Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (2024)

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by Stacey Published: Nov 4, 2023

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This week’s recipe collection features classic Thanksgiving main dish recipes to make your celebrations easy and delicious!There’s a little something for everyone– from hams to turkey, prime rib to tantalizing stuffed tenderloin. It doesn’t matter if you’re serving a small crowd, a large one, or need a last minute solution for unexpected guests. Everything you need is right here!

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Each Thanksgiving main dish recipe included here delivers a mouthwateringly tender, perfectly seasoned and simple-to-make protein that is sure to make your holiday spread your most delicious yet. Holiday success has never been so appetizing!

For More Holiday Yum: 7 Must-Make Holiday Fruit Salads

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Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (3)

Southern Pecan Crusted Ham

Easy Southern Pecan Crusted Ham is as delicious as it is gorgeous! This showstopping stunner bakes up golden brown with a rich brown sugar, molasses, apple juice glaze and buttery pecan crust. Savory, sweet and holiday perfect, you won’t believe how easy it is to bake up this amazing ham!

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Creole Roasted Turkey Breast

Coated with simple creole seasoning & butter, then roasted with fresh herbs & touch of citrus, bone-in Creole Roasted Turkey Breasts are deliciously tender, juicy & full of savory flavor! Perfect for holidays when you’re feeding a smaller crowd or maybe need just a little extra for unexpected guests.

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Holiday Prime Rib

Prime rib is the choicest of beef cuts.Rich, tender, elegant– but still the utmost of traditional family dishes– it harkens back to the golden days of those large family Sunday dinners. So come holiday time, prime rib might just be that perfect traditional, but unexpected, main dish you’ve been looking for to grace your family table.

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Bacon, Cranberries, Walnuts, and Collards Stuffed Tenderloin

In this stuffed pork tenderloin recipe, juicy roasted tenderloin wraps around a seasonal filling of bacon, collard greens and walnuts combined with cranberries and goat cheese to create a beautiful holiday and special occasions dish that looks fancy but is so easy to make!

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Pineapple Mustard Glazed Ham

Beautifully glazed hams have taken center stage atholidays for as long as anyone can remember. Keeping with this star-powered tradition, thisPineapple Mustard Glazed Hamrecipe with its golden coat ofpineapple, mustards, brown sugar and horseradishoffers a kick of flavor that will soon become your go-to favorite!

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Southern Pecan Chicken

This gorgeous dish was Inspired by a visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Crusted with pecans and rosemary and covered in a delicious Dijon glaze and sauce, this mouthwateringly elegant chicken says special occasion, but is surprisingly quick & easy to whip up. But shhh… we’ll let that part be our little secret!

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The Perfect Peppered Pork Loin

This easy-to-follow Pepper Crusted Pork Tenderloin recipe uses a simple, wonderfully aromatic cracked peppercorn rub, plus Dijon mustard, to create a delightful main dish that is perfect for family meals or holiday dinners. First, seared in a cast iron skillet to seal in the juices then baked in an oven, this Perfect Pepper Crusted Pork Loin is melt in your mouth tender with a fiery little pepper kick!

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Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (10)

Classic Southern Pot Roast

Nothing says Sunday dinner like a fork tender, classic Southern Pot Roast recipe. Cooked low and slow with beef broth, red wine, savory seasonings, aromatic herbs and plenty of dinner vegetables, this traditional comfort food has been gathering friends and families around the dinner table for more years than we can count!

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Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls

This recipe speaks for itself- buttery, flaky crescent rolls, stuffed with a cream cheese and chicken filling and smothered in a cheesy cream sauce. In short,Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rollsare quite simply divine. There are one or two other versions of this recipe floating around the Internet, but there is nothing that comes close to this onemy mamawbrought home from her little Louisiana beauty shop. Yes, the beauty shop. The source from which everything flows in a small southern town. The latest in style, class, local news, wisdom and, for all practical purposes, some of the best recipes that have ever been swapped. All done under dryer and cape. Those ladies knew their stuff and then some.

Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (12)

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Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is the main dish in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner? ›

Roasted Herb Turkey and Gravy

A traditional Thanksgiving menu wouldn't be complete without the star of the meal: a roasted bird. Coated in herb-infused butter, it's no wonder why this dish remains a long-time favorite.

What are the 10 traditional Thanksgiving foods? ›

Here are our favorite traditional Thanksgiving dishes that are delicious and easy to make.
  • Creamy Mashed Potatoes. Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Serves: Up to 4 people. ...
  • Stuffing. ...
  • Green Bean Casserole. ...
  • Sweet Potato Casserole. ...
  • Baked Corn. ...
  • Mac and cheese. ...
  • Peas & Water Chestnuts. ...
  • Fresh Rolls.
Oct 28, 2021

What are 3 main foods on Thanksgiving? ›

The 10 Most Popular Thanksgiving Dishes
  • Roast turkey. We've already filled you in on how to carve a turkey like a chef. ...
  • Stuffing. Good stuffing is key to a successful Thanksgiving dinner. ...
  • Mashed potatoes. ...
  • Green bean casserole. ...
  • Corn casserole. ...
  • Sweet potato casserole. ...
  • Honey-glazed Brussels sprouts. ...
  • Cranberry sauce.
Nov 2, 2022

What was the original traditional Thanksgiving dinner? ›

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 loved Thanksgiving food? ›

Popular Thanksgiving foods ranked
  • Turkey. The classic entree for Thanksgiving is definitely a large turkey dish. ...
  • Rolls. Though rolls are certainly not a main dish, they are a key element of any Thanksgiving meal. ...
  • Other random foods. ...
  • Pies and other sweets. ...
  • Potatoes. ...
  • Stuffing. ...
  • A deep connection. ...
  • Looking ahead.
Nov 10, 2023

What are 5 traditional Thanksgiving foods? ›

Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer. The classic Thanksgiving dinner includes old-time favorites that never change: turkey, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, veggies, and pie.

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

Whatever the reason, here are 20 Thanksgiving recipes for a turkey-free table.
  • Roast Chicken With Maple Butter and Rosemary. Image. ...
  • Beef Wellington. Image. ...
  • Ombré Gratin. Image. ...
  • Skillet Pork Chops and Apples With Miso Caramel. Image. ...
  • Samosa Pie. Image. ...
  • Maple-Baked Salmon. Image. ...
  • Lasagna. Image. ...
  • Ina Garten's Make-Ahead Coquilles St.
Nov 10, 2022

What do Mexican people eat for Thanksgiving? ›

While some celebrate with the staples of their northern friends, many homes turn to everything from tamales and pozole to mole and chiles en nogada, making Mexican Thanksgiving food a culinary fiesta that reflects the country's diverse gastronomic heritage.

Why were potatoes not served at the first Thanksgiving? ›

The Wampanoag brought deer and there would have been lots of local seafood (mussels, lobster, bass) plus the fruits of the first pilgrim harvest, including pumpkin. No mashed potatoes, though. Potatoes had only been recently shipped back to Europe from South America.

What president refused to declare Thanksgiving a holiday? ›

Thomas Jefferson was famously the only Founding Father and early president who refused to declare days of thanksgiving and fasting in the United States.

What to serve for Thanksgiving dinner? ›

When it comes to the big Thanksgiving feast, we consider the roast turkey and the sweet potato casserole as sides to the STUFFING. A good stuffing makes or breaks Thanksgiving dinner, and this one will absolutely make your holiday meal all the better. Get the Classic Stuffing recipe.

What did they eat at the first Thanksgiving instead of turkey? ›

So while our Thanksgiving dinner table has a big ol' turkey plated in the center, the first Thanksgiving table was likely filled with ducks, geese, eels, lobster, and venison.

Did the first Thanksgiving dinner actually happen? ›

In fact, the Pilgrims of the Plymouth Colony in today's Massachusetts did share a meal with the Wampanoag Indians in the autumn of 1621, but the rest of the details are uncertain.

What is the Native American history of Thanksgiving? ›

Long before the arrival of the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag held frequent Thanksgiving-like celebrations, giving thanks in the form of feasts and ceremonial games. Exposed to new diseases, the Wampanoag lost entire villages. Only a fraction of their nation survived.

Did they eat lobster at the first Thanksgiving? ›

While turkey is the staple for Thanksgiving today, it may not have been on the menu during what is considered the First Thanksgiving. The First Thanksgiving meal eaten by pilgrims in November 1621 included lobster. They also ate fruits and vegetables brought by Native Americans, mussels, bass, clams, and oysters.

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