Little-known truth: my profession began in catering. After I moved to Austin at 21, I scored a job as an occasion planner for a catering firm, completely unaware of how a lot I’d fall in love with the fun of pulling off high-pressure occasions. I used to be new to the town, staying up late at a neighborhood espresso store, sketching out menus that felt balanced and considerate—comforting classics alongside dishes with simply sufficient creativity to shock company.
To this present day, Thanksgiving menu planning brings out the identical spark for me. Designing the meal has change into my favourite solution to kick off the season—equal elements creativity, technique, and just a little instinct. And for those who’ve ever discovered your self questioning what dishes actually matter, how a lot meals you want, or tips on how to maintain issues manageable (and scrumptious), you’re not alone. I hear from so lots of you every fall who need Thanksgiving to really feel joyful—not overwhelming.
That’s the place my tried-and-true Thanksgiving menu formulation is available in. It helps me create a balanced meal that checks all of the bins for custom, taste, and ease—with out cooking sufficient to feed the neighborhood.
Contemplate this your blueprint to plan a Thanksgiving menu that feels considerate, seasonal, and stress-free.
My largest tip: instinct + a strong construction.
Thanksgiving is deeply nostalgic—everybody has a dish which means one thing to them. So sure, honor the household must-haves. But additionally give your self permission to edit. For a smaller crowd, you do not want each dish on the desk. A considerate mixture of flavors, textures, and colours will all the time win over amount.
Through the years, I’ve landed on a easy formulation that retains me on observe and ensures the meal feels ample, balanced, and achievable (particularly for those who’re internet hosting and delegating!).
Use this as your information, and fill in every class along with your favourite recipes—or scroll under for mine.
My Foolproof Thanksgiving Menu System
Right here’s the construction I return to each single yr. Fortunately, most of my relations are nice cooks, so I additionally use this formulation to divvy up what individuals will convey potluck-style.
1. Turkey: Fried, roasted, or smoked. Generally we do two—one for the desk, one for leftovers.
2. Gravy: Even when it’s not your favourite, it belongs right here. Company count on it, and it ties all the pieces collectively.
3. Potatoes: Mashed, scalloped, or crispy roasted. (A silky mashed potato by no means disappoints.)
4. Dressing/Stuffing: Cornbread, sourdough, wild rice, oyster—select your model and don’t overthink it.
5. An Orange Vegetable Facet: Candy potatoes, butternut squash, honeynut squash, roasted carrots.
6. A Inexperienced Vegetable Facet: Brussels, inexperienced beans, broccolini, sautéed kale, or collards.
7. Bread or Rolls: I normally outsource this half—nice bakery rolls or a easy home made focaccia do the trick.
8. Dessert: Not less than one pie (pumpkin or pecan are classics), however be at liberty so as to add a wild card—apple, buttermilk, or chocolate pie are all the time welcome.
Internet hosting tip: For those who’re having a smaller gathering, choose your favourite 5 or 6 classes and let go of the remaining. Considerate simplicity > an overcrowded desk.
Planning Logistics
Let’s discuss technique. Nice Thanksgiving menu planning isn’t nearly what you serve—it’s when and the way you put together every dish. Just a little planning goes a good distance, and whenever you map out portions and make-ahead steps, you’ll step into the vacation relaxed, assured, and really capable of benefit from the day.
Under, I’m sharing a easy information to portioning your meal and prepping forward so your kitchen feels intentional, not chaotic.
How A lot Meals to Make for Thanksgiving
One of many largest questions I get yearly: How a lot meals do I actually need? Right here’s a easy cheat sheet I depend on:
Turkey: 1–1.5 lbs per particular person (nearer to 1 lb for boneless, 1.5 lbs if bone-in otherwise you need leftovers)
Stuffing/Dressing: ½–¾ cup per particular person
Mashed Potatoes: 1 cup per particular person
Gravy: ¼–½ cup per particular person (extra for those who’re group “gravy on everything”)
Veggie Sides: ½ cup per aspect, per particular person (select two and also you’re set)
Bread/Rolls: 1–2 per particular person
Pie: 1 slice per particular person (however we all the time make sufficient for 2…)
Internet hosting tip: For those who love leftovers, construct that into your parts. For those who’d relatively not eat turkey sandwiches for every week, lean towards the decrease finish of those estimates.
What You Can Prep Forward of Time
The key to a clean Thanksgiving? Don’t do all of it on Thursday. Right here’s a useful breakdown:
2–3 Days Earlier than
Chop onions, herbs, and aromatics
Prep stuffing base (bread dried + aromatics sautéed)
Make cranberry sauce (it will get higher because it chills)
Bake any pies that maintain effectively (pecan, apple, chess pies)
Day Earlier than
Put together casseroles (inexperienced beans, candy potatoes) and refrigerate unbaked
Make salad dressing + prep greens
Assemble your cheese or snack board components
Set the desk and label serving dishes
Morning Of
Roast turkey (or reheat for those who cooked it the day earlier than—sure, it really works!)
Bake/reheat casseroles
Heat rolls
Toss salad and end garnishes
Mild candles, activate music, pour a glass—the enjoyable half begins!
Sanity saver: Label every serving dish with a sticky observe (e.g., “mashed potatoes”) so that you don’t overlook what goes the place when it’s go-time. Small element, large payoff.
Able to construct your menu? Under, you’ll discover my favourite Thanksgiving recipes—from mains to sides to pies. Combine and match one dish from every class utilizing the formulation above and also you’ll have a whole, foolproof Thanksgiving menu with zero guesswork.
Scroll, choose, and begin planning probably the most scrumptious day of the yr.
Turkey
Good Roast Turkey
Each November I discover myself googling the most effective Thanksgiving turkey recipe, and after making an attempt each technique underneath the solar, I turned to professional chef Michael Fojtasek of Austin’s award-winning Olamaie to assist me good the final word basic: a easy brined roast turkey with crispy pores and skin and juicy, flavorful meat.
Potatoes
The Solely Mashed Potato Recipe You’ll Ever Want
No Thanksgiving desk is full with out silky mashed potatoes, and this vegan model delivers all of the buttery, creamy goodness everybody craves—plus, you may make them a number of hours forward so that you’re not speeding when the remainder of the feast hits the desk.
Fake Parmesan Cauliflower “Potatoes”
As a mashed potato purist, I used to be skeptical of cauliflower mash—till this model from Helene Henderson’s Malibu Farm Dawn to Sundown proved it could look and style similar to the actual factor, delivering that wealthy, tacky, basic taste with out compromise.
Orange Vegetable Facet
Squash & Farro Salad With Apples, Goat Cheese, & Pecans
Roasted squash, nutty farro, crisp apples, creamy goat cheese, and toasted pecans come collectively in a hearty fall salad that’s equal elements cozy and recent—an unexpectedly standout aspect that balances the richness of the Thanksgiving desk superbly.
Roasted Honeynut Squash with Sizzling Honey, Pecans, and Rosemary
All the pieces about this roasted honeynut squash recipe makes it a top-tier possibility on your Thanksgiving menu planning choices. Topped with pecans for the proper crunch and scorching honey for a little bit of a kick, company might be raving over this distinctive and flavorful aspect.
Charred Candy Potatoes With Dates
Candy potatoes are an apparent alternative for an orange Thanksgiving aspect dish, however this salad is something however fundamental. Pomegranate seeds convey a tangy distinction to the savory flavors of the autumn root veggie, and caramelized dates encapsulate the proper candy salad topping.
Mashed Candy Potatoes With Brown Sugar Cornflake Crunch
For those who love a nostalgic tackle recipes, this basic Thanksgiving aspect dish was made for you. The filling is fabricated from recent mashed candy potatoes and topped with a crunchy, brown sugary topping for the final word mix in textures. One chunk will convey you proper again to your golden youthful days watching Saturday morning cartoons and consuming an enormous bowl of cornflakes.
Roasted Delicata Squash With Feta, Almonds, and Herbs
Candy, caramelized delicata squash meets salty feta, crunchy almonds, and a bathe of recent herbs on this easy aspect that feels rustic, elegant, and completely at house on a Thanksgiving desk.
Charred Carrots with Honey-Lime Yogurt, Dates, and Almonds
Smoky charred carrots get a vibrant, tangy elevate from honey-lime yogurt, then completed with candy dates and crunchy almonds for a aspect dish that’s equal elements earthy, vibrant, and unexpectedly show-stopping.
Roasted Acorn Squash
With regards to Thanksgiving sides, Tieghan Gerard, aka Half Baked Harvest, completely nailed this roasted acorn squash. Squash is all the time a filling aspect that everybody loves, however isn’t all the time prepped to its fullest potential. It’s balanced, candy, and just a little bit nutty. What extra may you ask for?
Blood Orange & Beet Salad
Have you ever ever seen a prettier coloration combo? Carry the beets and oranges in a bowl separate from the yogurt, then organize on a platter simply earlier than serving.
Dressing/Stuffing
Skillet Cornbread Stuffing With Caramelized Onions
This vegetarian cornbread stuffing skips the additional loaf-baking step and folds the onions, kale, and seasonings proper into the batter earlier than baking in a cast-iron skillet, making it faster, easier, and irresistibly rustic to serve.
Inexperienced Vegetable Facet
Winter Kale Salad with Apple & Gruyère
Crisp winter kale pairs with candy apples, nutty Gruyère, and a vibrant French dressing on this cozy-yet-refreshing salad that cuts by way of the richness of the vacation desk and provides simply the correct amount of crunch.
Vacation Chopped Kale Salad With Mustard-Shallot French dressing
This jewel-bright chopped kale salad—tossed with a zippy mustard-shallot French dressing and studded with seasonal gems like pomegranate and roasted squash—brings crunch, coloration, and freshness to the desk, and simply may change into your new potluck signature.
Candy & Bitter Cider Brussels Sprouts
These Brussels sprouts are tossed in a tangy-sweet cider glaze and roasted till caramelized and crispy—an irresistible combo that turns even the skeptics into superfans.
Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Lemon French dressing
This shaved Brussels sprout salad delivers vibrant lemony taste, crunch, and a contact of sweetness—an energizing, crowd-pleasing aspect that steals the present on even probably the most festive desk.
Pies & Tarts
Maple Pecan Pie
This maple pecan pie comes straight from my mother’s kitchen—wealthy, gooey, buttery, and kissed with heat maple sweetness. It’s a real household basic, and when you style it, it simply may change into a Thanksgiving custom in your home, too.
Brûléed Pumpkin Pie
This bruléed pumpkin pie takes the basic up a notch with a crackly caramelized sugar prime—creamy, spiced filling meets brûlée-style crunch for a vacation dessert that feels acquainted, however unforgettable.
Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust
This pumpkin pie with a spicy gingersnap crust is the one I request each single Thanksgiving—silky, warmly spiced filling meets a crisp, cookie-like base for a dessert that’s basic, just a little surprising, and really the most effective.
My Mother’s Traditional Buttermilk Pie Recipe
This basic buttermilk pie from my mother’s recipe field is straightforward, tangy-sweet, and impossibly silky—an understated Southern favourite that all the time earns a spot at our Thanksgiving desk.
Apple Ginger Pie
This apple-ginger pie layers tender spiced apples with a heat ginger kick for a comfortable, aromatic twist on the basic—an irresistible slice we look ahead to all Thanksgiving season.
This publish was final up to date on November 5, 2025, to incorporate new insights.
