Pumped about Thanksgiving already? Us, too, but not as much as Canada, where they celebrate it ahead of us, on October 10th! (The nerve.) Get more pumped than the Canadians: Here are the stellar, top-rated, most-beloved recipes you need and deserve this year. These are the recipes our home cooks love the most.
1. Traditional Cranberry Sauce
With just four ingredients and an easy make-ahead technique that can’t be overvalued during the holidays, our traditional cranberry sauce is a winner year after year. Orange zest and a cinnamon stick lend the cranberries just the right amount of seasonal flavor. Best of all, you can make it up to three days in advance.
2. Overnight Turkey
Slow-roasted, overnight turkey? Sign us up! You go to bed while the bird does the work in the oven. Year after year, this is one of our most popular turkey recipes. It’s ideal for those of you who have guests rolling in around noon. No basting required, so you can get those extra zzzs. Other 5-star contenders? Chuck Williams’ Herbes de Provence Roast Turkey and the Test Kitchen’s Never-Dry Roast Turkey are two more of our family favorites on annual repeat.
3. Sausage, Cornbread and Chestnut Dressing
No need to wait until the winter holidays for chestnuts roasting in an open… oven? (We suggest keeping it closed.) This sausage, cornbread and chestnut dressing is fabulous. Corn bread and sausage go together as beautifully as you would think, and a fistful of wintry herbs like sage make your home just smell fantastic.
5. Green Bean Bundles
Sometimes the name of the recipe tells you everything you need to know about the goodness lurking inside. You had us at “hello,” green bean bundles with bacon and brown sugar. (It’s a vegetable side lacking the virtue signaling of a basic green salad, and thank goodness for that!)
6. Butternut Squash Gratin
Ina Garten’s Thanksgiving recipes are always among the most popular ones we share year after year. Most are already committed to memory and this gruyere and bread crumb-topped gratin is no exception. Unfussy, easy-to-prepare and absolutely delicious, it’s as welcome on the Thanksgiving table as a side dish or vegetarian main as it is the star of a Sunday dinner.
6. Mashed Potatoes with Herb-Infused Cream & Chives
Herb-infused cream is the key to these mashed potatoes with herb-infused cream and chives. It’s a family recipe handed down from the mom of a onetime test kitchen cook, so you know it must be good! Thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, shallot and garlic all get simmered in there.
7. Kale Salad With Quinoa, Pistachios and Pomegranate Seeds
We love a hard-to-wilt kale salad for a high-maintenance feast, particularly this kale salad with quinoa, pistachios and pomegranate seeds. Cavolo Nero, aka dinosaur kale, aka lacinato kale is gorgeous right now, with an almost buttery flavor depending on where you are in America. Pistachios lend crunch, pomegranate seeds add their inimitable juice, and you’re off to the races.
8. Galaxy Parker House Rolls
Were you going to make homemade bread? For Thanksgiving? Don’t do that to yourself. Let us help you with a couple shortcuts, m’kay? Consider Galaxy Parker House Rolls. There’s a (buttery, pillowy) reason their reviews are off the charts.
9. Autumn Leaf Pumpkin Pie
Brandy-laced pumpkin pie?! Where’s the signup button? This autumn leaf pumpkin pie is as pretty as it is tasty, with a twist on the classic cider house autumn spices you are going to flip for; we promise.
10. Deep Dish Apple Bourbon Streusel Pie
How did so many people get on the invite list this year? Assign out this deep-dish apple bourbon streusel pie. It feeds a crew, it accommodates both tart-tongued Granny Smiths and rosy-cheeked Pink Lady apples, and it’s just beautiful. And hey, there are pecans on top, so you can call this a “protein-packed breakfast” and get no judgment from us. But, if you can’t part with traditional apple pie, we have more than a few 5-star favorites; try our Caramel Apple Pie or lattice crust Apple Pie.
