Here’s a collection of some of our favorite Thanksgiving Menu Ideas to help plan your holiday dinner. It includes everything you need from an easy turkey recipe to rolls, Thanksgiving dessert recipes, and fun new fall recipes.
I know how busy the holidays are and sometimes we need easy recipes that can be made in advance or take only a few ingredients. I hope this helps to make your Thanksgiving dinner a success and allows you to spend some quality time with your friends and family.
Thanksgiving Menu Ideas
If you are working on the plan for this year’s Thanksgiving dinner menu, check out this collection of our Best Thanksgiving Menu Ideas. This list includes all of our favorite Thanksgiving appetizers, turkey dinner menu ideas (and non-turkey entrees), Thanksgiving side dishes, and desserts galore.
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Thanksgiving is my favorite food holiday and there just isn’t anything better than gathering with your friends and family and enjoying everyone’s favorites. The best thing about eating with a crowd is that everyone can participate too.
This list is filled with easy recipes that are perfect for young kids to make, too. It’s so fun for them to be helpers for the day! That’s where I learned to cook, alongside my Mom and Grandma’s and I hope to give that to my kids, too.
Thanksgiving Appetizers
I like to have a few appetizers on hand. These are easy recipes you can bust out when everyone is feeling snacky or your need a little something to tide them over until dinner is ready. I love making a big veggie and fruit tray for everyone to snack on. It’s a great way to start the day off with something a little lighter.
Holiday Veggie Tray Recipe
This holiday veggie tray is full of crisp and colorful veggies, served with homemade ranch dressing on the side. It’s the perfect appetizer to serve at your next holiday party or gathering.
This fruit charcuterie board is a great idea for dinner parties and get-togethers all year long. Served with a side of cream cheese dip, it’s a beautiful and simple option that takes very little preparation and is easy to adapt.
This bacon ranch cheese ball is a quick and easy appetizer made with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, ranch, bacon, and green onions. It's perfect for holiday entertaining, game day, or any other occasion.
This warm and cheesy jalapeño artichoke dip is simple to make and a total crowd-pleaser. It’s sure to be a hit for your next game day or Super Bowl party, and can be served with any of your favorite crackers, chips or raw veggies.
This Caramel Apple Cider Punch is the perfect fall drink to make for holiday get-togethers. It's made with apple cider, ginger ale, caramel sauce and fall spices and tastes just as good as it looks.
This Holiday Fruit Punch recipe with ginger ale is bright and cherry, simple to make and doubles as a beautiful centerpiece. It's the perfect drink to make for parties and get-togethers all holiday season long.
This recipe for Wassail is made with spiced apple cider that’s been infused with baking spices and fresh citrus. It’s the perfect warm and cozy holiday drink to make during the winter months.
These homemade chocolate turkeys make the most adorably easy Thanksgiving table decoration. Using simple candies, chocolate-covered cherries and frosting, this recipe will show you how to make delicious edible works of art.
Now for the main dish. Roasted Turkey is a great option. If you’re cooking for a smaller group or maybe you don’t want to fuss with a whole turkey, try a crockpot turkey breast recipe. It’s so easy to make and takes only a fraction of the time.
Smoked Turkey and Baked Honey Ham are also favorites at our house. They’re really easy to make and sometimes it’s just fun to have options. I like to make both when there’s a big crowd or I have the time.
Oven Roasted Turkey Breast Recipe
This herb-crusted turkey breast is quick, easy, and super juicy. It’s seasoned with butter, fresh herbs, and spices—a perfect Thanksgiving turkey for a smaller crowd or if you don't feel like dressing an entire bird.
These easy step-by-step instructions will guide you through how to cook a spiral ham that is juicy, moist and super flavorful. Add our brown sugar and honey glaze, a couple of your favorite sides, and you’ll have yourself the perfect easy, delicious holiday dinner.
This whole smoked turkey is flavored with a simple brown sugar spice rub and cooked low and slow in the smoker until perfectly tender and juicy. It’s an impressive way to save precious oven space and couldn’t be easier.
Is there anything better than Thanksgiving Sides? There are so many potato recipes to choose from. It’s hard to narrow it down but here are our absolute favorites. Some are healthy, some cheesy—there’s a little bit of something for everyone to help you plan your perfect Thanksgiving Menu.
Grandma’s Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipe
This Thanksgiving Stuffing is a classic stuffing recipe that has withstood the test of time. It’s got the perfect balance of chewy and moist, sweet and savory and can be made entirely from scratch, or with some simple shortcuts.
This is the Best Sausage Apple Stuffing, made with simple and fresh ingredients like maple sausage, apples, and herbs. It's an easy holiday dressing recipe that turns out great every time and is a must-have for your holiday feast.
This savory cornbread stuffing recipe is a perfect side dish to serve for Thanksgiving or any other winter holidays. It combines both cornbread and French bread to make the most chewy, moist, flavorful, and delicious stuffing.
This Fall Harvest Salad is crunchy, sweet, salty and hearty. It’s loaded with apples, feta cheese and candied pecans and tossed in a homemade honey mustard vinaigrette for the perfect Thanksgiving or holiday salad.
This cranberry orange juice sauce is sweet and tangy, and makes a quick and easy side for any classic holiday dinner. Using just 5 simple ingredients, it puts any store bought canned sauce to shame.
This Slow Cooker Scalloped Potatoes recipe couldn't be easier. It's made with Russet potatoes, a homemade cream sauce, and fresh herbs – perfect for a family dinner or holiday meal.
These mashed red potatoes are pure comfort food and a simple side dish. Mashed with simple ingredients like butter, sour cream, garlic, and milk, they are bursting with flavor and pair well with just about anything.
This Sweet Potato Casserole is rich and buttery with a sweet crunchy pecan topping. It’s a southern classic that can pass as either a side dish or dessert at your next holiday dinner.
These Sweet Potatoes with marshmallows are my favorite version of the slightly sweet classic holiday side dish. They're filled with warmed mashed potatoes, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and topped with ooey gooey mini marshmallows.
This winter fruit salad is refreshing, simple, stunning and totally delicious. Made with brightly colored winter fruits and finished with a tangy citrus glaze drizzle, it makes the perfect holiday dinner side dish.
These Quick Yeast Rolls are soft, fluffy, buttery and so simple. All you need are a few simple ingredients and a minimal amount of prep to have these ready and on the table in no time.
And now for the sweetest part: dessert! Is there anything better than a homemade pie with freshly made whipped cream? It’s the perfect way to finish off a great meal….and bonus, pie for breakfast! Yesssss! There are all kinds of great dessert recipes and candy recipes you can have on hand, too.
Best Pumpkin Pie Recipe From Scratch
This is the ultimate pumpkin pie recipe, complete with step-by-step instructions for making your very own homemade flakey pie crust. It’s smooth and creamy with the perfect blend of pumpkin pie spice all wrapped up in a buttery, flakey crust.
This classic pumpkin roll is made with a soft and tender pumpkin cake filled with a silky smooth cream cheese filling. It’s an easy, beautiful and delicious fall dessert that is perfect for serving at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or anytime in between.
This homemade apple pie is filled to the brim with juicy, buttery cinnamon-spiced apples all baked into a tender, flaky pie crust. You'll be making everyone’s favorite apple pie from scratch in no time.
This old fashioned coconut cream pie is full of creamy coconut custard set in a flaky homemade pie crust and topped with fresh whipped cream and toasted coconut. It’s a must-try for any coconut lover.
This Oreo chocolate pie is made with a silky smooth chocolate pudding tucked into a crisp Oreo crust and topped with freshly whipped cream. It’s super decadent with a rich chocolate flavor and is so simple to make.
This easy old fashioned Banana Cream Pie uses our homemade flaky pie crust and fills it with fresh bananas and the most creamy, dreamy banana cream filling. Topped with freshly whipped cream, this classic dessert is absolutely heavenly.
This delicious razzleberry pie is bursting with raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries all baked into a flakey homemade pie crust. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a big dollop of freshly whipped cream for a perfect summer dessert, or make with frozen berries and enjoy all year long.
This no bake cheesecake recipe is simple to make and only takes a few ingredients. It's light and fluffy and oh, so creamy—an easy no-bake dessert the entire family will love.
This easy homemade whipped cream takes just 5 minutes to make and is worlds better than anything you can buy at the store. It’s super fluffy and lightly sweetened with just a touch of vanilla extract.
This list of our Best Thanksgiving Recipes includes every recipe you will need to plan your perfect Thanksgiving menu. All of these recipes are easy and most can be made ahead of time.
Welcome! I'm so glad you're here!! My name is Jill Baird at The Carefree Kitchen. I love food, nearly all food, and love to celebrate every day with food and the people I love! I love being creative in the kitchen and discovering new ways to switch up old favorites and coming up with new favorites. My hope is that you will find recipes you love on my site and maybe even find some inspiration to create something new! Have fun in the kitchen!
This is wonderful with so many options that i’m going to have to do at least 2 Thanksgivings to get through them all! Not complaining, just stating a fact!
This is wonderful with so many options that i’m going to have to do at least 2 Thanksgivings to get through them all! Not complaining, just stating a fact!
Thanks for checking them out. Happy Thanksgiving!
Amazing list. Everything looks super delicious and perfect for Holidays. I’m definitely going to bake that apple pie. Yum!
This apple pie is so easy. I hope you love it!
This is such an amazing list of recipes! You really don’t need to go anywhere else, everything I need is right here! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Wow – what a great resource! That sweet potato casserole looks amazing and I’d love some with a scoop of the orange cranberry sauce on top!
I hope you love it as much as we do!