Thanksgiving Table

It’s finally THAT time of year which means we are breaking down our Thanksgiving table. This is one of our most anticipated tables of the entire year. There is more back and forth than usual when it comes to curating the dishes of what to include. Although we tend to stick to the classics, we are always changing up how we prepare them. 

Key considerations when planning your menu:

When it comes to thinking about what to include in our Thanksgiving menu, there are a couple key considerations. 1. How many people are we serving? 2. How many ovens do we have? Once we have a sense of these two key factors we can work backwards based on the number of dishes and oven space. 

Why is oven space so top of mind? We have found over the years that this is probably the largest obstacle when it comes to making a Thanksgiving meal. If you only have one oven, you have to keep in mind the turkey is going to take the oven for ~3-4 hours during key prep time of the meal. This means the sides chosen need to be stove centric, make ahead, or have the ability to be served room temperature/chilled. When it comes to forming a lineup, it’s all about working backwards and knowing what you have to work with and how many people you need to feed!

This year’s Thanksgiving Table lineup:

The cornerstones of our Thanksgiving are always as follows:

This is a great menu for 4-6 people

1. PIES – yes we listed this first even though we have a separate post on pies, but let’s be honest, this is the best part of Thanksgiving. If you are a turkey or stuffing or general Thanksgiving dinner lover, we admire your ability to not go for dessert first. With that admiration, we’ll stop talking about pies and save that for these posts (pumpkin, pecan, berry, and pie crust)
2. Turkey & Gravy – in our house, it goes without saying that there is a whole turkey roasted each year. Although some years we have smoked it and others we have baked it, the core of the menu is always the turkey
3. Sweet Potatoes – we always feature a sweet potato dish on our table, because we are sweet potato loving household

Oven note: This is the only dish in the cornerstones that requires an oven other than the turkey, so we bake these while the turkey is resting.

4. Mashed Potatoes – can you even have Thanksgiving without mashed potatoes?
5. Cranberry Sauce – once again, can you even have Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce? Especially Thanksgiving leftovers… What is a leftover turkey sandwich without the cranberry sauce?
6. Green Beans – we usually feature green beans as the veggie on Thanksgiving but preparation varies each year! 

The add-ons:

Since we are having 8-10 people we added a few more staples to the cornerstones

7. Salad – we usually will do another veggie if we are having a larger Thanksgiving dinner
8. Sourdough rolls with tarragon compound butter – Since it’s the holidays, to go with our mashed and sweet potatoes we love making fresh made rolls. Let’s be honest these are really a carrier for the compound butter but are oh so good warm. Plus, these make the perfect turkey sandwich the next day! 

Oven note: These require an oven so we make them in the morning and wrap in foil and pop them in the oven right after the sweet potatoes until the rolls are  just warmed.

9. Thanksgiving Charcuterie – The holidays wouldn’t be complete without a cheese tray!
10. Cranberry Cocktails – To add some more holiday cheer, we serve a cranberry cocktail with the charcuterie while the final touches of the dinner are finishing in the oven

Notes on some of the recipes we created:

1. Classics: 

We like to make a few of our cornerstones as true classics while mixing up a few for a bright twist. This year we brined our turkey in apple juice, honey and rosemary. For a classic roast turkey. The mashed potatoes were also a classic. We prepared them just like our mom: creamy and buttery.

2. Twists: 

The sweet potatoes and green beans both had more unique twists. We made the sweet potatoes with a spiced brown sugar for a warm, spiced version of brown sugar sweet potatoes. For the green beans, we did a bright, fresh play on a green bean casserole. The green beans are sauteed in shallot oil and topped with fried shallot, garlic bread crumbs, parmesan, and lemon zest. 

Thinking through the two key factors for your Thanksgiving Table:

1. The oven space:

We made sure our oven space matched the dishes that we had on our menu. Look at our oven notes above to see how we think through dishes we can make and when to cook them with limited oven space.

2. How many people you have to feed:

When it comes to Thanksgiving, we are always looking for a 2:1 ratio of carb sides to veggie dishes. Depending on the number of people you have, you can expand your menu with a few more entrees like we did. Although once you reach ~8 dishes, we’d recommend making larger quantities so everyone can try everything and you aren’t cooking all week!

This menu is one of our favorites from the whole year and this line up did not disappoint. From the fresh twist on the green beans to the classic roast turkey to the warm rosemary sourdough rolls, each bite is better than the one before. This is one of the meals you will be dreaming about all year! Mix and match all the sides, you really can’t go wrong. Each and every dish is so delicious and makes the perfect addition for a Thanksgiving table.