A Traditional American Thanksgiving Dinner Menu (2024)

A Simply Perfect Roast Turkey

Syd's Simply Perfect Roast Turkey tastes precisely as good as you remember your grandma's Thanksgiving turkey. The seasoning is simple — just salt and pepper — which really lets the poultry's flavor shine. It also makes rich drippings for gravy.

• How to Cook a Turkey

The Best Turkey Gravy

A classic turkey gravy can make or break your Thanksgiving dinner, so you can rely on this recipe to not let you down. Gravy requires a little bit of attention and hands-on whisking, but it's the crown jewel of your meal. Recipe creator JULZBROWN keeps things simple so you don't have to fuss with unnecessary steps or ingredients. Just be sure to save your turkey's drippings; you'll need almost two cups for this gravy.

• 3 Easy Ways to Take Your Gravy From Good to Great

Grandma's Cornbread Dressing

Feel at home again with this traditional cornbread dressing, which gets its flavor from aromatics like celery, onion, and dried sage. The additional ingredients are all purposeful — they highlight the cornbread's naturally nutty but warm flavor — but they won't overwhelm the turkey or gravy. Reviewers suggest you can make it a bit more rich by using leftover pan drippings for some of the stock, if you have any left after making your gravy.

• Get More Recipes for Stuffing and Dressing

Baked Ham

While turkey gets all the attention on Thanksgiving, ham is a strong second main. In fact, many families can't imagine their holiday meal without baked ham. Auntie KK's recipe can be made the day before — it does require the oven for several hours and hands-on work — but it can easily be heated up just before dinner time. Chilled ham is delicious, too, especially for sandwiches the next day.

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Southern Candied Sweet Potatoes

Pam Reed's candied sweet potatoes are a happy medium between a sweet potato casserole and roasted sweet potatoes, two beloved traditional Thanksgiving side dishes. The potato rounds are cooked until just tender in a bath of butter and sugar, soaking up a bit of sweetness. It's a welcome contrast to the heavily savory plate you'll be putting together.

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• 20 Sweet Potato Side Dishes for Thanksgiving

Best Green Bean Casserole

A Thanksgiving dinner without a green bean casserole isn't a Thanksgiving dinner you want to attend. This variation from Jan is a bit different from the classic version — it uses french-fried onions and Cheddar cheese — but it retains all that's great about this holiday dish: creamy dressing and crisp, juicy green beans.

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• Get More Green Bean Casserole Recipes

Creamy au Gratin Potatoes

Smashed, casseroled, or baked — the potato dish at your family's Thanksgiving meal is quite important to the entire spread. Here, Cathy Martin's recipe lets potato rounds and onion rings tenderize in a cheesy, creamy sauce. Are the onions a bit unusual for your diners? Leave them out. They won't be missed.

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Cranberry Sauce Extraordinaire

Canned or homemade? It's a timeless Thanksgiving question, but once you try Leeza's homemade cranberry sauce, you will never set foot near the canned kind again. Though it's called cranberry sauce, this relish features several fruits, including pears, apples, and dried fruit. Warm spices round out those sweet-tart flavors. Reviewers suggest it's so good you might want to eat it by the spoonful.

Soft Dinner Rolls

Fluffy and light, these dinner rolls are the final addition to your traditional Thanksgiving plate. The cooking time is brief, but you'll want to plan for rising time so they bloom and turn into cloud-like bites of bread. Serve with lemon herb butter so guests can sop up every last delicious bit of gravy and sauce.

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Chef John's Pumpkin Pie

Look no further than Chef John's Pumpkin Pie to complete your traditional Thanksgiving menu. The rich, custard-like filling is delicately sweet and warmly spiced. We call this the Perfect Pumpkin Pie for a reason — you're not going to mess it up.

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Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup

It's nice to have some options for dessert, so naturally we decided to include classic pecan pie in addition to pumpkin. What makes this particular recipe stand out? It's made without corn syrup.

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Related:

• Here's What America Actually Cooks on Thanksgiving
• Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas for Four
• 15 Dump Recipes for a Hassle-Free Thanksgiving
• Browse our entire collection of Thanksgiving Recipes.

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