This whole month I thought Thanksgiving was the week following the current week. And it wasn’t. But now, it finally is! I happen to love Thanksgiving because it’s all about food. And I am a gal who loves me some food. I got my stretchy pants all picked out and plan on testing their endurance. Yes, I’m eating healthy these days but that doesn’t mean I can’t indulge on special occasions. In fact, I’ve been saving all my calories and carbs for Turkey Day!
Delicious Thanksgiving Recipes that Will Impress Your Family and Friends
To help you wow your guests and bask in the glow of setting out a yummy meal that gets devoured, I’m sharing some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. But no turkey recipes. I got cooking turkey fear. 😀
Drinks
To keep you hydrated in style.
Caramel Apple Cider
Apple cider is my favorite fall drink. Adding caramel makes it outrageously good.
Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Latte
Everyone gets so excited in the Fall when all the pumpkin drinks and treats make their annual appearance. As I’m not a big pumpkin fan, I can take them or leave them but I strangely love this drink. I also love that you can make a big batch for an event and use the leftovers to make french toast the next morning.
Appetizers
You gotta have snacks and I have some doozies for you!
Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip
This seems like such a strange combination but it so, so good. It’s a great mix of sweet and tart and looks gorgeous too.
Stuffed Mushrooms
A classic recipe that always wins rave reviews.
Toffee Dip
Toffee bits are folded into a sweet cream cheese mixture and paired perfectly with crisp, tart apples. Always a huge hit on the buffet table.
Spicy Roasted Garlic Spinach Artichoke Dip
Dip your favorite chip or cracker in this gooey concoction, full of artichokes, spinach and cheese. One of my all-time favorite appetizers.
Crab and Artichoke Dip
This is a decadent dip with big chunks of crab, artichokes and two kinds of cheese. It’s incredibly rich and looks impressive and leftovers taste amazing baked on top of tilapia.
Spicy Beer Cheese Dip
I know many families watch a lot of football on Thanksgiving. My family, not so much, we play cards or board games. Regardless of how you spend your time together, this spicy beer cheese dip will be a huge hit.
Side Dishes
Some great accompaniments for your turkey because let’s be honest: the real stars are the sides, not the bird.
Butternut Squash Bake with Crispy Topping
A family favorite recipe that tastes like dessert but is eaten with the meal. Win-win!
Creamy Sweet Corn
My Mom’s famous corn recipe. This is a mandatory dish at every celebration at my parent’s home. We all love it.
Crockpot Dressing
My absolute favorite side dish at Thanksgiving is dressing. I love this stuff and frankly I have to resist hoarding all of it for myself. I love that this is made in the crockpot too, which saves you some oven space for other dishes.
Mashed Potatoes
I consider myself to be a mashed potato connoisseur. And I consider mine to be excellent. Yes, I am telling the truth. Yes, I am humble. 😀 These mashed potatoes are creamy, dreamy perfection. They ain’t low-fat but they are delicious!
Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
The water chestnuts add some extra crunch to a classic Thanksgiving side dish.
Creamy Corn Casserole
A rich corn pudding that only takes a few moments to whip together and tastes great.
Autumn Quinoa Salad
While I typically associate gluttony with Thanksgiving, this healthy side dish tastes as gorgeous as it looks. Plus, it adds a little freshness and lightness to a really heavy meal.
Caramel Apple Pretzel Salad
A new family favorite with crisp apples, caramelized pretzel bits and a whipped cream mixture that combines into the perfect Fall salad.
Butternut Cider Bisque
A sweet and savory soup that makes an excellent starter to your Thanksgiving meal. The addition of apple cider is what makes it special.
Breads
Yes, please. I love bread and it is an absolute must on the buffet table.
Easy Sweet Cornbread
This is also known as Disney cornbread and is so delicious. It’s also super simple, which I love. I don’t mind making things from scratch but getting a little help from some box mixes on the big day works for me. Plus, my family adores this cornbread too.
Lemon Cranberry Muffins
Tart cranberries and lemon pair beautifully in these flavorful muffins. Great to serve with the meal or for breakfast.
Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Filling
I was a little nervous about this, as again, pumpkin isn’t necessarily my favorite. But this bread is delicious. It’s very dense and flavorful and a beautiful treat.
Monkey Bread
My nephews and niece love monkey bread and gobble up this delicious take on it. Okay, I gobble it up too. 😀
Cranberry Jam
Sure, you could serve ready-made jams and jellies but where’s the fun in that? This cranberry jam tastes great slathered over a dinner roll.
Desserts
Lots of lovely desserts to round out your dessert buffet.
Apple Cranberry Crisp
Apple crisp is a favorite of mine and the addition of cranberries create a nice tart pop of deliciousness that I cannot resist. Ever.
Apple Crisp with Salted Caramel Sauce
Take a piece of apple crisp, add a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream, then top with salted caramel sauce. Devour. Repeat as needed.
Apple Galette
Baked cinnamon apples on a flaky, buttery crust. Add a scoop of ice cream and some caramel sauce and watch it disappear.
Chocolate Chess Pie
Imagine a fudgey brownie in a pie crust. Yup, you’re there.
Cheesecake Cupcakes with Chocolate Sauce
A traditional cheesecake in cupcake form, which makes it easy to top them in a variety of ways, from chopped candy bars to fruit toppings.
Banana Pudding Dessert
Another popular dessert with my family. It’s simple to make and everyone licks their plates clean. Literally.
Strawberry Cheesecake Poke Cake
This is a rich, decadent dessert that will make your guests ooh and ah. You don’t have to tell how simple it is to make.
Lemon Sour Cream Pie
Put a big dollop of whipped cream on top of this lip-puckering lemon custard. This is one of my absolute favorite pies. It can be made the day ahead too, which is great.
What to Do with the Leftovers?
Let’s make soup!
Crockpot Chicken Gnocchi Soup
This is a copycat recipe of the Olive Garden version. It’s so flavorful and a great way to use your Thanksgiving leftovers too!
Get Your Feast On
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays as it pairs two of my favorite things: food and gratitude. Because I am grateful for good food. Plus, my wonderful friends and family and of course, my blog friends and readers! And don’t worry — while for one glorious day nothing is off limits, I’m also not going to let all my hard work be for nothing either. The next day, you’ll find me swimming my 40 laps and eating right again.
I take the Thanksgiving meal very seriously but I know it can be hectic and stressful. To help you survive the big day without the aid of aspirin (or copious amounts of alcohol), check it out my 8 tips to hosting a stress-free Thanksgiving.
What food item(s) do you look the most forward to enjoying on Thanksgiving?
Tanya
Thanks a lot Tanya! I’m starving now and have only yellow bell peppers to eat! LOL
Everything looks awesome. I need to consider some of these for the future.
Uh-oh! Yellow bell peppers, while delicious, wouldn’t cut it for me either! I hope you give some of these recipes a try. I love them all. 😀
I’m not a big Thanksgiving person, or cooking person, so this post has so many awesome ideas! I would have never thought to put water chestnuts in green beans, but that sounds so good!
A former landlord gave me the recipe for the green beans and I love them. The water chestnuts give the beans such a nice crunch. And I love the fact that it is a crockpot recipe too. There never seems to be enough space in the oven, so having a dish or two that can be made in the crockpot really helps free up space.
Oh my gosh, your appetizers and desserts have me DROOLING! Did you make all these over the years and take all these photos?? That’s so dang impressive!! We definitely need to borrow some of your recipes for Thanksgiving!
For many years I had a food blog so these recipes all came from over there. You can say that I ate really good during that time. Probably too good! LOL! I hope you give some of these recipes a try and love them as much as I do!
Your post has me drooling! So many good things to eat! I don’t host Thanksgiving, but I do host Christmas and will have to refer back to this post! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving, Nancy! I have hosted a Friendsgiving in the past but lately we tend to eat out but I miss the Thanksgiving leftovers that you could nosh on all weekend long. So now I make myself a mini-Thanksgiving meal to keep me happy.
Cranberry jam is a thing??? How did I not know this? 🙂 I must have that!!!
Right? It is so good. It’s fairly tart, because hey — it’s cranberries! But the tartness is what I love about cranberries!