A Thanksgiving List of Foods for the Classic American Feast

Thanksgiving exists to feel thankful for all the people in our lives and the things that we have. But that’s not all. It’s also a day when we eat a lot of food with family and friends.

Discover the most popular foods to eat on Thanksgiving.

Most Traditional Thanksgiving Foods

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

1. Turkey

Turkey is usually the main dish, prepared whole, filled with fruit, vegetables or other stuffing. The best roasted turkeys are juicy and delicious, which takes skill. The turkey is notorious for being dry.

2. Stuffing/Dressing

Thanksgiving stuffing is the food that goes inside the roasted turkey. But also becomes a side dish, a dish of food that’s served next to the main course. Traditionally, Thanksgiving stuffing is made with bread and herbs.

Check out this easy stuffing recipe

3. Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are potatoes that have been boiled and peeled, and then crushed (mashed) into a soft and creamy dish. Add butter, milk and some garlic, and you have a perfect dish!

4. Gravy

While you’re cooking the turkey, it will create juices. These juices can be turned into gravy, a thick sauce. This sauce is usually poured onto the mashed potatoes to give them more flavor.

5. Cranberry Sauce

There is something about the sweet but tangy flavor of cranberry sauce that makes it the perfect side dish for turkey.

To make cranberry sauce, boil cranberries, sugar, lemon zest and water, and then simmer it. That’s all you need to do!

6. Corn

You might eat buttered corn on the cob, which is grilled whole corn, or creamed corn, which is mashed corn soup or sauce.

7. Green Bean Casserole

A casserole is a stew that’s cooked slowly in the oven. Green bean casserole has cream of mushroom soup, fried onions and— of course—green beans!

8. Candied Yams

The sweet flavor and soft texture of these potatoes make them a versatile side dish for the main course.

You can bake them, make a casserole with them or mash them like regular potatoes.

9. Pumpkin Pie

A delicious warm spice and pumpkin filling inside a flaky crust will always warm you up. No wonder we love pumpkin spice so much in fall!

10. Pecan Pie

Complete the meal with a delectable pecan pie, a pie that uses pecans with spices and maple syrup.

And that concludes our Thanksgiving meal. 

Drop us a line for more information on Thanksgiving meal ideas!