Are you looking for easy Thanksgiving recipes that will not eat your whole day? Almost everything here comes together in under an hour, which means fast sides, make ahead casseroles that just need reheating, sheet pan dinners, and a couple of desserts with no pastry to roll out. My best piece of holiday advice is a timing one, and I have cooked my whole life: when you try a brand new recipe, make sure everything else on the menu is something you have already made. Two or three new dishes at once and the timing is almost impossible, no matter how good a cook you are. Test the new one before the day. Perfect for a first Thanksgiving, a small table, a potluck dish you have to carry, or the year you are cooking around a busy house!
Table of Contents
- 1. Apple Cranberry Bacon Candied Walnut Salad
- 2. Sheet Pan Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
- 3. Cornbread, Sage and Onion Stuffing
- 4. Brown Bag Turkey
- 5. Butternut Squash Soup
- 6. Broccoli Casserole
- 7. Garlic Roasted Carrots
- 8. Sweet Potato Casserole
- 9. Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
- 10. Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad
- 11. Cheesy Asparagus
- 12. Lentil Loaf With Maple Sweetened Glaze
- 13. Ree Drummond’s Green Bean Casserole
- 14. Baked Apples With Sausage Stuffing
- 15. Slab Pumpkin Pie Bars
- 16. Apple Cranberry Almond Coleslaw
- 17. Turkey Turnovers
- 18. Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce
- 19. Honey Glazed Roasted Delicata Squash
- 20. Creamy Fruit Salad With Cool Whip
- 21. Old Fashioned Apple Crisp
- 22. Green Beans With Bacon
- 23. Praline Topped Sweet Potato Casserole
- 24. Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes
- 25. Copycat Longhorn Stuffed Mushrooms
- 26. Southern Style Green Beans
- 27. Apple, Bacon And Cheddar Cheese Stuffing
- 28. Herb Roasted Turkey
- 29. Perfect Smoked Turkey
- 30. Perfect Turkey Gravy
- 31. Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Where to Next
1. Apple Cranberry Bacon Candied Walnut Salad
Romaine and spinach with sliced Fuji apples, dried cranberries, crumbled bacon, red pepper, feta, pepitas and candied walnuts, dressed in an apple poppy seed vinaigrette. Ten minutes to toss, six to eight servings, and here is the useful part: the dressing keeps for a week in a jar, so make it now and forget it. A cold, crunchy plate is what a heavy table is missing.
Get the full tutorial at Carlsbad Cravings.
2. Sheet Pan Chicken and Sweet Potatoes
Bone-in chicken thighs, sweet potato wedges and a cup of pecans, all tossed in maple, dijon, cider vinegar, cinnamon and nutmeg and roasted on one pan at 400 convection or 425 regular, for 20 minutes. Thirty minutes, four servings, one pan.
Get the full tutorial at Running to the Kitchen.
3. Cornbread, Sage and Onion Stuffing
Six cups of cornbread broken into large pieces with butter-softened onion and celery, fresh sage and about a cup and a quarter of stock, baked uncovered at 350 so the top goes crisp. Thirty-eight minutes and it fits a 1.5 quart dish, serving four, which is the right size for a small table. Bakery cornbread works if you are not making your own. Watch it so it does not dry out.
Get the full tutorial at Culinary Ginger.
4. Brown Bag Turkey
An eighteen pound turkey rubbed with a herb and garlic compound butter, then roasted at 375 inside two overlapping brown paper bags. It sounds alarming and it is not: paper ignites at 451 degrees, well above the oven. The bags hold the steam in, which is how you get white meat that is not dry. Three hours. Make the compound butter a few days ahead and the day itself gets easier.
Get the full tutorial at Ashlee Marie.
5. Butternut Squash Soup
Butternut squash and an apple steamed until soft, then blended with onion and garlic sauteed in butter, thyme and chicken broth. The apple is what makes it, and it is the ingredient people never guess. Four servings, no roasting, no standing over it. Best of all it freezes, so this is the one to make the week before and pull out on the day.
Get the full tutorial at The Happy Housewife.
6. Broccoli Casserole
The twist here is mayonnaise instead of cream of mushroom soup and crushed cheese crackers instead of fried onions on top, which makes it richer and a lot more interesting than the standard. Six cups of broccoli boiled two minutes only, then baked at 400 for 40 to 45. Fifty minutes, serves ten. Boil it any longer than two minutes and the casserole turns soft.
Get the full tutorial at Princess Pinky Girl.
7. Garlic Roasted Carrots
Two pounds of carrots cut thick on the diagonal, tossed with olive oil, sea salt, Italian seasoning and garlic, then roasted at 500 degrees for 15 minutes, with another five if you want darker caramelized edges. Five hundred is the whole idea: the high heat caramelizes the sugar in the carrots instead of slowly steaming them soft. Twenty-five minutes, four servings.
Get the full tutorial at The Endless Meal.
8. Sweet Potato Casserole
Four pounds of sweet potatoes boiled and mashed with eggs, butter, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon, under a butter pecan crumble made with a whole cup of pecan halves. Seventy-five minutes and eight servings. The crumble is the reason this one gets finished and the plain version does not, so do not thin it out.
Get the full tutorial at Averie Cooks.
9. Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole
Make ahead is the magic phrase on Thanksgiving and this is exactly that. Creamy, cheesy, loaded with bacon and cheddar, and it can sit in the fridge assembled until the oven is free. Reheating a casserole is a job you can hand to somebody else, which is the real reason it earns its slot.
Get the full tutorial at Salt and Lavender.
10. Apple Cranberry Walnut Salad
Eight cups of chopped romaine with apples, dried cranberries, walnuts, crisp bacon and feta, dressed with poppyseed dressing cut with a little balsamic vinaigrette, which is the small trick that keeps it from going too sweet. Fifteen minutes, eight servings, nothing cooked but the bacon.
Get the full tutorial at Six Sisters' Stuff.
11. Cheesy Asparagus
Asparagus trimmed, oiled, seasoned with garlic salt and pepper, baked ten minutes at 400, then loaded with parmesan and mozzarella and put back in until the cheese melts. Twenty-three minutes total, four servings. A green vegetable that people actually finish is worth more on a holiday table than another starch, and this is the easiest one going.
Get the full tutorial at Amanda's Cookin'.
12. Lentil Loaf With Maple Sweetened Glaze
Brown lentils, toasted walnuts and rolled oats give this loaf the texture that most vegan mains never manage, and the maple balsamic tomato glaze on top is what makes it taste like a holiday dish rather than a health one. Lentils simmer 15 to 20 minutes, the loaf bakes at 375, seventy minutes all in, eight slices. Toast the walnuts, it matters.
Get the full tutorial at Eating Bird Food.
13. Ree Drummond's Green Bean Casserole
Two pounds of fresh green beans with bacon, garlic, red bell pepper and onion in a real flour and milk sauce, finished with sharp cheddar and panko and baked at 350 for 30 to 35 minutes. That is exactly why it belongs on a list of fast recipes: it skips the canned soup for a sauce you actually make, and it still lands inside the hour. It is the dish people look for first and notice most when it is missing, so it is worth doing properly once.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
14. Baked Apples With Sausage Stuffing
Apples hollowed out and filled with sausage, onion, celery and boxed stuffing mixed with chicken broth instead of the water the box calls for. Six of them, and each guest gets their own, which quietly solves the serving problem when the table is full. Granny Smith holds its shape best. Savory baked apples are the item people remember off a Thanksgiving table.
Get the full tutorial at Growing Up Gabel.
15. Slab Pumpkin Pie Bars
A full sheet pan of pumpkin pie, 24 bars, 15 minutes prep and 40 in the oven, with a pastry base and a creamy spiced filling made with a 15 ounce can of pumpkin and half-and-half. No slicing wedges, no plates, no forks. That is the whole argument for it when there are twenty people in the house.
Get the full tutorial at Kevin Is Cooking.
16. Apple Cranberry Almond Coleslaw
Shredded cabbage, matchstick carrots and gala apples cut into matchsticks, with sliced almonds, dried cranberries and optional feta, in a Greek yogurt, honey and cider vinegar dressing that stands in for most of the mayonnaise. Ten minutes, eight servings. One caution from the maker worth repeating: serve it within a few hours of making it or the apples give up their water.
Get the full tutorial at Cooking Classy.
17. Turkey Turnovers
Two cups of leftover turkey with bacon, onion, red pepper, cheddar and mozzarella, folded into premade pie crust cut into squares and baked at 350 for 20 minutes. Forty-two minutes, four turnovers, and it is the leftover recipe I would actually make, because it does not taste like Thursday reheated. Premade crust is the whole point; do not make pastry on the Friday.
Get the full tutorial at Ann's Entitled Life.
18. Orange Amaretto Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce with orange and amaretto in it, which takes the one dish everybody opens from a can and makes it the thing people ask about. Almond and orange against tart cranberry is a combination that works every time. It is also the easiest make-ahead on the table, because cranberry sauce is better on day two than day one.
Get the full tutorial at The Farm Girl Gabs.
19. Honey Glazed Roasted Delicata Squash
Delicata squash sliced into rings and roasted with shallots at 400 for 30 to 40 minutes, then finished with a honey and cider vinegar glaze, pomegranate seeds, toasted pine nuts and fresh mint. Here is the part worth knowing: delicata skin is edible, so there is no peeling. Twelve servings, and it is the best-looking thing you will put on the table.
Get the full tutorial at EatingWell.
20. Creamy Fruit Salad With Cool Whip
Cool Whip and a package of instant vanilla pudding whisked into the juice from a can of pineapple, then folded through strawberries, raspberries, grapes and bananas. Ten minutes to make and an hour in the fridge, ten servings, and the fridge time is why it counts as one less job on the day.
Get the full tutorial at Winding Creek Ranch.
21. Old Fashioned Apple Crisp
Six cups of peeled sliced apples, about five medium, tossed with lemon juice under a topping of quick oats, flour, brown sugar and butter, baked at 350 for 45 minutes in an 8 by 8. Six ingredients, no pastry to roll, ten servings. That is exactly what you want when the oven is full and the day is long.
Get the full tutorial at Granny's in the Kitchen.
22. Green Beans With Bacon
Green beans steamed crisp tender for five to seven minutes, then tossed into a skillet with bacon, shallot and garlic so they keep their bite instead of going grey and sad the way boiled beans do. The recipe card totals 35 minutes, 20 of it prep, and it serves five. Worth correcting a common misreading: the name promises 15 minutes, the cooking is 15, the whole job is 35.
Get the full tutorial at Iowa Girl Eats.
23. Praline Topped Sweet Potato Casserole
Three cups of mashed sweet potato with sugar, vanilla and milk under a praline topping of flour, brown sugar, butter and a cup of chopped pecans, baked uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes. Forty-five minutes, eight servings. The topping is cut in like a pastry until it looks like coarse crumbs, and that texture is what makes it praline rather than a paste.
Get the full tutorial at That Skinny Chick Can Bake.
24. Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes
Five large russets sliced an eighth of an inch thick, layered in a sprayed six quart crockpot with heavy cream, garlic, minced onion, parmesan, salt and pepper, on high for four to five hours, with cheddar on top for the last five minutes. Oven space is the real constraint on Thanksgiving, not time.
Get the full tutorial at Creations by Kara.
25. Copycat Longhorn Stuffed Mushrooms
Sixteen ounces of whole white mushrooms filled with garlic herb cream cheese, white cheddar and provolone, crusted with panko and parmesan, with an optional four cheese sauce. Twenty-five minutes, six servings. Bake them while the turkey rests, which is the one window when the oven is free, and they will be gone before anyone sits down.
Get the full tutorial at Alyona's Cooking.
26. Southern Style Green Beans
The long, slow opposite of every fast green bean recipe: two pounds of beans simmered with bacon, onion, garlic, broth and water for an hour to an hour and a half until they are soft and savory. This is not a crisp tender dish and it is not pretending to be. It is the version people from the South wait all year for, and it does not need watching.
Get the full tutorial at Love Bakes Good Cakes.
27. Apple, Bacon And Cheddar Cheese Stuffing
Gluten free stuffing mix with crisp bacon, sweet onion, chopped apple, fresh sage and cubes of sharp cheddar, bound with stock and an egg and baked at 400. Seventy-five minutes, twelve servings, and it can be made in advance. The cheddar in cubes rather than shredded is what gives you melted pockets instead of a uniformly cheesy dish.
Get the full tutorial at Cupcakes and Kale Chips.
28. Herb Roasted Turkey
A ten pound turkey at 325 with rosemary, sage and thyme worked into canola oil and pushed under the breast skin, plus eight whole sage leaves tucked under there as well. Whole leaves under the skin is the detail: they perfume the meat and you can see them through it when it is done. Three hours, serves eight. Baste with broth.
Get the full tutorial at 365 Days of Baking and More.
29. Perfect Smoked Turkey
A twelve to fourteen pound turkey brined in salt, brown sugar, vegetable stock, peppercorns, allspice, rosemary and savory for a full 25 hours, then smoked at 235 to 250 under a wet cheesecloth. Six hours of smoking on top of the brine, so this is the one that does not belong on a fast list, but it frees the oven completely. Serves eight.
Get the full tutorial at Sweet C's Designs.
30. Perfect Turkey Gravy
Half a cup of butter and half a cup of flour cooked into a roux, then four cups of strained pan drippings or stock whisked in. The useful instruction is the skimming: let the drippings sit a few minutes so the fat rises, spoon it off, and top up with stock to reach four cups. Ten minutes and no lumps. There is a no-drippings version too, which matters if you smoked the bird.
Get the full tutorial at Center Cut Cook.
31. Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Three pounds of red potatoes and peeled garlic cloves boiled together for 20 to 30 minutes until fork tender, drained, then left to steam dry for three or four minutes before mashing. That steaming step is what keeps mashed potatoes from going watery, and almost nobody does it. Warm milk, cream and butter fold in at the end, never cold. There is a garlic confit version too if you have the time.
Get the full tutorial at DIY Joy.
Where to Next
