Few feasts are so steeped in tradition and history, from the cranberry sauce to the turkey to pumpkin pie.  Our menu serves up the traditional Thanksgiving recipes—along with some new (and old) ideas!

Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes

1. Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving Turkey
2. Roast Turkey With Apple-Pecan Stuffing
3. Bag-Roasted Turkey with Cornbread Stuffing
4. Dry-Cured Turkey
5. Cider-Sage Gravy

For a historically-inspired Thanksgiving, try a roast goose or roast stuffed pheasants, fowl they likely enjoyed back in 1621.

Credit: Design Mom

How-To Roast and Carve the Turkey

• Review our advice on How to Roast a Turkey.
• Watch our quick video showing How to Carve a Turkey.
• Don’t pull out the turkey too early! Know How to Use a Meat Thermometer.

Thanksgiving Stuffing and Dressing Recipes

1. Memere’s Pork Stuffing for Turkey
2. Sauerkraut Stuffing
3. Stuffing of Artichokes, Currants, and Grapes
4. Traditional English Dressing
5. Chestnut, Apple and Pancetta Dressing
6. Roast Goose Stuffing

Photo credit: Brent Hofacker Shutterstock

Thanksgiving Side Dishes

The original Thanksgiving was more likely to have chestnuts, squash, corn, and beans on hand, not potatoes, so we have included some historically-inspired side dish recipes, as well as those from the modern day.

1. Cranberry Relish
2. Chai-Spiced Sweet Potatoes
3. Easiest Brussels Sprouts
4. Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes
5. Curried Butternut Squash
6. Chestnut Croquettes
7. Plymouth Succotash
8. Soy-Glazed Green Beans With Crispy Shallots

Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes

1. Mini Cranberry-Apple Pies
2. Creamy Pumpkin Pie
3. Pecan Pie
4. Indian Pudding
5. Apple Crumb Pie
6. Sweet Potato Pie
7. Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

How to Make Pie Crust

• Yes, YOU can make your own pie crust! It’s easy and there’s nothing like that homemade taste. Learn How to Make Pie Crust!

Get more of our best pie recipes to satisfy the whole family!

Browse the Almanac archives for more Thanksgiving recipes.

Entertaining Tips for Thanksgiving Dinner

• Holiday Kitchen Cleaning Checklist
• Holiday Table Decorations
• How to Set a Table
• Setting Up a Buffet
• Napkin Folding
• Party Planner: Cooking for a Crowd
• How to Care for Table Linens

Thanksgiving Crafts

How to Make a Glove Turkey (Thanksgiving Table Decoration)

Photo Credit: Margo Letourneau

How to Make a Nut Wreath

Photo Credit: Margo Letourneau

How to Make a Cornhusk Doll

Photo Credit: Margo Letourneau

Just for Fun: Facts About Thanksgiving

• Turkey Trivia
• The Great Yam Scam
• Cranberry Trivia
• Historic Thanksgiving Storms
• Why Do We Eat Turkey at Thanksgiving?
• Why We Can Feel Good Eating Thanksgiving Food!

Thanksgiving Weather Folklore

• Turkeys perched on trees and refusing to descend indicates snow.
• If the first snow sticks to the trees, it foretells a bountiful harvest.
• If sheep feed facing downhill, watch for a snowstorm.
• Thunder in November indicates a fertile year to come.
• If there be ice in November that will bear a duck, there will be nothing thereafter but sleet and muck.
• As November 21st, so the winter.
• When the winter is early, it will not be late.

Thanksgiving Quotes

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day. –Irv Kupcinet, American columnist (1912–2003)

Radical historians now tell the story of Thanksgiving from the point of view of the turkey. –Mason Cooley, U.S. aphorist 

Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain,
So open wide the doorway–
Thanksgiving comes again!
–Unknown

Ah! On Thanksgiving Day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South, come the pilgrim and guest,
What moistens the lip, and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past like the rich pumpkin pie? 
–J. G. Whittier 

We give thanks to you, our Almanac community, and wish you a Thanksgiving feast that is both filling and full of grace this year!

For more ideas, see our list of Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Recipes. To keep it low-stress, you can prepare most everything in advance, except the big bird or the ruling roast.