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Thanksgiving Recipes


Here’s a collection of the very best Thanksgiving recipes! You’ll find all kinds of dessert ideas from pies to sheet cakes to bar desserts. Plus all my crowd-pleasing bread recipes, side dishes, turkey and more!





Thanksgiving How-To’s

No need to be intimidated by making pie crust or homemade bread recipes with these how-to articles. Tons of tips, tricks, and make ahead directions inside!

Tessa’s Top Baking Tips

For flaky pie crust, keep everything COLD.

Especially your butter! If your kitchen is above 73°F, you can refrigerate all of your ingredients and equipment including your bowl, rolling pin, and pie tin until it’s between 65-70°F.

Make your homemade bread rolls ahead of time!

All doughs can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours, which slows the activity of the yeast.

Save room in your oven when you can.

With my Slow Cooker Turkey Breast recipe, you’ll save valuable oven space. Plus, you’ll only need 10 minutes of prep time.

Get Our Pie Crust Troubleshooting Guide

With this guide, you’ll learn how to avoid a pie crust that shrinks, a crumbly pie dough, a dough that sticks to the rolling pin, and lots more!

Bake With Me!

Step inside my kitchen and sharpen your baking skills for Thanksgiving with these baking how-to videos.

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YouTube video
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Get Our Make-Ahead Baking Guide!

Download our FREE Make-Ahead Baking Guide to learn how to prepare recipes ahead of time!

All Thanksgiving Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions

What Thanksgiving dishes can be made ahead of time?

Almost everything can be made ahead of time, at least in part! Stuffing and casseroles, bread dough, and almost all desserts will keep best. You can prep veggies and portion ingredients ahead of time. Mashed potatoes and meat products should be cooked the day of.

How to determine size of turkey for Thanksgiving?

Depending on the appetite of your guests and how much turkey leftovers you want, estimate about 1 to 1 ½ pounds per guest. The smaller the bird, the more you want to lean towards 1 ½ pounds because the bones will make up a higher portion of the total weight. The larger the bird, the more you can lean towards 1 pound because there will be more meat vs. bones.

When to buy a fresh turkey for Thanksgiving?

Only purchase a fresh turkey if you’re able to buy less than 3 days before Thanksgiving. Ideally a fresh turkey is purchased within 48 hours of Thanksgiving. This is perfect if ordering from a local farmer or butcher shop.

When to thaw turkey for Thanksgiving?

It will take about 30 minutes per pound of turkey to thaw from frozen in the refrigerator. It’s better to give yourself a wider buffer, just in case!

How to cook Thanksgiving dinner with just one oven?

I highly recommend making as many dishes ahead of time as you can. You can also get creative with slow cooker and no-bake recipes. Check out my Slow Cooker Turkey Breast and No-Bake Pumpkin Mousse Pie recipes to save room in your oven on turkey day.

What is in a classic Thanksgiving dinner?

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu consists of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, and pumpkin pie. This will be the ultimate Thanksgiving feast with flavors that everyone will love.

How much food should I make?

Besides the turkey, you can estimate ¾ cup cooked stuffing, 1 potato, ¼ cup gravy, ¼ cup cranberries, 4 oz veggies, 2 rolls, and one sixth of a pie per guest. I always like to make extra just in case and to ensure leftovers!

What food to take to a Thanksgiving party?

Any and all appetizers or casseroles are a great idea, so is anything that can be held in a slow cooker to keep warm. But truly, you can’t go wrong with dessert. Especially one that can be held at room temperature, like apple pie, so you don’t require any more space in your host’s fridge.

How to store Thanksgiving pies?

Most pies can be made a day ahead of time. Some pies can also be frozen and made up to a month before Thanksgiving. At the very least, get a head start on your pie dough because that can be stored in the freezer for quite a while! Check out my make-ahead guide with detailed instructions on preparing pies ahead of time.

What to make with Thanksgiving leftovers?

Thanksgiving Leftover Stuffing Muffins are made in minutes with leftover stuffing and turkey for a tasty breakfast or snack that you can dip in cranberry sauce or gravy!
These Thanksgiving Leftover Hand Pies are another delicious idea to use up leftovers.