31 Recipes for Planning Your Thanksgiving Menu

My Thanksgiving menu planner includes recipe suggestions for a complete Thanksgiving feast, and more. Choose from appetizers, side dishes, the main course and desserts to complete a festive holiday dinner. You will also find a few ideas for the long holiday weekend including a soup for Thanksgiving Eve, suggestions for a seasonal breakfast and a little inspiration for using any leftovers from the big meal.

Courier & Ives Ironstone Gravy Boat on our Thanksgiving Table.

Planning Your Thanksgiving Menu

After years of posting, My Own Sweet Thyme is brimming with delicious recipes. With so many choices it can be hard to know where to start when planning a Thanksgiving dinner. This year I’d like to offer some suggestions. With the holiday only a few short weeks away I have gathered those recipes that would be a great addition to a Thanksgiving menu and more ideas for the long holiday weekend that follows.

The suggestions here are not comprehensive. There are many more fall recipes that might catch your eye if you scan My Own Sweet Thyme’s Recipe Index or flip through the blog archive focusing on the months of October and November. You can also search for something in particular using the “Search” box near either the top or the bottom of the page.

Giving Thanks

Meanwhile, take a look as you think about your Thanksgiving menu. Hopefully you will find some inspiration; a photo that jogs your memory or a post that suggests a twist on a favorite dish. Maybe you will even find something you would like to add to your Thanksgiving celebration this year.

And while we are on the subject of Thanksgiving, please know that I am thankful for each of you, my readers. I wish you a very blessed holiday season! May your celebrations be rich with satisfying flavors, happy memories and hearts filled with gratitude.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Appetizers

If you want to keep your guests from nibbling through the kitchen as you cook, set out one of these seasonal snacks to take the edge off of appetites until the main event calls you to the table.

Cranberry Salsa in a glass serving dish surrounded by Baked Sweet Potato Chips.

Cranberry Salsa with Sweet Potato Chips

Pomegranate and Roasted Corn Salas in a small bowl surrounded by Plaintain Chips.  A fantastic starter for your Thanksgiving menu.

Pomegranate and Roasted Corn Salsa

Cranberry Cheesecake Spread topped with Cranberry Relish and served on a crystal plate.

Cranberry Cheesecake Spread

Side Dishes

Thanksgiving side dishes are so much more than something colorful to complement the entree or fill out the dinner plate. Side dishes often represent the most treasured flavors of the Thanksgiving season.

Here I have collected my holiday favorites, from bright salads and tasty breads that can be made ahead to simple seasonal sides that cook along with the turkey and fill out a Thanksgiving menu perfectly.

Dad's Plain Bread Stuffing baked in an enameled cast iron pan and nicely browned on top.

Dad’s Plain Bread Stuffing

Smooth Cranberry Sauce frozen and sliced in an Anchor Hocking pressed glass serving boat beside a pierced silver serving spoon.

Smooth Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Bourbon Vanilla Cranberry Relish in a glass bowl.

Bourbon Vanilla Cranberry Relish

Corn Salad with Pecan Dressing topped with pecan pieces in a decorative corn bowl

Corn Salad with Pecan Dressing

Southern Style Green Beans with bits of onion and ham served as a side dish on white plate.

Southern Style Green Beans

Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Pecans served in a Courier and Ives Ironstone serving bowl.

Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Pecans

Roasted Delicata Squash half with sage leaf on a white plate

Roasted Delicata Squash

Mashed Potatoes piled in a Courier and Ives Ironstone dish with handles.

Plain Old Mashed Potatoes

A serving of Fried Corn Salad with tomatoes and avocado on a small plate.

Pan Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad

A serving of Roasted Carrots with Feta and Thyme on a plate.

Roasted Carrots with Feta and Parsley

Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes on a white plate.

Thyme Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Pumpkin Yeast Braids on black wire rack.

Pumpkin Yeast Braids

The Main Course

A turkey is the obvious star of a classic Thanksgiving menu. The question is – How should it be prepared?

This is now my favorite way to cook a turkey…

The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey with crispy brown skin, strewn with herbs and served on a hand painted turkey platter.

The Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey

Dessert

In my family, Thanksgiving dessert is all about pies, family favorites as well as the obligatory pumpkin version. Still there are other outstanding seasonal desserts that would also finish the meal nicely. If you don’t find something here, check the Desserts section in the sidebar or Recipe Index where you will find nearly one hundred more desserts to choose from.

A slice of Rustic Apple Pie on a plate beside a fork with the cut pie in the background

Rustic Apple Pie

A Beautiful Pecan Pie topped with a starburst of pecans beside a pie server and folded napkin.

Pecan Pie

A slice of French Apple Pie on a white dessert plate.

French Apple Pie

A whole Pumpkin Pie topped with pastry leaves and surrounded by fallen leaves on a wood table.

Classic Pumpkin Pie

A whole Pecan Praline Cake topped with praline pecans on a crystal plate in the garden.

Pecan Praline Cake

Looking into a Smoky Blue Cheesecake with Hazelnut Pear Topping that has one slice taken.

Smokey Blue Cheesecake

The Holiday Weekend

Now that you have the Big Meal planned, here are a few pre- and post-Thanksgiving Dinner ideas you might want to consider.

While I’m planning, setting up and organizing, I always feel comforted and inspired by having a pot of soup on the stove. A warm pot of soup invites hungry guests arriving from out of town at odd hours to relax and feel welcome. That soup also means I don’t have to cook as they arrive but can concentrate on the prep work necessary for the Thanksgiving meal itself.

This recipe, adapted from my friend Alanna’s blog, “A Veggie Venture”, is an easy soup to pull together and it is composed of seasonal favorites. The squash bowls make it doubly beautiful but are far from necessary.

Squash and Hominy Stew served in a turban squash bowl.

Squash and Hominy Stew

For some sweet seasonal bites to have on hand, try these Cranberry Pecan Cookies. They offer a fresh taste of seasonal favorites like cranberries, oranges and nuts while also satisfying the sweet tooth.

Cranberry Pecan Cookies stacked on a glass plate.

Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Or make a batch of these Spirited Sweet Potato Bars.

A Spirited Southern Sweet Potato Bar topped with toasted pecans served on a plate.

Spirited Sweet Potato Bars

For Thanksgiving morning or, better yet, the morning after, this baked oatmeal offers a nutritious and filling breakfast that is perfect for those rising early to shop for Black Friday bargains as well as those sleeping in.

Cranberry Orange Baked Oatmeal scooped from a serving dish into an individual bowl.

Cranberry Orange Baked Oatmeal

Or, if you are eating together, it is a great opportunity to enjoy a stack of these seasonally delicious Pumpkin Pancakes.

A tall stack of pumpkin pancakes with a wedge cut away, drenched in maple syrup.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Leftovers

Turkey leftovers are one of my favorite holiday benefits. I start using them right after dinner is finished by putting on a pot of turkey stock to simmer while I clean up and visit the family.

Leftover bits and bones from our Thanksgiving dinner go into a pot to make Turkey Stock.

Turkey Stock

Then there are Turkey Sandwiches. As a child I loved taking sandwiches of leftover turkey on plain slices of white bread to school for lunch the week after Thanksgiving. Now I think the Best Turkey Sandwiches are made using several slices of leftover Pumpkin Yeast Bread, a slice of bacon or two tucked away while preparing Corn Salad with Pecan Dressing, and a good dollop of Cranberry Sauce to cradle that wonderful leftover turkey meat.

The Best Turkey Sandwich is made from the leftovers of our Thanksgiving menu.

Thanksgiving Dinner leftovers make the Best Turkey Sandwiches.

Other dishes to make good use of turkey leftovers include a variation on Aunt Hen’s Chicken and Dumplings (simply use the turkey stock and leftover turkey meat in place of the chicken)…

Substitute turkey for the chicken to make a filling bowl of old-fashioned Turkey and Dumplings.

Chicken and Dumplings can easily be adapted using turkey leftovers.

…and my sister-in-law’s Turkey Casserole.

Cashew Turkey Casserole in a baking dish.

Cashew Turkey Casserole

And, finally, for a bit of nostalgic perspective on the holiday season and world events, you may enjoy this reflection on my Father-in-law’s Thanksgiving menu from 1938.

A Thanksgiving menu, and decorative cover, from 1938.

Our Thanksgiving Menu – A Look Back to 1938

2 Comments

  1. Glad you enjoyed browsing! I think you'll like the cake. It is a long-time favorite of mine.

  2. I've spent my whole morning perusing your recipes–kudos on the lovely pictures and innovative flavors. I can't wait to make the Pumpkin Praline Cake, among other things!

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