Below you will find all of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving. There are printable timelines at the very bottom. Good luck. Gobble Gobble.
- What to drink? Punch, of course.
- Holiday Bread No-knead, no excuse.
- Classic Bread Stuffing My favorite part of the meal every year.
- Potatoes Five Ways
- Sweet Potato Casserole
- ALL the Sauces Make-ahead gravy, cranberry, mustard, and more.
- Simple Salad Palate cleanser.
- Other Sides If you’re up for it.
- Dessert Pie Pie Pie Pie Pie Pie Pie Pie.
- Vegetarian Entrée? This one steals the show.
- Turkey Dry-brined.
- Schedule + Shopping Get organized!
PS: 25+ Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Philadelphia Fish House Punch
If you’ve never made a “house” punch, I highly recommend it, and I highly recommend this one: Philadelphia Fish House Punch , a mix of brandy, cognac, rum, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup.
Since discovering this recipe eight years ago, there has not been a Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, or Easter for which I have not made it. Its reception, without fail, is wild, and for this, I look forward to making it more than just about anything during the holiday season.
Punch bowl!
Holiday Bread
Popovers 🎉
Rolls 🎉
Biscuits 👏
Bread 🎉
If making rolls is a page-turner for you, you could make a batch of this no-fuss focaccia . The beauty of this recipe is that it’s best made the day before and tucked in the fridge — on Thanksgiving morning, you would just let it rise at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours. You can bake it when the turkey is out of the oven.
Favorite Stuffing
This kale and caramelized onion stuffing is a variation of the one in my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs . After 45 minutes in the oven, it emerges with a crisp golden exterior and a creamy center, flavorful enough to eat on its own, but welcoming to many a relish, sauce, gravy, or anything else the Thanksgiving plate has to offer.
Know you can customize the seasonings and add-ins to your liking. Also: you can make it ahead and freeze it. See instructions in the post for how to freeze it .
I love the kale and caramelized onion version, but if you’re looking for a very classic stuffing , made with onions and celery, seasoned with Bell’s Seasoning, find that here :
This stuffing freezes well!
Potatoes
Crispy Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Sweet Potato Casserole
This is my Great Aunt Phyllis’s recipe for sweet potato casserole: creamy, orange-scented, brandy-spiked, and unapologetic in its use of butter and sugar.
4 Holiday Sauces
All of the sauces below can be made in advance. Bring cranberry sauces and mustard sauce to room temperature several hours before serving, and bring the gravy to a gentle simmer before serving.
CranberrySauces
On the left: Sally Schneider’s Red Wine Cranberry Sauce (an old favorite, also delicious when made with Port). On the right : No-Cook Cranberry Relish (sweet, tart, orange-scented, and delicious).
Gravy & Mustard Sauce
On the left: Simple, Make-Ahead Gravy . What is especially nice about having gravy made before the bird is even roasted is the mental assurance that as soon as the bird is done, you can (after it rests) serve it without too much of a last-minute scramble. On the right : My Grandmother’s Mustard Sauce: We rarely make a ham for Thanksgiving, but if we do, we make my grandmother’s mustard sauce, affectionately known as the ham sauce !
Also, do yourself a favor and make a batch of this delicious roasted turkey stock before Thanksgiving… it will make the best gravy, and you will need it for your stuffings and potatoes, too:
Simple Salad
Other Sides
Thanksgiving Desserts
One of the best ways you can get a jump start on your Thanksgiving preparations is to make your pie dough in advance. The recipe in the video below and in the recipe here, which includes instructions on how to parbake your pie dough yields two rounds. If you want to double it, I recommend measuring all of the ingredients and making two consecutive batches (no need to clean the food processor in between) as opposed to trying to make a double batch all at once. I use this recipe for all of my pies, tarts, galettes, etc.
Every Thanksgiving I make Ronnie Hollingsworth’s Most Excellent Squash Pie , which comes from Kristin Kimball’s, The Dirty Life , in which she writes: “Pumpkin shmumpkin, winter squash has more flavor and better texture.”
I couldn’t agree more. I also always make David Lebovitz’s no corn syrup bourbon pecan pie and some sort of apple tart, either this apple frangipane galette or this French apple tart . Sister Pie’s salted maple pie has become a recent favorite.
Foolproof, Food Processor Pie Dough
Vegetarian Thanksgiving?
Butternut Squash Lasagna
One snowy Thanksgiving in Vermont , this butternut squash lasagna, brought to the feast by a vegetarian friend of my aunt’s, stole the show. This is the kind of dish you will want to make all winter long, one you’ll want stashed in your freezer, ready to take to a friend in need, the crowd-pleasing recipe you’ll turn to for your next holiday party, one proven to please both carnivores and vegetarians alike.
The recipe comes from Gourme t magazine: Butternut Squash Lasagna
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And last but not least… the turkey!
Here is the simple method I use for dry-brining a turkey: I use salt alone (as opposed to salt and sugar) and I use 1 teaspoon of kosher salt per pound. Rub the turkey all over with the salt, place it in a giant plastic turkey bag, and transfer it to the fridge for 48 hours.
On Thanksgiving morning, pat the turkey dry, set it on a rack in a roasting pan, brush it with melted butter, season all over with salt (lightly), and pepper; then transfer the pan to the oven and roast it till it looks done, which will vary depending on the size of your bird.
If you’re not feeling turkey, you could make a ham ! Don’t forget the ham sauce .
How To Dry Brine and Roast A Turkey
Simple Baked Ham Recipe with Brown Sugar Glaze
Countdown to Thanksgiving Schedule
Here’s a relatively detailed Countdown to Thanksgiving timeline. If you’d prefer to create your own, here it is in a Google Doc — you can create a copy of it, which you can edit/add notes to. And here’s a rough shopping list , which you can also edit.
Anytime between now and Thanksgiving, you could make and freeze the following:
- peasant bread (for the stuffing)
- pie dough
- Turkey stock
- stuffing
One Week Before Thanksgiving (November 20th)
- Remove turkey from the freezer and transfer to the fridge to thaw
Sunday, November 23rd:
- Make a double-batch of peasant bread (4 loaves, 2 of which will go into a double batch of stuffing ).
- Make large-batch shallot vinaigrette .
Monday, November 24th:
- Make a double batch of stuffing through the step at which you cover the pan with foil; freeze each pan.
- If you froze your pie dough, remove it from the freezer to thaw.
Tuesday, November 25th:
- Brine the turkey .
- Make a double batch of pie dough , stash in the fridge.
- Freeze the ice ring (for the punch )
- Juice the lemons (for the punch )
- Make the simple syrup (for the punch )
- Make the cranberry sauce .
- Roast the squash for the butternut squash pie .
- Measure and mix the fillings for each of the pies ( pecan , butternut , salted maple , apple )
Wednesday, November 26th:
- Make the buttermilk pull-apart rolls through step 5; cover the pan and stick it in the fridge overnight. Or…
- … make the dough for the thyme dinner rolls , stick it in the fridge to rise overnight.
- Make the gravy.
- Make the potatoes 3/4 of the way — remove the pan from the oven after 35 minutes — just as the potatoes are starting to brown and the liquid is thickening. Or if you’re making mashed potatoes, make them through the end of step 2.
- Make (salted) whipped cream for the pies.
- Roll out the pies and parbake them.
Thursday, November 27th:
- Rise early and bake off the 4 pies.
- Bring the turkey to room temperature, and prepare it for roasting.
- Prepare the salad — toss it at the last minute.
- Finish baking the potatoes. If you made mashed potatoes, you can re-warm them using a double boiler or in a crock pot or Instant pot on the warm setting.
- Assemble the punch.
- Bake the stuffings.
- Roast the turkey.
- Bake the rolls — while the turkey rests and is carved, there should be plenty of time to bake off the rolls, which means they’ll be piping hot when you gather around the table.
Bye for now! Good luck! Gobble Gobble!
My perennial favorite kitchen (and other) items can be found in The Shop . And at the very end of the post, I’ve included my favorite local and online retailers.
Gift Guide 2025
A Pizza Making Class (with Me! in Philly!)
On January 8th, I’ll be teaching a teaching a pizza making class at The Bread Room , a bakery and event space created by Fork’s Ellen Yin in Center City. We’ll start the evening with snacks from The Bread Room and a beverage, then we’ll start making dough, shaping dough rounds, and baking. After baking, we’ll enjoy our pizzas with a fresh salad and dessert from The Bread Room kitchen. More details here: Pizza Night at The Bread Room
Cast Iron Chris Chainmail + Compound
For your friend who hates plastic/nonstick anything and has embraced cast iron: a Cast Iron Chris Seasoning Compound/Chainmail Combo , which includes a chainmail scrubber and 1 tub of seasoning/maintenance compound. Watch videos on how to use the chainmail scrubber here and the compound here . One of you (hi Carrie!) introduced me to Cast Iron Chris, and my cast iron skillets have all received a lot more TLC since.
For that same friend who also loves wine, a paper wine tote , perhaps filled with a nice bottle of wine. There are some people who are impossible to shop for, but I feel like you can never go wrong with a nice bottle of wine, which the recipient could drink or re-gift. A funl tote makes it all the more special.
Bombas slipper booties . These are so cozy. I have been bringing them to friends’ houses when I visit, because they look cute with anything from nice jeans to tights to joggers:
House of Shan Socks: Shortie Socks or Imperfect Heart Socks My friend Shannon’s company House of Shan sells the most uplifting/cheerful items , and a portion of every purchase goes to charity. In the past 5 years, the company has raised over $250,000 for charities. The socks look so cute with hightops or little booties. My kids love them, too. Use code ALICOOKS20 for 20% off the site 🎉
Beaverkill Bourbon Cream Made from cream from farms in the Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley maple syrup, and New York Bourbon, this bourbon cream is outrageously delicious. Splash it into coffee or hot chocolate, pour it over ice cream, or serve it on the rocks — it is so, so tasty. Local friends, you can find it at the Niskayuna Wine Store. Also available online: Beaverkill Bourbon Cream
For the chocolate lover in your life, especially delicious Dubai chocolate . My son asked for Dubai chocolate for his birthday this year, and my mother, researcher that she is, found a very nice block to gift him: Laderach Dubai chocolate . Given that it is made with milk chocolate (as opposed to dark), I did not think I was going to care for it, but it more than lived up to the hype — it is so, so good. Broken into shards, it’s very pretty, too.
For your friend that has everything, a nice bottle of olive oil — everyone can use more good olive oil. I learned about Piro extra-virgin olive oil from my friend Ali Rosen, who’s next book, The Slow Burn (out in 2026), takes place in Italy. It is so very tasty.
You could pair it with a nice bottle of vinegar: Vivo red wine vinegar has ruined all others for me — when I use it in this Greek salad dressing recipe , it never tastes better. From the makers: “Every bottle is small-batch crafted in Italy using only Lambrusco grapes from Emilia-Romagna. The result is vinegar so bright and balanced, you could drink it straight.” It’s true!
Corto x Stanislaus Chef’s Essentials Kit : I shared this kit in this year’s Father’s Day gift guide, but had to re-share it, because the tomatoes are truly so delicious. You can find the tomatoes on Milk Street as well. Puréed with a little bit of olive oil and flaky sea salt, it makes one tasty, fresh pizza sauce. Corto olive oil is also excellent.
For the sourdough bread baker in your life, a Live Laugh Loaf flour sack towel , made by the brilliant graphic designer Lindsay Landis of Purr and Love and Olive Oil , who has recently created a whole collection of “ fresh baked puns .” You could pair it with one of Wordloaf’s sourdough starter whisks , which you will not be able to live without once you start using it.
For the pizza lover in your life, Rosi’s Hot Oil — how fun is this tin?
You could pair it with a copy of Pizza Night . Now Serving in Los Angeles has signed copies of both Pizza Night and Bread Toast Crumbs , and they ship everywhere, including internationally.
Big Spoon Pistachio Crunch : My mother introduced me to this exceptionally delicious almond butter. I love spreading it over bananas or dates. You could pair it with a box of delicious dates .
An assortment of Fishwife Tinned Fish : These are my favorites: Smoked Salmon Sichuan Chili Crisp , Smoked Rainbow Trout , Mackerel , and…
… the anchovies ! For your Caesar salad-loving friend, these anchovies truly are extraordinary. I eat them straight from the tin.
Really interesting flour: Petra 0103 . My mother ordered this by accident and decided to make the peasant bread with it, using honey in place of the sugar. She gave me a loaf, and my family devoured it. I ordered a bag of it right away. It’s a mix of partially sprouted wheat flour, sprouted rice flour and wholemeal sprouted barley flour. I love the dark hue it tinges the bread…
And the crumb is so chewy and the flavor so lovely:
You could pair it with a copy of Bread Toast Crumbs (thank you!) and…
Some good butter (I can find this one at Whole Foods) and a nice butter spreader :
Cookbooks!
For your vegetarian friend looking to up her salad game, Hetty McKinnon’s Linger :
… you could pair it with a Guatemalan bean spoon :
For your Salt Fat Acid Heat loving friend, Samin’s latest: Good Things
For any young, adventurous, budget-conscious cook in your life, Rosie Kellett’s In For Dinner :
For the entertainer/host or hostess in your life, Ben and Zikki Siman-Tov’s Eat Small Plates
For kids, a few ideas:
Personalized Stationery from Minted , to make writing thank you notes a little less painful:
Delicious hot chocolate: Silly Cow hot cocoa from Vermont is so, so tasty. Local Friends, you can find this at the Niskayuna Co-op.
A sushi making cookbook + kit . I got this for my son, who loves sushi, for Christmas last year, and he has since treated the family to homemade sushi at least half a dozen times. It is such a treat:
A Few More Things
Like many, I loved Heart the Lover … had to stifle sobs while reading it on Amtrack on my way home from NYC one day this fall.
An All the Restaurants print. I wrote about this last Christmas, and I have a few framed in my house, including Fork , Balthazar , and Tria .
A nice sweater. I love this one from Sezane :
A physical copy of The Onion . The news is dreadful. The Onion will make you laugh. After an 11-year break, the onion is back in print, and you can now get a copy delivered to your door every month .
In addition to the items above, a gift certificate to a local shop or restaurant, such as The Vischer Ferry General Store or Arthur’s Market or The Broken Inn would make a great gift. Here are some local and online shops I love:
Local Shops
Vischer Ferry General Store
Arthur’s Market
Studio 4 Hot Yoga
Hatchet Hardware Store
Fort Orange General Store
Bluebird
Schenectady Trading Co
Niskayuna Co-op
Hillsdale General Store
The Broken Inn
And here are some online shops I return to again and again:
Online Shops
Bloomscape
Burlap and Barrel
Bombas
Food52
Vuori
Masienda
Rancho Gordo
Framebridge
Beauty Counter
Elsie Green
GoldBelly
Dot and Army
The Orange Shop
Rancho Medaluca
