Our 28 Best Thanksgiving Recipes Take the Stress Out of Menu Planning (2024)

FAQs

How do you make Thanksgiving dinner less stressful? ›

Prep ahead what you can

Anything you can do to prep before the day of is a good idea. I always like to chop up my veggies, get together my turkey brine, and prep any pie crusts or desserts at least a day in advance.

Creating an ideal environment can bring about stressful demands that come with the holidays – entertaining, shopping, cooking – can lead to mental anxiety or depression. People may feel overwhelmed by the amount of money they will need to spend.

Especially if you are the host, Thanksgiving can feel like one giant checklist. From the shopping and prepping all the way through cooking and cleanup, it's easy to get overwhelmed.

The classic Thanksgiving dinner includes old-time favorites that never change: turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, and pie. But the way these dishes are made or added to is everchanging because of food trends and different dietary requirements.

Many Americans would regard Thanksgiving dinner as "incomplete" without stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cranberry sauce. A recipe for cranberry sauce to be served with turkey appeared in the first American cookbook, American Cookery (1796) by Amelia Simmons.

What are the 12 most popular Thanksgiving dishes? ›

While turkey is a staple on most Thanksgiving tables across America, Californians often opt for fresh, locally sourced turkeys or even try alternative proteins like roasted duck or quail. In addition to the main protein, Californians love to incorporate seasonal vegetables into their Thanksgiving feasts.

While, technically, just about any color can be incorporated into a Thanksgiving table setting or holiday theme, the Thanksgiving color scheme most people associate with Turkey Day is orange, brown, red and yellow.

Get the gang involved in a Thanksgiving game, or test everyone's holiday knowledge with a round of Thanksgiving trivia. If there are preschoolers or tots in the group, keep little hands busy by making a craft together. Or, bundle everyone up and head outside to draw a masterpiece using sidewalk chalk.

The drowsiness after a Thanksgiving meal is more likely be due to eating a lot of high-fat and high-sugar foods. Monitor how much you eat and drink to avoid post-meal drowsiness. MedlinePlus. Tryptophan.

Many people blame the main character of the traditional Thanksgiving meal — turkey — as the culprit behind the post-meal sleepiness. Turkey contains tryptophan, an essential amino acid linked to the production of neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin, which can induce feelings of relaxation and sleepiness.

“The meal typically contains large amounts of carbs (stuffing, potatoes, pie, desserts, rolls), which can spike your blood sugar initially,” she continues. “But then, your blood sugar levels crash or decrease, which leaves you feeling lethargic.”