THANKSGIVING FOOD LIST

OVERVIEW

In this post you will find the perfect Thanksgiving Food List, as well as:

• Top foods served on Thanksgiving 
• Main dishes for Thanksgiving 
• Side dishes for Thanksgiving 
• Sweet treats for Thanksgiving
• And more!

Well… it’s that time of year again. The time where we gather with our loved ones, snack on delicious charcuterie boards, and have heated conversations with extended family members at the dinner table. No Thanksgiving is complete without these traditions. And, of course, no Thanksgiving is complete without the infamous meals, side dishes, and desserts that accompany it.  Whether it’s your first time cooking Thanksgiving dinner, or you’re looking to add something new to your feast, this Thanksgiving food list will offer you plenty of delicious and healthy recipes to try. 

What are the top 5 foods served on thanksgiving? 

These are the five fundamental foods you should include in your Thanksgiving dinner: 

• Turkey (of course) 
• Mashed potatoes
• Gravy
• Stuffing
• Pumpkin pie

No Thanksgiving is complete without these five food staples. Keep scrolling to see our favorite recipes for all of these key dishes.

What is in a traditional thanksgiving dinner? 

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes all of the foods we listed above, along with other great dishes like cranberry sauce, roasted veggies, butternut squash soup, apple pie, and more. In this post, we will cover all the traditional recipes, as well as offer some fresh alternatives to include in your 2021 Thanksgiving food lineup. 

We’ve divided the food lists into sections, so you can view each thanksgiving food list for main dishes, side dishes, and (last but certainly not least) desserts!

THANKSGIVING FOOD LIST

MAIN DISHES

Turkey may be the center of your Thanksgiving feast’s attention, however, there are plenty of other main dishes to choose from. These dishes can be made along with the turkey, giving your guests another main course alternative. Alternatively, these main dishes can replace (yes, replace) the turkey dinner if you wish. While it can be difficult imagining ‘Turkey Day’ without an actual turkey, the National Resources Defense Council shared that there are over 200 million pounds of turkey tossed out each Thanksgiving holiday. By preparing one of these main dish alternatives, you’re not only trying something new, you’re lessening your environmental impact! 

Along with main dish alternatives, it’s important to provide vegetarian options for the meat-free eaters among your friends and family. One question people frequently ask is: 

What is the most popular vegetable dish served at Thanksgiving dinner?

For the vegetarians, the most popular vegetable dish served at Thanksgiving dinner is, of course, mashed potatoes. However, there are other healthy vegetable recipes you can include for yours, or your relatives, vegetarian diet.  

One of our favorite vegetable dishes is garlic herb roasted vegetables, a flavorful but light side that pairs well with all of the other dishes on the table. Another classic vegetable dish for your Thanksgiving dinner is roasted brussel sprouts. You can explore our favorite variations of these recipes in this post. 

Each recipe comes with its own ready-to-go grocery list as well as other items you may need for preparing and serving  the dish. 

THANKSGIVING FOOD LIST

SIDE DISHES

An important reminder that some of the best Thanksgiving side dishes can also be easy Thanksgiving side dishes! In this section, we’ve compiled our favorite side dishes that won’t take long to prepare, so you can focus your time on the main dishes and being with your loved ones. Every year, it seems as if there are new side dishes to incorporate into your Thanksgiving feast lineup. However, one big question people often ask is: 

What is the most popular side dish at thanksgiving? 

For a popular side dish that everyone, even the kids, will love, we recommend the tried and true mashed potatoes. To get the ultimate flavor, we recommend mixing different types of potatoes into your mash as well as adding some cloves of garlic. See our full mashed potatoes recipe below!

THANKSGIVING FOOD LIST

DESSERT RECIPES

With dinner done and the leftovers put away, we can finally move on to the sweet stuff. Thanksgiving is the perfect day to indulge and get the most of all the fall flavors. We’re talking pumpkin, cinnamon, apple, pecan, cranberry, and all things deliciously fall. 

For a timeless Thanksgiving dessert, see our flavorful apple crisp pie recipe. The recipe brings all the great flavors of apple pie, but with the wonderful texture of an apple crisp. If you’re looking for something fun to make at home, we recommend the carrot cake cookies recipe. Carrot cake cookies are a tasty twist on carrot cake, without the effort of…you know…baking an entire cake. 

Another easy way to prepare your Thanksgiving desserts is to buy them from a local bakery. On top of making a few dishes at home, purchasing pastries or pies from your favorite local bakery is a great way to support a small business in your community. Plus, after cooking all day, having ready-to-go delicious handmade desserts sounds pretty sweet.