All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (2024)

ThanksgivingRecipe Roundups

November 4, 2023

All of the recipes you need for an epic, delicious Thanksgiving! These healthy Thanksgiving recipes are unique twists on the traditional ones that you know and love. From appetizers and mains to amazing side dishes and desserts, these recipes will be your new favorites to share with family & friends.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I make a small commission off items you purchase at no additional cost to you. Please read my policy page.

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (1)

Thanksgiving might just be the greatest holiday ever (hello, pumpkin pie 4 life) and I’m so excited to share all of the best Thanksgiving recipes with you. I included a delicious mix of appetizers, salads, mains, sides, and desserts for you to pick and choose from for the big day, PLUS a printable menu for you to write in your recipes!

Whether you’re hosting for the first time or heading to a family member’s house, these unique, healthy twists on traditional Thanksgiving recipes are guaranteed to impress.

Take a scroll, pick out your favorites, and be sure to leave a comment to tell me what you think! I’d love to see your Thanksgiving creations, so share any photos in our Facebook group and be sure to tag #AmbitiousThanksgiving on Instagram.

FREE Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide (+ printable checklist!)

Whether you’re hosting or just attending, this Ultimate Thanksgiving Guide email series is for everyone. Enter your email below to get all of my best recipes, tips, and a FREE printable checklist for all of your Thanksgiving needs.

GF = Gluten Free

V = Vegan

VT = Vegetarian

** = Monique’s favorites

Thankful for all of you each and every day. Enjoy, xoxo!

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (2)

Appetizers

  • Scallion Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Mushrooms VT **
  • VT
  • Roasted Garlic Tahini Carrot Dip
  • Garlic Olive Oil Dip V, GF
  • VT, GF
  • Ricotta and Pear Crostini with Salty Pumpkin Seed Pistachio Crunch
  • How to Make Super Creamy Hummus (+5 different flavor variations!) V, GF
  • Bacon Wrapped Dark Chocolate + Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates GF **
  • GF
  • Ultimate Charcuterie Board **
  • Bubbly Hot Chicken Enchilada Bean Dip GF
  • VT
  • The Best Garlic Bread You’ll Ever Eat
  • Crispy Smashed Potatoes VT, GF **
  • GF
  • VT
  • Vegan Jalapeño Butternut Squash Queso V, GF
  • Buffalo Chicken Meatballs with Bleu Cheese Yogurt Dip GF
  • Vegetarian Three Cheese White Bean Buffalo Dip VT, GF
  • Tortilla Chip-Crusted Baked Jalapeño Poppers VT, GF
  • Vegan Charcuterie Board inspiration
  • Creamy Jalapeño Spinach Artichoke Dip VT, GF
  • Smoked Salmon Crostini

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (3)

Drinks & Cocktails

  • Apple Cider Hot Toddy
  • Rebecca’s Pomegranate Margarita
  • Spicy Blood Orange Margarita
  • Rebecca’s Mulled Wine
  • Grapefruit Margarita

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (4)

Salads

  • Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad GF **
  • Brussels Sprouts Kale Honeycrisp Apple Salad with Maple Cider Dressing V, GF
  • Vegan Caesar Salad V, GF
  • Roasted Carrot Cauliflower Quinoa Salad with Sunshine Dressing V, GF
  • Autumn Butternut Squash Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad GF
  • Winter Roasted Butternut Squash Black Lentil Salad V, GF **
  • California Roasted Sweet Potato Kale Salad V, GF
  • VT, GF **
  • Italian Chopped Brussels Sprouts Salad GF
  • Chickpea Apple Broccoli Salad with Honey Dijon Dressing VT, GF **
  • VT, GF
  • Butternut Squash and Kale Salad with Pomegranate, Toasted Almonds + Goat Cheese VT, GF

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (5)

Mains

  • Herb Butter Maple Roasted Turkey GF **
  • Spinach Bacon Pumpkin Mac and Cheese GF ** (easily vegetarian without the bacon!)
  • How to Make an Easy Roasted Chicken GF
  • Cozy Roasted Vegetable Butternut Squash Lasagna VT, GF
  • White Chicken Chili Pie with Pumpkin Cornbread Crust
  • How to Spatchcock a Chicken GF
  • Blow Ya Mind Cheddar Broccoli Chicken Pot Pie
  • VT, GF
  • Cranberry Pecan Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash with Goat Cheese Crema VT, GF
  • Vegetarian Spinach Pumpkin Lasagna VT, GF
  • One Pot Cheesy Mushroom Spinach Beef Pasta GF
  • Oh So Good Chicken Meatballs in Pumpkin Coconut Curry Sauce GF
  • Lightened Up Chicken Pot Pie
  • Cheddar-Stuffed Sweet Potato BBQ Meatloaf GF **
  • Brown Butter Acorn Squash Pasta with Toasted Hazelnuts + Sage VT
  • Pesto Mushroom Chicken Lasagna Roll Ups
  • Mom’s Ultimate Vegetarian Lentil Loaf V, GF
  • V, GF
  • Butternut Squash, Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole GF
  • The Best Healthy Turkey Lasagna You’ll Ever Eat GF
  • Saucy Baked Pumpkin Pasta GF **
  • Whole Wheat Honey-Jalapeño Cornbread Chicken Tamale Pie
  • Vegan Butternut Squash Lasagna with Garlic Tahini Tofu Cream V, GF
  • Easy Vegan Mac and Cheese V, GF

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (6)

Sides

  • Parmesan Bacon Sourdough Mushroom Stuffing
  • VT
  • VT, GF
  • Twice Baked Butternut Squash GF
  • Perfect Homemade Turkey Gravy GF
  • Gluten Free Cornbread Muffins VT, GF
  • The Best Cornbread Stuffing Ever VT, GF **
  • Roasted Garlic Cheddar Cauliflower Soup VT, GF
  • Lightened Up Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Oat Streusel VT, GF **
  • Caramelized Garlic Carrots with Spicy Cilantro Yogurt Sauce VT, GF
  • Cheddar Broccoli Cauliflower Gratin VT
  • The Best Creamy Garlic Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes VT, GF **
  • VT , GF **
  • Garlic Fingerling Potatoes (V, GF)
  • The Best Fluffy Moist Cornbread Recipe Ever VT
  • The Best Homemade Healthy Green Bean Casserole VT, GF **
  • Homemade Slow Cooker Baked Beans GF
  • Lightened Up Brown Butter Mashed Sweet potato (with a slow cooker option!) VT, GF **
  • Balsamic Herb Sheet Pan Roasted Vegetables V, GF
  • GF
  • VT, GF **
  • Honey Pumpkin Cornbread Muffins VT **
  • Chipotle Gouda Scalloped Sweet Potatoes VT
  • 15-Minute Homemade Orange Cranberry Sauce V, GF **
  • Brown Butter Cranberry Pumpkin Cornbread Skillet VT
  • Healthy Butternut Squash Sweet Potato Casserole with Almond Oat Crumble VT, GF
  • Butternut Squash Quinoa Patties with Cranberry Sauce V
  • Sesame Garlic Roasted Asparagus V, GF

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (7)

Desserts

Making a pie? Start with my BEST all butter pie crust recipe!

  • Salted Maple Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie**
  • The Best Tart Cherry Pie You’ll Ever Eat**
  • Best Ever Healthy Pumpkin Pie**
  • Tony’s Very Favorite Dutch Apple Pie**
  • V, GF
  • World’s Best Banana Cream Pie (with peanut butter cookie crust!)
  • Blow Ya Mind Pumpkin Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting GF
  • Flourless Monster Cookies GF
  • Cinnamon Walnut Pear Crisp GF
  • White Chocolate Macadamia Snickerdoodles
  • Brown Butter Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
  • Mini Paleo Pumpkin Pies with Gingerbread Cookie Crust GF
  • Ooey-Gooey Salted Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars GF
  • Paleo Ginger Molasses Cookies GF **
  • Best Healthy Apple Crisp Ever V **
  • Blow Ya Mind Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies V, GF **
  • Salted Brown Butter Coffee Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
  • Deep Dish French Silk Pie **
  • How to Make Whipped Cream GF
  • Paleo Pumpkin Pie Bars with Almond Flour Sugar Cookie Crust GF
  • Brown Butter Apple Coffee Cake
  • Peanut Butter Cup S’mores Chocolate Cookies
  • Healthy Soft Pumpkin Cookies with Salted Maple Frosting GF **
  • Grain Free Tahini Brownies (the best brownies I’ve ever eaten!) GF **
  • Brown Butter Snickerdoodles Cookies**
  • The Best Paleo Chocolate Cake with Paleo Chocolate Frosting GF **
  • Coffee Tahini Date Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
  • Lightened Up Sweet Potato Pie with Sweet and Salty Pecan Crust GF
  • Grain Free Snickerdoodles GF
  • Old Fashioned Iced Brown Butter Oatmeal Cookies **
  • Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cream Pies with Fluffy Peanut Butter Filling
  • Paleo Orange-Kissed Loaf with Dark Chocolate Glaze GF
  • Healthy Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust GF
  • The Best Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Eat **

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (8)

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD OUR PRINTABLE MENU

And don’t forget to grab our FREE printable checklist for hosting!

I hope you love these delicious Thanksgiving recipes! If you make anything from AK, be sure to tag #ambitiouskitchen onInstagram. I love seeing your creations and featuring followers!

All The Recipes You Need for an Epic Thanksgiving | Ambitious Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What are the essentials for Thanksgiving dinner? ›

We've broken Thanksgiving dinner down to its essential elements. Turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce and potatoes, of course. But no less necessary, if slightly less obvious, is something orange (yams, squash or even mac and cheese).

What are the classic Thanksgiving dishes? ›

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.

What is a traditional Black Thanksgiving dinner? ›

You will likely be eating roast turkey, barbecued turkey, deep fried turkey, glazed country ham, collard greens, macaroni and cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes mashed and covered with marshmallows, corn, cornbread, yeast/potato rolls, black eyed peas, rice, gravy, potato salad, cranberry sauce from ...

How many sides should a Thanksgiving dinner have? ›

How many dishes should I serve with the turkey? For 4 people, choose 1-2 appetizers and 3 sides. For 8 people, choose 1-3 appetizers and 3 sides. For 16 people, choose 2-3 appetizers and 3 or more sides.

What is the most important food on a Thanksgiving table? ›

Just as it's a traditional meat used for Christmas dinner, turkey is favoured because it's big – and that means it can feed a whole family. Turkeys are usually stuffed with chestnuts and/or sausage meat and grains and baked in the oven before being carved at the table for everyone to enjoy.

What is the most common main dish for Thanksgiving dinner? ›

Turkey is a classic main course for Thanksgiving dinner, but that certainly doesn't mean you have to serve it every year.

What is the famous meal of Thanksgiving? ›

A traditional Thanksgiving meal consists of roast turkey and many sides including stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans and cranberry sauce, with pumpkin pie as dessert.

What did the original Thanksgiving meal consist of? ›

There are only two surviving documents that reference the original Thanksgiving harvest meal. They describe a feast of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, a bounty of cod and bass, and flint, a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge.

What is the most eaten food on Thanksgiving? ›

Turkey is the most common main dish of a Thanksgiving dinner, to the point that Thanksgiving is sometimes colloquially called "Turkey Day." Alexander Hamilton proclaimed that "no citizen of the United States should refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day", and Benjamin Franklin had high regard for the wild turkey as an ...

What are 4 commonly consumed foods at Thanksgiving other than turkey? ›

Cornish game hen, goose, duck, ham, beef, salmon, and mushroom recipes make worthy centerpieces for holiday meals.

What are national Thanksgiving foods? ›

Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families include the entire family in the food preparation. Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Many people serve pie for dessert at the end of the meal.

What was Thanksgiving original food? ›

The first Thanksgiving banquet consisted of foods like venison, bean stew and hard biscuits. And while corn and pumpkin had their place on the table, they hardly resembled the cornbread stuffing and pumpkin pie we feast on today.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Otha Schamberger

Last Updated:

Views: 5769

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (55 voted)

Reviews: 94% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Otha Schamberger

Birthday: 1999-08-15

Address: Suite 490 606 Hammes Ferry, Carterhaven, IL 62290

Phone: +8557035444877

Job: Forward IT Agent

Hobby: Fishing, Flying, Jewelry making, Digital arts, Sand art, Parkour, tabletop games

Introduction: My name is Otha Schamberger, I am a vast, good, healthy, cheerful, energetic, gorgeous, magnificent person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.