Thank Us Later: Here’s Your Roadmap to a Flawless Thanksgiving
You know it’s Thanksgiving when... A) The refrigerator overflows and the cooler comes in from the garage as backup. B) Every inch of counter space (plus the dining table) is fair game. C) You drum up any help you can get to peel apples and sweet potatoes, then debate the best way to turn them into casseroles and pies. D) Lunch is vegetable scraps dipped in salad dressing. E) All of the above. (It’s E, obviously.)
It’s a holiday centered around one meal, sure, but it begins long before the turkey is on the table. It starts when we’re menu mapping, grocery shopping, and picking the kitchen playlist to motivate us while we stare down a truckload of brussels and multiple bags of cranberries. It starts days before The Day, and it’s the cooking—in a family-crammed kitchen with limited oven space—that makes the final feast so worthwhile.
This year, all of the communal effort of a takes-a-village Thanksgiving culminates in a menu of all-star classics with mini modern makeovers. They’re recipes your great-aunt, baby cousin, and neighbor’s girlfriend can all have a hand in (after all, it’s the one time of year when there’s no such thing as too many cooks), and thanks to a roster of clever strategies we’ve honed over the years, none of it is so hard to pull off. Here's how we do it, and how you can too:
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski1/9The earlier you make dessert, the better.
Sweets may be Thanksgiving’s final act, but we like to check them off the to-do list early in the week, while we’re still clear-headed and cool-handed and there’s plenty of space in the kitchen to roll out dough. And here’s the thing: You don't have to make pie! This year, we’re leaning into a “cheater’s” puff pastry that’s much more approachable than the full-out kind, but exponentially better than the store-bought kind. It yields a buttery crust that’s incredibly flaky and miles-high and, best of all, can be made two days before you’re ready to bake. We use it as the base for Butternut Squash Tarte Tatin and Glazed and Flaky Apple Tart.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski2/9Cranberry sauce is the ultimate bountiful side.
This year, we’re not saving the bright tart stuff for the last-minute. It’s the plate’s great connector—as good on turkey as it is on sweet potatoes. Plus, it’s make-ahead-friendly (actually, it’s better the next day) and nearly idiot-proof, so you can assign it to any guest eager to contribute to the spread. But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it has to be boring. These three twenty-minute recipes turn a pound of cranberries into whatever you want them to be: whether that’s sweet and spicy, sweet and sour, or straight-down-the-middle citrus and cinnamon. They’re so easy to make, we recommend serving all three.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski3/9Two potatoes are better than one.
We wish we had learned ten years ago that an ultra-buttery, cloud-light mash doesn’t have to be made last-minute. You can cook these mashed potatoes, tangy with sour cream, from start to finish up to two days before Thanksgiving. Two days! Reheat them over low with a little more dairy to loosen them up and they’ll be as velvety as if you had frantically milled them moments before your guests arrived.
And because you’ve gotten that out of the way early, you’ll also have time to make roasted potato nuggets with garlic and rosemary, the crunchy, crusty oven fry of our dreams. The natural starches of the Russets helps create a crackling crust when the partially cooked potato orbs hit the hot fat. Position yourself close to the serving bowl—these are going to go fast.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski4/9Keep the cocktail dead simple.
No punch bowls, big-batching, or complicated mixology. Our Fall Spritz is so easy—one part amaro to four parts hard cider—that guests can make it themselves (you’ve got plenty to do elsewhere). Even better? These are low-ABV, so you can sip on one or two as you cook and still be ready for wine with dinner. If you can’t find Basque-style dry hard cider, ask someone at your local liquor store to recommend something similar.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski5/9Veg sides are your chance to inject some life into the carb party.
Okay, there are vegetables you probably feel obligated to include—brussels, sweet potatoes—but who says you have to roast them or mash them or top them with marshmallows? This year, we’re not dancing to the usual beat, but instead giving our veg sides a hefty dose of acidity (in the form of vinegar or harissa) to zap the palate out of same-old potato town.
Sweet potatoes go savory, brussels sprouts go from roasted to sautéed, and shallots and parsnips, both often overlooked, get their moments at center stage. These best supporting actors just might steal the show.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski6/9You need at least one raw, crunchy salad. (Seriously.)
How many times have we found ourselves scanning the holiday table, looking for something fresh, vegetal, and acidic? Salad is often a Thanksgiving afterthought left unattended and uneaten (what’s a pile of Romaine compared to a mountain of mashed, fluffy Yukons?). But with each of these raw sides, we’ve worked a little magic to make the salad feel just as “holiday” as the rest of the spread.
They’re neither austere (it’s the holidays!) nor time-sucking (...it’s the holidays), and whether you choose the Broccoli Caesar, Radicchio with Sour Cream Ranch, or the Shaved Carrots with Charred Dates (charred dates!!!), we guarantee it’ll go as fast as the potatoes.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski7/9No! More! Soggy! Stuffing!
Maybe your Thanksgiving’s not Thanksgiving without a craggy-topped, herb-infused, crusty-bread-based stuffing. Maybe you’re a cornbread stuffing family. Or perhaps you prefer a wild rice dressing that takes its cues from all good grain salads—but hey, what is stuffing anyway?
We’ve got you covered with master recipes for them all, and we designed each to circumvent common pitfalls. In abidance with our 6 Rules for Perfect Stuffing, our classic stuffing has the perfect mix of crispy edges and moistened centers. Our cornbread stays intact, with no hint of mush (the key? Make your own buttermilk cornbread—it’s not so hard!). And our wild rice cooking method for cooking wild rice ensures tender grains with no starchiness. You can’t go wrong.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski8/9Pick a recipe that guarantees a moist, flavorful bird.
When it comes to a whole-roasted turkey, the last thing you want to be is confused. What temperature do I cook it at? Am I really supposed to brine it? What temperature should the meat be? And, uh, is it done yet? Our never-fail, no-games turkey has the times and temps you need to feel confident and prepared (might as well write 150° on your hand right now). It’s seasoned with a dry rub, so you don’t have to worry about where to put a bucket of brining liquid. We even ditched the (expensive, cumbersome, heat-deflecting) roasting pan. When you cook the turkey on a flat wire rack set into an ordinary rimmed baking sheet, the legs and wings get plenty of hot air time, which means plenty of delightfully crispy skin. More for everyone!
But if you don’t want to bother with a whole turkey (say you have a small crew) or you’re concerned there won’t be enough leftovers (say you have an extra-large crew), our bone-in breast can be your centerpiece (or your extra insurance). With no basting or babysitting, it’s the path of least resistance to juicy, flavorful meat—and, for the carving phobic, it happens to be very easy to slice too.
Photo by Michael Graydon + Nikole Herriott, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski9/9A+ gravy does not require homemade stock.
Yep, we’ll say it—you can make rich, complex gravy without homemade stock. For this year’s gravy, skip the ham hock, chicken wings, and all-day simmering. With a few easy tweaks, you can take the store-bought stuff from meh to magical. This gravy relies only on the turkey neck to jumpstart the fortified stock, so you can make it from start to finish as soon as you start the dry rub process—a couple of days before the feast—then reheat it when you carve the bird. Best of all, since you don’t need any pan-drippings to make it, you can start and finish it on prep day (a.k.a. the Tuesday before Thanksgiving).
