traditional bread stuffing on a plate with other thanksgiving sides

My Favorite Thanksgiving RECIPES

When I first met my husband’s family, Thanksgiving was a giant 30+ person gathering with days of prep and forced leftovers on guests on their way out. Once we had kids, we started hosting my parents and things scaled down significantly. We keep things simple, easy, and we only make the things we really like. Here are all of the things we rotate through year after year, so you can make any of these recipes knowing they’re April family tested, perfected, and loved down to the last crumb.

You’ll find a lot of what you see below in my 50+ must have thanksgiving recipes post, but be sure to visit that resource for things that we consider a little less traditional but still worthy of a spot on your holiday table.

A collage of 4 pictures of Thanksgiving side dishes and the photo has text overlay.

OUR FAVORITE TURKEY

DITCH THE BIG BIRD

If your Thanksgiving gathering is anything like ours (a few adults who fight for the last scoop of mashed potatoes and kids who only want rolls and whipped cream), roasting a whole bird can feel like a burden. Turkey tenderloin has been our go-to for many years and we never miss the giant roast!

An aerial photo of a plate of turkey tenderloin, asparagus, and sweet potatoes.

TWISTS ON CLASSICS: SIDES

BLUEBERRY CRANBERRY SAUCE

HOMEMADE CORNBREAD STUFFING

BLUEBERRY CORNBREAD

CRANBERRY SALSA

TWISTS ON CLASSICS: DESSERTS

PUMPKIN CHIFFON PIE

PUMPKIN SPICE WHIPPED CREAM

CHOCOLATE CHIP PECAN PIE

PUMPKIN MOUSSE

OUR FAVORITE PIE CRUST

IT’S PERFECTLY FLAKY

This is the pie crust I use for everything from my classic pumpkin pie to my pecan pie tarts. It’s made with cold butter and cold shortening, kept in large chunks to yield mega flakes. If you’ve ever been disappointed with a homemade pie crust or just want to branch out from store-bought, this is the recipe you want!