12 essential recipes for your classic Thanksgiving (2024)

Food

12 essential recipes for your classic Thanksgiving (1)

Thanksgiving favorites: Buttermilk mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, not-too-sweet pecan pie, buttery dinner rolls and more.

(Katrina Frederick / For The Times)

By Ben MimsCooking Columnist

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Here’s the L.A. Times Food guide to all of the classics for Thanksgiving. These are timeless recipes, updated appropriately. The techniques are straightforward, the ingredient lists kept as short as possible, and the recipes developed with one goal in mind: easy and delicious results year after year.

Each recipe is accompanied by a video, walking you through each step so you know exactly what to do. You’ll find ingredient substitutions galore, and ways to jazz up the recipes to suit any taste.

Roast turkey, easy gravy, green bean gratin, bright cranberry sauce, creamy potatoes and two kinds of stuffing (vegan or not) plus three stellar pies — whether you make one or all, these are holiday recipes you can always rely on.

Perfect Thanksgiving roast turkey

Butter stuffed under a Thanksgiving turkey’s skin keeps the breast meat moist as it roasts. Prepping the day before allows the salt to season every part of the bird.

Watch the recipe tutorial

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Easy Thanksgiving Gravy

Shallots and herbs add flavor to a simple gravy for Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey fat and drippings make for the tastiest gravy, but chicken fat, butter and olive oil work well too.

Watch the recipe tutorial

Sourdough and Herb Stuffing

Tangy sourdough bread gets lots of flavor from sautéed celery and onions and hardy winter herbs in this simple Thanksgiving stuffing crisped with olive oil.

Soft and Buttery Dinner Rolls

Honey lightly sweetens these super-tender, pillowy yeast rolls, drenched in melted butter, baked until light golden, and finished with a pinch of flaky salt.

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Spiced Cornbread and Sausage Dressing

In this Southern spin on traditional Thanksgiving stuffing, lightly sweetened cornbread meets breakfast sausage, chile flakes and aromatics.

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Green Bean Gratin

Tender green beans are blanched, coated in a creamy gratin-style sauce and mixed with mushrooms before being baked under a crust of fried onions and Parmesan cheese.

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Citrus Cranberry Sauce

Orange zest, segments and juice add floral freshness to the most fantastic cranberry sauce in this traditional Thanksgiving condiment perfumed with cinnamon.

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Sweet Potato and Apple Casserole

Apples, honey and orange juice naturally sweeten the sweet potatoes in this update on the classic casserole, covered in fluffy meringue that’s torched until toasty.

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Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Tangy buttermilk lightens Thanksgiving mashed potatoes made with russet potatoes, which are drier and fluffier than other potato varieties.

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Classic Pumpkin Pie

Cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger spice canned pumpkin in this classic Thanksgiving pie recipe. Blind-baking the crust ensures a crisp pastry to contrast the smooth custard filling.

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Double-Crust Apple Pie

Sweet and tart apples, cinnamon and lemon combine to make an ample, floral filling for a rustic apple pie baked in a double crust of buttery pastry.

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‘Not Too Sweet’ Pecan Pie

Browned butter, vanilla bean and fresh lemon juice balance the sweetness of pecan pie in this update, teeming with toasted nuts and custard filling.

Watch the recipe tutorial

12 essential recipes for your classic Thanksgiving (14)

(Katrina Frederick / For The Times)

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Ben Mims

Ben Mims is a former cooking columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He has written three cookbooks and has worked as a food editor and recipe developer for several food media publications, such as Lucky Peach, Food & Wine, Saveur, Food Network and Buzzfeed/Tasty.

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