Our Best Thanksgiving Recipes, Menus, Strategies, and Tips for 2025
If you ask us, the true pleasure of Thanksgiving comes in the bounty of Thanksgiving leftovers: A slice of pie for breakfast, a midnight turkey sandwich enveloped in a pillowy dinner roll. But these stolen moments can’t happen if you don’t first put out a delicious Thanksgiving day spread. Below, you’ll find our favorite ways to cook turkey, our best potato recipes, more autumnal desserts than you can make in a year, and plenty of tips to guide you along the way. Want to know our go-to pie crust recipe? Did your great-aunt just request a pumpkin cheesecake? Need a quick substitute for sour cream? Suddenly found out you need a gluten-free gravy recipe? We’ve got you. And when the brown sugar and breadcrumbs settle, we’ll be here to help you out with those leftovers, too.
The Star of the Table
The Simplest Roast Turkey
The key to this set-it-and-forget-it Thanksgiving centerpiece is buying a bird in the Goldilocks range of 14 to 16 pounds, which will feed at least 10 people. Cooking for more? Buy a second bird. Now: Can we interest you in some turkey gravy?
The Case for a Smaller Holiday Bird
Turkey might be traditional, but a simple roast chicken is the better bird for your wallet, stress levels, and leftovers game.
The 18 Best Turkey Breast Recipes for Thanksgiving
Hosting a small gathering this year? Skip the whole bird in favor of these superlative turkey breast recipes.
We’re Just Here for the Thanksgiving Turkey Sandwiches
Build your whole holiday meal around these pastrami-spiced turkey sandwiches and no one will complain.
Skip the Whole Bird and Make Crispy Fried Turkey Wings This Year
Deep-fry flavorful turkey wings for a more casual main that’s juicy on the inside and incredibly crispy on the outside.
Turkey 101
Choosing the right Thanksgiving bird for your holiday gathering is one thing. But it’s also a good idea to brush up on a few essential techniques as you embark upon your holiday planning.
Non-Turkey Mains
There’s more to the holiday than roast turkey, and these mains prove it.
One-Stop Menu Planning
From vintage Gourmet classics to our best modern tips for getting your meal together, here’s how the staff of Epicurious pulls off Thanksgiving.
One-Stop Menu Planning
From vintage Gourmet classics to our best modern tips for getting your meal together, here’s how the staff of Epicurious pulls off Thanksgiving.
Holidays Events
Nothing Says Thanksgiving Like a Spreadsheet
Meet the people tackling the holiday dinner with colorful spreadsheets, elegant scrum boards, and very organized Google drives.
Our Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes
73 Side Dishes to Round Out Your Thanksgiving Table
Turkey and dressing are great, but you’ve got to get a vegetable on your plate. That’s where our favorite Thanksgiving side dish recipes come into play. Think garlicky roasted brussels sprouts, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots, and silky braised butternut squash.
Don’t Forget the Stuffing
Sure, you could keep the stuffing simple; but, you don’t have to. Here are a few of our favorite variations.
Just How Important Are Potatoes?
Absolutely Everything You Need to Know About Thanksgiving Potatoes
Start here for all the advice you need, since potatoes are very important, indeed.
Recipes & Menus
Our Favorite Mashed Potatoes
These perfect mashed potatoes are light and fluffy yet rich and creamy, with just a hint of garlic and thyme.
Would You Like Some Bread With That?
Somewhere That’s Green
87 Thanksgiving Salads to Round Out Your Meal
We love to have a little something leafy on our plates, even if that leafy thing is bathed in cream or glazed in honey.
Quick and Easy Collard Greens
A quick and easy version of often ong-braised Southern favorite.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
With crispy edges and deep caramelization, these streamlined brussels sprouts are the ultimate addition to holiday meal.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts With Garlic and Pancetta
As this whole dish bakes, the salty pancetta fat will melt over the sprouts, imparting luscious porky flavor as the pancetta crisps.
Iceberg With Dried Oregano Dressing and Creamy Sheep’s Milk Cheese
There is something really good about crunchy lettuce and a bright shallot dressing filled with the flavor of dried oregano completed by creamy feta.
Dive Into These Classic Desserts
Our Best Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes
With so many mouthwatering Thanksgiving dessert ideas, how will you choose just one?
Our Favorite Apple Pie
This classic apple pie recipe makes the perfect holiday dessert with a flaky, buttery crust and a tender, perfectly cooked fruit filling.
Shoofly Pie
Shoofly pie starts with a classic pie crust that cradles a dense and sticky molasses filling.
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie
This easy dessert is loaded with nuts and gets a little verve from orange zest.
Sweet Potato Pie
This alternative to pumpkin pie has an optional caramelized pecan praline topping. Pro-tip: Don't consider it optional.
Explore Even More Desserts
Sweet tooth still not satisfied? Get the desserts you crave below, or go straight to our best pie recipes or our full collection of fall desserts. Oh, and don't forget the whipped cream.
Thanksgiving Recipes for Everyone at Your Table
It's easy to go gluten-free at Thanksgiving. Ditto vegetarian—and even vegan. And if you seek still more Thanksgiving dinner recipes, try out our holiday recipe finder.
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The Friday Gameplan
Recipes & Menus
23 Ways to Make Your Thanksgiving Leftovers Even Better on Day Two
Don’t get so caught up in Turkey Day that you forget what comes after.
What to Drink
Our Best Thanksgiving Cocktails for 2025
Whether served with hors d’oeuvres or sipped post-pie, these seasonal cocktail recipes are just right for a festive holiday.
21 Big Batch Cocktails for Stress-Free Entertaining
Step away from your cocktail shaker—if more than a couple of people are having drinks, you need to batch.
29 Nonalcoholic Drinks for Festive Occasions
These alcohol-free cocktails aren’t mocking anything. They’re just plain delicious.
Thanksgiving Sangria
Combining favorite fall fruits and spices with sparkling cider, rum, and wine gives sangria a refreshing new spin.
Classic Whiskey Sour
The whiskey sour, a simple combination of whiskey, sugar, and fresh lemon juice, is a bonafide crowd-pleaser.
Back to the Beginning
Thanksgiving
53 Thanksgiving Appetizers to Nibble While You Cook
It may seem like an afterthought, but having a solid Thanksgiving appetizer will keep sticky fingers and prying eyes at bay. Plus, you should never start a cooking marathon on an empty stomach.
Holidays Events
How to Snack on Thanksgiving So You Don’t Get Hangry
Expert Advice
This Homemade Snack Mix Is Full of Biscuits
23 Easy Pie Recipes for Low-Effort, High-Reward Desserts
There’s a reason they say, “easy as pie,” you know?
23 Butternut Squash Recipes That Aren’t All Soup
Ceamy one-pot sausage pasta, cod in “leftover soup” sauce, maple-squash cake, and more.
15 Types of Squash and How to Cook Them
Finally learn the difference between kabocha and red kuri.
43 Fall Desserts to Bake Right Now
Like an easy-fancy pear tart, a decadent caramel-apple cheesecake, crinkly ginger-molasses cookies, and more.
37 Fruit Pies to Bake Year-Round, From Summer Peach to Winter Citrus
Crumb-topped strawberry-rhubarb, sheet-pan pineapple curd, cheddar-crusted apple, and more perfect pies for every gathering.
The Best Roasting Pan for Your Thanksgiving Bird
Before you roast your turkey, make sure you have the best equipment for the job.
3 Ways to Toast Pecans So You Never Burn Them Again
Before mixing pecans into pie—or anything else—toast them for maximum crunch and the richest flavor.
How to Season a Turkey Perfectly
Pointers for how much salt you’ll need per pound, why glazing is better than basting, our favorite flavor combos, and more.
23 Hand Pies So You Can Have a Pastry Wherever You Go
From Edna Lewis’s classic fried apple pies to savory feta-dill pockets, these portable treats are primed for any meal.
61 Potato Recipes for Mashing, Baking, Frying—And, Ultimately, Loving
Got a big bag of potatoes? Good. We’ve got the best ways to use them right here.
47 Ham Side Dishes for Your Next Holiday Dinner
One cannot live on glazed pork alone.
This Pistachio Tart Is a Nut Above Pecan Pie
This year, make the other pies on the dessert table green with envy.
The Best Use for A Cooler on Thanksgiving Isn’t For Storing Drinks
It’s for keeping yourself organized.
Thanksgiving in Hawai‘i Is All About the Leftover Turkey Jook
This cozy dish makes your leftovers the main event.
Surprise—This Pie Is Full of Carrots
This Thanksgiving, give pumpkin the day off and swap in some sweet taproots instead.
My Cranberry Sauce Shines With Iconic New England Flavors
No matter where I’m celebrating, the holiday isn’t complete without a bowl of this maple-and-cider-sweetened cranberry sauce.
Why Do So Many Pie Recipes Ask You to Dock the Dough?
We asked pro bakers why pricking pie dough matters (and why sometimes it doesn’t).
Post-Holiday Biryani Is the Glow Up Your Leftover Turkey Deserves
Sure, soups, sandwiches, and pot pies are all great options for leftover turkey. But giving it the biryani treatment breathes new life into the notoriously dry protein.
These Sheet Pan Turkey Wings Come With Built-In Gravy
Puréeing turkey drippings with roasted onions and garlic creates a low-effort sauce that just happens to be gluten-free.
Pumpkin Roll Deserves a Spot on Your Thanksgiving Dessert Table
Stuffed with cream cheese and nuts, this autumnal roll cake is the multi-dimensional holiday dessert pumpkin pie dreams of becoming.