Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner Menu

Thanksgiving is a harvest festival celebrated in the month of November largely in Canada and in the United States. Informally, Thanksgiving is also known as the 'Turkey Day'. It's because plenty of dishes abound the dining table, centered with a huge piece of turkey. Kids and adults gather around the table to relish the scrumptious dishes on that day. The festive season basically corners around organizing dinner parties for friends and family.

Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner Menu Ideas

The typical traditional Canadian Thanksgiving dinner menu will be presented to you in this article. The menu followed in the U.S. is almost the same. Stuffing, pies, soups and of course turkey recipes form the dinner menu. Read ahead to know some of the easy Thanksgiving recipes elaborately.

Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipes
Stuffed turkeys is the hallmark of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner menu. Apart from turkey you can also try stuffed potatoes, broccoli and apples. Stuffing turkey requires a lot of patience as it takes much time to get boiled. Vegetarians can opt for stuffed vegetable recipes. A classic style recipe of stuffed turkey is elaborated below.

Classic Stuffed Turkey

Ingredients

• Turkey, 14 pound
• Mushrooms, sliced, ½ pound
• Chicken broth, 14.5 pound
• Onions, chopped, 2
• Fresh parsley, 1/3
• Poultry seasoning, 1 tsp
• Parsley, minced, 1/3 cup
• Butter, ½ cup
• Salt, 1 tsp
• Warm Water
• Pepper, ½ tsp

Preparation

• Saute mushrooms, celery and onions in a large skillet till they become tender.
• Add seasoning and broth and mix well. Add mushroom to the mixture and then pour warm water to moisten it.
• Stuff the turkey loosely with this mixture.
• Skewer the turkey and then place it into drumsticks. Tie with a string.
• After tying with a string brush it with butter.
• You have to bake the turkey uncovered. Place a thermometer to check the reading. It should be 165 for the stuffing and 180 for the turkey.
• Cover the stuff for another 30 minutes so that the stuffing is baked completely.
• Let the turkey stand for 20 minutes after covering it.
• Garnish with your favorite topping and serve hot.

Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes
Side dishes along with the main course menu is must for a Thanksgiving dinner. Traditional Thanksgiving side dish recipes comprise pecan pies, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, pumpkin pies, cornbread, apple pies, bread rolls, chocolate meringue pie, etc. The side dishes are meant for a semi formal dinner. Check out the recipe for apple pie.

Baked Apple Pie

Ingredients

• Baked apples, 3 lbs
• Pastry, 2 crusts
• Butter, 2 tsp
• Egg yolk, 1
• Brown sugar, ¼ cup
• Nutmeg, ¼ tsp
• All-purpose flour, ¼ cup
• White sugar, ¾ cup
• Milk, 1 tsp
• Lemon juice, 2 tsp

Preparation

• Mix lemon juice with sliced apples.
• Mix sugar, cinnamon, flour and toss the apples into it.
• Line the pan with pastry and fill with the pie mix and then dot with butter.
• Top with a second crust of pastry and seal the edges.
• Beat milk and egg yolk and then brush it on the top of the crust.
• Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 425°F. Then lower the temperature to 325°F. Bake for 40 minutes till the pie becomes golden color.
• Serve it hot and garnished.

Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes
You have invited the entire family for dinner and looking forward to cooking some traditional yet easy thanksgiving desserts. So what do you do then? Ramble through the recipe books to find out one! Right? Well, the options are plenty, but you need to pick up the recipes that do not require much time to prepare. Here's one such recipe for you.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookie

Ingredients

• Dark chocolate cake mix, 18.25 ounce
• Light chocolate cake mix, 18.25 ounce
• Vegetable oil, 2/3 cup
• Eggs, 4
• White sugar, 2 cups
• Cream cheese, 8 ounce

Preparation

• First grease the cookie sheets and then preheat the oven to 325 °F
• Blend the dark and light chocolate mix in a bowl.
• Add eggs and oil and then blend well to form a smooth dough.
• Flatten the dough balls and place them on the cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
• Cool the cookies when they have become firm.
• Blend cream cheese or butter and confectioner's sugar. Fill between two cookies.

Do not opt for too much varieties as you might end up compromising with the taste. Keep the Thanksgiving dinner ideas simple yet delicious. End the party with exotic beverages.