Traditional Thanksgiving Dishes

Thanksgiving is known to be the festival where families and friends come together to celebrate the blessings they have. They get together to show the love, affection and forgiveness for each other, even if there have been rough patches. There is nothing more warm and enjoyable than a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with your loved ones, on a cold winter evening. However, Thanksgiving dinners are full of the yummiest dishes which are probably prepared only on Thanksgiving, but would get you craving for them. When we talk about traditional Thanksgiving dishes, they differ from each individual family, as each of us have different tastes and choices. But a few ingredients like turkey, cranberry and pumpkin are common to most of these Thanksgiving foods. Thus, we have a few Thanksgiving recipes put together in the coming up paragraphs just for you.

Traditional Thanksgiving Food

There are a few common Thanksgiving menu ideas which are prepared in each home as they define the festival of Thanksgiving. These are known to be traditional Thanksgiving dishes only because they have been associated with this festival from many generations. But it is not necessary that these dishes have to be a tradition in your home too, you can choose the ones you like. A few of these Thanksgiving dinner ideas along with their recipes are compiled in this article for you to choose from. Enjoy!

Appetizer Recipes
The traditional Thanksgiving dinners are divided into three main courses with appetizers, main course and desserts. There are many appetizer recipes which are available as Thanksgiving foods, a few, being mentioned below. These Thanksgiving appetizer recipes are;

Stuffed Celery: Mix 1 packet cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sour cream, ¼ cup walnuts and 20 green olives. Add this filling on clean celery pieces and wrap them neatly to be served.

Cranberry Apple Stuffing: Add 2 chopped apples, dried cranberry, onions, celery, thyme, salt and pepper to melted butter and cook, and then add the broth to the pan. Beat the eggs with parsley in another bowl, add the stale white bread and to this add the broth mixture, toss it well. Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 375 ºF.

Apple and Herbs Stuffing: For these Thanksgiving stuffing recipes use the same procedure mentioned above, with 2 chopped apples and onions.

Oyster Stuffing: To prepare this side dish, follow the same procedure as above, along with some potato bread, 1 tablespoon Old Bay, ½ cup oyster juice, and 1 pound shucked oysters.

Main Course Recipes
What is Thanksgiving without turkey and ham? These are considered as some of the most traditional Thanksgiving dishes and are prepared in many styles. To give you a brief description of these yummy turkey recipes and ham dishes, we have a few lined up for you!

Turkey with Gravy: Apply butter to the turkey, along with salt and pepper and place it in a roasting pan, add the shallots and stock. Roast the turkey for about 45 minutes in an oven preheated to 375 ºF till the juices are let out. Strain the pan drippings in another pan and simmer, add butter and flour, season with salt and pepper and cook till it thickens. Pour it over the turkey.

Ham Steak with Raisin Sauce: This is a great alternative for turkey. Thus, to start with these ham recipes, you can saute the ham in onion, apple cider, mustard seeds, raisins, ginger root, olive oil or butter and serve it hot and crispy.

Baked Ham in Honey Glaze: A beautiful ham preparation where the ham is supposed to be glazed with honey, orange juice, soy sauce, apricot jam, nutmeg and clover, once it is baked or roasted.

Dessert Recipes
If you are looking for some traditional dessert recipes for Thanksgiving, you can't miss out on the pumpkin and pecan pie. Here are some delicious recipes for the same.

Pecan and Chocolate Pie: Melt the butter first. In another bowl, add the eggs, flour, brown sugar, vanilla, corn syrup and bourbon and blend it well. Then add the melted butter in the bowl and mix it gently. Add the pecans and chocolate morsels and pour it in the pie shell, bake it for about an hour, and serve with whipped cream. Your delicious Thanksgiving dinner for two or a family is ready.

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie: Since you are making a pie, you can follow the same procedure as mentioned above, except, use ingredients like apple butter, pumpkin, sugar, salt in a bowl. Add the milk and mix, pour it in shell and bake for 40 minutes.

Cheesecake with Mixed Berries: Prepare a cheesecake and top it up with a mixed berries sauce. for the sauce, melt jelly in a pan on low heat, add the berries and toss them till the flavors are mixed. Pour the sauce on the cheesecake.

Other Traditional Thanksgiving Dishes

A few more suggestions for these Thanksgiving dishes which can be prepared easily are:

• Sweet Potatoes or Yams
• Mashed Potatoes
• Cranberry Sauce on Turkey
• Roasted and Grilled Vegetables (can be Thanksgiving appetizer ideas)
• Corn on the Cob

With these interesting recipes and ideas for traditional Thanksgiving dishes, hope you have found out which ones to cook for Thanksgiving this year! Well, make sure you have all the ingredients right, as that's what makes Thanksgiving food enjoyable.