce. A little over an hour and a half, eight ingredients, serves six. Slice the potatoes thin and even so they cook through.
Key ingredients: russet potatoes, yellow onion, whole milk, mild cheddar cheese
Total time: 105 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 8
14. Crispy Roasted Fingerling Potatoes Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
For the table that wants crunch rather than cream. Fingerlings roasted with rosemary and thyme until golden and crisp outside, fluffy within. Seven ingredients, serves six at 210 calories.
Key ingredients: fingerling potatoes, several sprigs of rosemary and thyme, minced rosemary, finely chopped chives or dill
💡 Cook’s tip: fingerling potatoes. These are naturally small.
Total time: 80 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 7 | Calories: 210
15. Layered Sweet Potato Squash & Carrot Bake with Cranberry-Honey Drizzle Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
A stunning autumn side, sweet potato, butternut squash and carrot layered and roasted, finished with a cranberry-honey drizzle. Thirteen ingredients, serves six at 220 calories. As pretty as it is good.
Key ingredients: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, dried thyme, dried rosemary, dried cranberries
Total time: 70 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 13 | Calories: 220
16. Miso Glazed Melting Sweet Potatoes Recipe
Meat-Free
The modern answer to marshmallow-topped yams. Japanese sweet potatoes caramelised under a white-miso and maple glaze until meltingly soft. Seven ingredients, thirty-five minutes. Finish with flaky salt.
Key ingredients: japanese sweet potatoes, avocado oil or any heat-tolerant oil, white miso paste, maple syrup, flaky sea salt for serving
Total time: 35 min | Ingredients: 7 | Calories: 296
17. Sage Butternut Squash Gratin Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Butternut squash baked in cream with shallot, garlic and fresh sage, a velvety, meat-free side that feels like a treat. Twelve ingredients, fifty minutes, serves six.
Key ingredients: butternut squash, shallot, garlic cloves, low-sodium vegetable stock, heavy whipping cream, fresh sage leaves
💡 Cook’s tip: butternut squash. Fresh squash cooks evenly and gives the best natural sweetness.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 12
18. Best Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
The Thanksgiving icon, and this version earns the name. Green beans in a creamy mushroom sauce with a soy-sauce savoury edge and that all-important crispy fried onion top. Three steps, seven ingredients, serves eight.
Key ingredients: frozen cut green beans, condensed cream of mushroom soup, milk, soy sauce, seasoned salt, crispy fried onions
💡 Cook’s tip: frozen cut green beans. Frozen beans hold their shape well and save time.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 7
19. Cream Cheese And Bacon Green Bean Casserole Recipe
Richer, smokier take on the classic, cream cheese for extra body and bacon for a salty crunch alongside the fried onions. Seven ingredients, forty minutes. The one that disappears first.
Key ingredients: bacon, milk, cream cheese, fried onions
💡 Cook’s tip: bacon. The bacon adds smoky crunch; make sure it’s crisp to contrast the creamy green beans.
Total time: 40 min | Ingredients: 7
20. Roasted Green Beans with Sweet Caramelized Onions Recipe
Meat-Free
A lighter green bean option for tables that already have enough casseroles. Just-tender roasted beans tossed with sweet, slow Vidalia onions. Five ingredients, serves four.
Key ingredients: fresh green beans, vidalia onions, freshly ground black pepper
💡 Cook’s tip: fresh green beans. I always use fresh for crisp texture; frozen tends to get soggy.
Total time: 55 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 5
21. Honey Glazed Carrots Recipe
Meat-Free
Sweet, glossy and on the table in twenty-five minutes, the side you can make while the rest of the oven is busy. Carrots glazed in honey, garlic, butter, cinnamon and ginger. Nine ingredients.
Key ingredients: carrots, honey, garlic cloves, melted butter or ghee, cinnamon, ground ginger
💡 Cook’s tip: carrots. Fresh, firm carrots are best for texture and color. Avoid frozen ones as they can turn mushy.
Total time: 25 min | Ingredients: 9
22. Maple Mustard Roasted Carrots Recipe
Meat-Free
Roasted carrots with a maple, grainy-mustard and Dijon glaze that balances sweet and sharp beautifully. Eight ingredients, forty-five minutes, serves four at 150 calories.
Key ingredients: maple syrup, grainy mustard, dijon mustard, lemon juice, carrots
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 8 | Calories: 150
23. Garlic Parmesan Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe
Meat-Free
Sprouts roasted until the edges go crisp and caramelised, tossed with garlic, parmesan, lemon and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Even sprout-sceptics come back for more. Eight ingredients, 180 calories, serves four.
Key ingredients: brussels sprouts, garlic cloves, red pepper flakes, grated parmesan cheese, lemon juice
Total time: 35 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 8 | Calories: 180
24. Honey Balsamic Brussels Sprouts Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Six ingredients, three steps, thirty minutes, the easiest sprouts on the list. A honey-balsamic glaze turns them sticky and savoury-sweet. Serves six.
Key ingredients: brussels sprouts, freshly ground black pepper, balsamic vinegar, honey
💡 Cook’s tip: freshly ground black pepper. Freshly ground pepper adds a subtle kick and freshness.
Total time: 30 min | Serves: 6 | Ingredients: 6
25. Miso Butter Roasted Cabbage Wedges Recipe
Meat-Free
An unexpected, deeply savoury side, cabbage wedges roasted under miso butter with a crunchy panko top. Six ingredients, forty-five minutes, serves four. Cheap, and a genuine surprise.
Key ingredients: miso paste, sweetheart, panko breadcrumbs, garlic powder, chopped parsley
Total time: 45 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 6
26. Creamy Pumpkin Polenta Recipe
Meat-Free
A soft, comforting alternative to mash, polenta loosened with pumpkin purée, milk and parmesan. Ten ingredients, thirty minutes, serves four. A lovely bed for the gravy.
Key ingredients: polenta, low-sodium vegetable broth, pumpkin purée, milk, grated parmesan cheese, fresh sage or thyme
Total time: 30 min | Serves: 4 | Ingredients: 10
27. Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Four ingredients, twenty minutes, and infinitely better than the tin. Fresh or frozen cranberries simmered down until glossy and jammy. Meat-free, make-ahead and the brightest thing on the plate.
Key ingredients: fresh or frozen cranberries
Total time: 20 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 4
28. Pumpkin Pie Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
The dessert the day is named for. A silky spiced custard of pumpkin, evaporated milk and warm spice in a deep-dish crust. Nine ingredients, serves twelve. A homemade crust is worth it, but a good shop-bought one works too.
Key ingredients: unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie crust, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, eggs, canned pumpkin puree
💡 Cook’s tip: unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie crust. A homemade crust adds extra flavor but a good-quality store-bought crust works well too.
Total time: 95 min | Serves: 12 | Ingredients: 9
29. Pecan Pie Recipe
Meat-Free
Gooey, buttery and unapologetically rich, eggs, dark corn syrup and brown sugar under a layer of toasted pecans. Nine ingredients, ninety minutes. Let it cool fully so it sets to the perfect chew.
Key ingredients: unbaked 9-inch pie crust, eggs, dark corn syrup, packed brown sugar, ground cinnamon
💡 Cook’s tip: unbaked 9-inch pie crust. A flaky crust works best to support the rich filling.
Total time: 90 min | Ingredients: 9
30. Pumpkin Pecan Cobbler Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Pumpkin pie and pecan pie in one spoonable dish, with a soft cake top and a gooey caramel sauce that forms underneath as it bakes. Seventeen ingredients, serves eight at 318 calories. Serve warm with ice cream.
Key ingredients: baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin puree, melted butter or vegetable oil, vanilla
💡 Cook’s tip: baking powder. Helps the cobbler rise and stay fluffy.
Total time: 50 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 17 | Calories: 318
31. Cherry Pie with Flaky Crust Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
A bright, tart counterpoint to all the spice, cherries thickened with cornstarch and a hint of almond under a flaky double crust. Nine ingredients, serves eight. Fresh or frozen cherries both work.
Key ingredients: fresh or frozen cherries, cornstarch, lemon juice, almond extract, pie crusts, egg
💡 Cook’s tip: cornstarch. Thickens the filling so it sets nicely once baked.
Total time: 80 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 9
32. Snickerdoodle Cream Cheese Apple Pie Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
Apple pie meets snickerdoodle, a cinnamon-sugar cookie base, a cream cheese layer and spiced apple filling. Ten ingredients, sixty-five minutes, serves eight. An easy crowd-pleaser that looks like you tried hard.
Key ingredients: snickerdoodle cookie mix, cream cheese, vanilla extract, egg, apple pie filling, cinnamon
💡 Cook’s tip: snickerdoodle cookie mix. The base of the crust and topping.
Total time: 65 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 10
33. Salted Caramel Apple Pie Bars Recipe
Meat-Free
Apple pie made shareable, a shortbread base, spiced apple filling and a salted-caramel finish, cut into neat squares for a crowd. Sixteen ingredients, and the long bake is almost entirely hands-off. Easier to serve than a pie, and just as popular.
Key ingredients: ; 113 g unsalted butter, pure vanilla extract, apples, ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, old-fashioned rolled oats
💡 Cook’s tip: unsalted butter. Gives a rich, tender, and buttery base.
Total time: 175 min | Ingredients: 16
34. Brown Sugar Pumpkin Loaf Recipe
Feeds a Crowd
For the dessert table or the next morning’s coffee, a moist, brown-sugar-sweet pumpkin loaf fragrant with cinnamon. Seventeen ingredients, serves eight at 450 calories. Bakes while dinner is being eaten.
Key ingredients: whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, light brown sugar, vanilla extract, eggs
Total time: 75 min | Serves: 8 | Ingredients: 17 | Calories: 450
35. Turkey Cranberry and Brie Egg Rolls Recipe
30 Minutes or Less
Thanksgiving leftovers, reinvented. Turkey, cranberry sauce and brie rolled in crisp egg-roll wrappers and fried golden. Three steps, ten ingredients. The surprise hit of the long weekend.
Key ingredients: egg roll wrappers, cooked turkey, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste, cranberry sauce, brie cheese
💡 Cook’s tip: egg roll wrappers. Fresh wrappers roll more easily and seal better than frozen ones reducing the chance of tearing.
Total time: 25 min | Ingredients: 10
That is the whole table, centrepiece to leftovers, in thirty-five recipes. You will not make all of them in one year, so pick a centrepiece, three or four sides, the cranberry sauce and a pie or two, and build out from there.
Save this one and come back to it: the make-ahead dishes are what turn Thanksgiving from a frantic morning into a calm one. Browse the related holiday collections below for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far ahead can I make Thanksgiving dishes?
A lot of this menu is make-ahead. Cranberry sauce keeps for up to a week; stuffing, casseroles and pie dough can be made a day or two ahead; and most pies are happy baked the day before. Roast the centrepiece on the day.
What can I serve instead of a whole turkey?
Plenty here works as a centrepiece: a honey-baked ham, a prime rib roast, a lemon-herb or clementine roast chicken for a smaller group, or a vegan roast for a meat-free table. The turkey crescent ring is a good middle ground if you still want turkey without roasting a whole bird.
How do I manage one oven for so many dishes?
Roast the centrepiece first and let it rest, loosely covered, for twenty to thirty minutes while the sides go in. Resting meat actually improves it. Group sides that bake at a similar temperature, and use the stovetop and make-ahead dishes to take pressure off the oven.
How many side dishes do I need?
For a traditional spread, aim for one starch (mash or potatoes), the stuffing, the green bean casserole, one or two vegetable sides and the cranberry sauce. Four to six sides suits most tables; scale up only if you are feeding a crowd.
What are the best Thanksgiving leftovers to plan for?
Turkey or ham, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce are the gold. This menu finishes with turkey-cranberry-brie egg rolls, built to use up exactly what you will have in the fridge on Friday, crisp, melty and the surprise hit of the long weekend.