With Halloween behind us, Thanksgiving is quickly approaching. In my opinion, Thanksgiving is too often overlooked, shadowed by the Christmas trees and Christmas music that seem to be present in every store the very day after Halloween. While it of course can not compete with Halloween or Christmas, it is definitely a significant holiday as millions of people travel around the country visiting their relatives. It is a time of unity and togetherness as families come together to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving meal. Yet, I would have to say one downside is the intense preparation that making the Thanksgiving dishes requires. If you have the responsibility of hosting and are choosing to cook, you should know that you will likely spend the entirety of your day prepping your dishes. While worth it in the end as you can look upon your dishes with satisfaction and enjoy a wonderful meal, it is very tiring in the actual process and time consuming. So in order to make the process a little bit easier, here are the top recipes I recommend for Thanksgiving:

Credit to Delish for the recipes for the dishes: https://www.delish.com/holiday-recipes/thanksgiving/g3023/traditional-thanksgiving-menu/

Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet potato pie is one of the most traditional dishes you think of when you think of Thanksgiving. A classic staple of Thanksgiving, sweet potato pie is one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods. This is likely a controversial opinion as I know many people who feel strongly about their dislike of sweet potato pie. I would add that many of these people’s experiences with sweet potato pie may be influenced by if they have had proper sweet potato pie or not because I have seen so many different versions, many subpar.

Directions:

Step 1

Make crust: Place flour and butter into the freezer for 30 minutes before starting the crust process.

Step 2

In a large food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add butter and pulse until pea-sized and some slightly larger pieces form. With the machine running, add vinegar, then ice water into the feed tube, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough starts to come together and is moist but not wet and sticky (test by squeezing some with your fingers). Mixture will be crumbly.

Step 3

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, form into a ball, and flatten into a disk (making sure there are no/minimal cracks).

Step 4

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until dough is very cold, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

Step 5

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a 9”-x-1.5” pie dish with cooking spray.

Step 6

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough into a 12” circle. Drape over the pie dish and gently press to fit (don’t stretch). Prick bottom with a fork, trim edge to 1”, tuck overhang under itself, and make a scallop print around the edge with the tip of your spoon. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or freezer for 10 minutes.

Step 7

Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Blind bake for 10 minutes, then remove parchment and weights. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F.

Step 8

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together sweet potato puree, condensed milk, eggs, vanilla, spices, and salt until smooth.

Step 9

Pour sweet potato mixture into par-baked crust. Bake until the filling is slightly jiggly in the middle and the crust is golden, 60-65 minutes. Cool in a turned off oven with the door propped open for 1 hour, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Step 10

Green Bean Casserole

Another classic of Thanksgiving is green bean casserole. Whether or not they appear as their own dish or as a part of a casserole such as in this dish, green beans will always be a staple of Thanksgiving. Green beans, along with asparagus, are my favorite vegetables, a delicacy on Thanksgiving so long as they are not undercooked.

Directions:

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare an ice bath: In a large pot of boiling water, add green beans and cook until bright green, about 6 minutes. With a slotted spoon or tongs, quickly transfer green beans to an ice bath to cool, then drain and transfer to a large bowl.

Step 2

In a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until mushrooms are golden, about 5 minutes more. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute, then transfer mixture to green bean bowl.

Step 3

In the same skillet over medium heat, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Whisk in flour and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat, then add green bean mixture and toss until evenly combined.

Step 4

Bake until warmed through and bubbling, about 30 minutes.

Step 5

Top with fried onions and bake 5 minutes more.

Turkey Stuffing

Last but certainly not least, turkey stuffing is always a must for a successful Thanksgiving meal. Giving flavor to what otherwise can be very bland and tasteless, turkey stuffing is crucial. Yet, it must be prepared properly or it can very easily have a negative effect on turkey, which I already feel has a lot of potential to end up poorly. This is a quick and easy dish to prepare but almost guaranteed to improve your Thanksgiving turkey tenfold, adding much needed flavor and texture. While turkey stuffing can take many forms, this turkey stuffing is a mixture of bread, rosemary, celery, onion, broth, and eggs.

Directions:

Step 1

Tear or slice bread into 1/4″ cubes. Arrange on a baking sheet or transfer to a large bowl and leave out overnight to dry. (Alternatively, place bread on baking sheets and bake at 200º until dried, about 20 minutes.)

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease a 13″-by-9″ baking dish with butter.

Step 3

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt 1/2 cup butter. Add onion and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, parsley, sage, thyme, and rosemary and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute more; season with salt and pepper. 

Step 4

Place bread in a large bowl, add onion mixture, and toss to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk broth and eggs and pour over bread mixture; generously season with salt and pepper. Toss until completely coated. Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish and cover with foil.

Step 5

Bake stuffing for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake until bread is toasted and golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. 

With these three great Thanksgiving dishes, you can surely make Thanksgiving much easier on yourself as they are quick to prepare and will quickly become a treat for your family. They work well with nearly every style of meal and serve as beautiful compliments to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. Involving limited prep time, they are good last minute solutions to the job of preparing a Thanksgiving meal. Take these suggestions however you want as I know some people may disagree with the dishes I suggest as they are fairly controversial, but I wholeheartedly believe these are great suggestions that will make your Thanksgiving.