30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (2024)

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Looking for crowd-loving Thanksgiving recipes and Christmas dinner ideas that won't stress you out? Grab these easy appetizers, salads, entrees, sides, and desserts suited for both casual and formal Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. Most of these recipes are gluten free and can be made-ahead. Some are even vegan! My super scrumptious roast turkey breast recipe and my air fryer turkey breast lets you skip right past the intimidation of cooking a whole turkey. Yeah, let's do this!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (1)

Go ahead and steal these easy Thanksgiving recipes and Christmas dinner ideas! Categories include appetizers, salads, mains, sides, and desserts. Many of these recipes can be made ahead, which makes your Thanksgiving dinner more efficient and makes YOU feel like a rockstar!

You'll notice that many of the recipes are gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan! But I've never had any complaints about them tasting too healthy, even though some of them really are!

Oh, and if you're looking for ways to use leftover turkey, we rounded up 40 of them just for you!

Easy Thanksgiving dinner recipes for appetizers, salads, entrees, sides, and dessert. This collection is suitable for formal AND casual holiday dinners. You'll find endless ideas for Thanksgiving or Christmas breakfast recipes, holiday potlucks, Christmas brunch recipes, and the list goes on. There are endless gluten free Thanksgiving recipes too!

Breakfast or Brunch

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (2)

Blood Orange Mimosa Recipe

This Blood Orange Mimosa is a spin on a classic mimosa recipe, made with blood orange juice in place of orange juice. It's less sweet than a classic mimosa and is garnished with rosemary for aroma and flavor. It's a simple, elegant, daytime co*cktail.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (3)

Dutch Baby Pancake

Dutch baby is a light, puffy, golden brown pancake served with fresh fruit, powdered sugar, and maple syrup for breakfast or brunch. This easy dutch baby recipe requires a 5-minute prep, 15-minute bake, and no special skills.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (4)

Cranberry Walnut Bread Recipe

Cranberry Walnut Bread is a fluffy, plump, slightly sweet bread perfect for turkey sandwiches or toasted with soft cheese. This simple yeast bread recipe is mixed by hand or stand mixer and perfect for bread beginners.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (5)

Vegetarian Crustless Quiche

Start your holiday with the perfect breakfast! This Vegetarian Crustless Quiche is a hassle-free, low carb breakfast casserole with eggs, bell peppers, mushrooms, and your choice of leafy greens. It’s made without crust, so it's naturally gluten-free. You can even make it ahead!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (6)

Smoked Salmon Dip with Greek Yogurt

Enjoy a holiday brunch with this easy salmon dip recipe. It's made with smoked salmon, cream cheese, Greek yogurt, and fresh dill. Serve with crackers, crostini, bagels, or vegetables.

Appetizers

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (7)

Christmas Charcuterie

Easy Christmas charcuterie board made with cured meats, cheeses, nuts, jam, crackers, and seasonal ingredients. It's the perfect sweet and savory snack or appetizer for every holiday gathering.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (8)

Cranberry Brie Crostini

Cranberry Brie Crostini is a simple crostini recipe topped with brie cheese, pomegranate cranberry relish, and walnuts. This savory, sweet, crostini appetizer is love at first bite and will make your mouth water just thinking about it!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (9)

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe

This Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip recipe is made with cream cheese, yogurt, artichokes, fresh spinach, parmesan cheese, and mayo. Bake-and-serve in a bread bowl or oven-safe dish. Once you try it, you'll be tempted to make spinach artichoke dip for every future gathering.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (10)

Herb Artichoke White Bean Dip

This White Bean Dip is an easy bean dip recipe made with cannellini beans, artichokes, fresh herbs, and (optional) feta cheese. Serve this scrumptious dip with crackers, vegetables, or bread for any occasion and watch it fly off the plate!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (11)

How To Make Crostini

Toasted bread slices with olive oil and salt. Perfect for bruschetta!

Mains and Sides

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (12)

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast

Herb Roasted Turkey Breast is a bone-in, turkey breast half, brushed with herbed butter and olive oil, and baked to perfection. This juicy number with slightly crispy skin is perfectly sized for smaller meals. Serve roast turkey breast for holiday meals or weeknight dinner!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (13)

Air Fryer Turkey Breast

Golden brown air fryer turkey breast with a tender, juicy inside. Air fried bone-in or boneless turkey breast is ready to eat in 40 minutes!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (14)

Easy Spiral Ham Recipe

This spiral ham recipe is juicy, tender, and never dry. Instructions include an easy orange glaze that pairs beautifully with the savory holiday ham flavors.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (15)

King Crab Legs Recipe (Cooked 4 Ways)

Alaskan king crab legs recipe: pressure cooked, grilled, baked, or steamed, I'm showing you how to cook crab legs to perfection.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (16)

Gravy Without Drippings

How to make gravy without drippings and only 5 ingredients! It's the perfect last-minute or make ahead turkey gravy for any dinner!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (17)

Mashed Potatoes with Sour Cream

If you love mashed potatoes, you'll go crazy for this sour cream mashed potato recipe. It includes all the steps for perfectly rich and creamy mashed potatoes the whole family loves!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (18)

Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes

How to cook Instant Pot sweet potatoes tender, fluffy, and perfect. No peeling or chopping makes pressure cooker sweet potatoes even faster!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (19)

Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (No Drain)

Instant Pot mashed potatoes with heavy cream are rich, fluffy, delicious, and guaranteed to disappear at any meal. Perfect for holiday dinner!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (20)

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

This shaved Brussels sprout salad recipe is festive, healthy, and loaded with raw produce like Brussels sprouts, kale, pomegranate, and apples. It's the perfect fall and winter dinner salad!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (21)

Easy Cream of Mushroom Soup

This mushroom soup recipe is so rich and creamy, even with the no-cream option. Button mushrooms simmered in a silky cream broth make homemade mushroom soup a delicious substitute for canned soup!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (22)

Fresh Green Bean Casserole Recipe

Fresh green bean casserole with velvety mushroom soup and French fried onion topping is an essential Thanksgiving or Christmas side dish. No canned soup or beans needed!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (23)

Sausage Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

Sausage apple stuffing is a variation of a classic Thanksgiving dressing recipe with sausage, apples, cranberries, and nutty topping. It's savory, sweet, and always disappears!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (24)

Cranberry Sauce with Orange Juice

Cranberry orange sauce is a mouthwatering holiday cranberry sauce with subtle citrus flavor from orange juice and orange zest. Quick and easy!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (25)

Pomegranate Cranberry Relish

This Pomegranate Cranberry Relish recipe has pomegranate and cranberries, macerated in sugar, creating a sweet and tart relish. Make cranberry relish a day or two ahead for deep flavor!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (26)

Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Vegan Green Bean Casserole with fresh green beans, vegan mushroom soup, caramelized onions, and a crispy Panko and almond topping. So creamy and delectable, you won't believe it's a dairy free green bean casserole.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (27)

Vegan Cream of Mushroom Soup

A cream of mushroom soup that's vegan AND gluten free? Yep! It's so rich and creamy, no one will ever believe it's vegan mushroom soup!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (28)

Smashed Roasted Potatoes

Smashed Potatoes are crispy roasted potatoes with a soft inside where baby potatoes are cooked, smashed, oiled, and baked to crispy perfection. Serve smashed potatoes sprinkled with salt or your favorite toppings as an appetizer or side dish for any meal.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (29)

Maple Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Savory, sweet, roasted Brussels sprouts with SO much flavor and texture. Fresh Brussels sprouts are oven roasted with fennel and onion, maple syrup-drizzled, then topped with pomegranate and pepitas. Perfect for holiday meals or ANY meal calling for a healthy side dish.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (30)

Savory Sweet Potato Salad

Savory Sweet Potato Salad is made with sweet potatoes, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, arugula, dried cherries, and pomegranate, in apple cider vinaigrette. This sweet potato salad is loaded with texture and flavor!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (31)

Squash Mac and Cheese

This squash mac and cheese is a comforting pasta dish that's velvety, creamy, and perfect for your holiday dinner as a meatless main or side dish that pairs with any protein.

Desserts

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (32)

Apple Cranberry Crisp

Pear Cranberry Apple Crisp is a simple, warm, holiday dessert. Fresh pears, apples, and cranberries are nestled in a scrumptiously sweet sauce under a crispy oat and walnut topping. It's so juicy and delicious ... one of our favorite holiday recipes.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (33)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

This easy no bake peanut butter pie recipe is made with fluffy peanut butter cream cheese filling on graham cracker crust with velvety chocolate topping. It's rich, creamy, and loved by everyone!

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (34)

Bananas Foster

New Orleans-inspired EASY Bananas Foster recipe with bananas cookedin a caramel rum sauce and topped with vanilla ice cream. Date night approved

Edible Gifts

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (35)

Peppermint White Chocolate Pretzels

Peppermint white chocolate pretzels are pretzel rods dipped in melted white chocolate coated with crushed peppermint candy. Make these easy, sweet and salty Christmas pretzel rods for holiday snacks and edible gifts.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (36)

Christmas Rice Krispie Treats

Christmas Rice Krispie Treats are classic rice Krispie treats topped with white chocolate and peppermint candy. This no-bake holiday treat is fun, easy, and downright crave-worthy.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (37)

Chocolate Covered Nuts Recipe

This chocolate-covered nuts recipe is made with mixed nuts drizzled with salted dark chocolate. They are the perfect sweet and salty snack – a welcome addition to any brunch spread.

30 Thanksgiving Recipes & Christmas Dinner Ideas - Kitchen Girl (2024)

FAQs

What are the 10 most popular Thanksgiving foods? ›

Top 10 Thanksgiving Dishes
  1. Turkey.
  2. Stuffing/Dressing.
  3. Pumpkin Pie.
  4. Sweet Potato Casserole.
  5. Mashed Potatoes.
  6. Ham.
  7. Green Bean Casserole.
  8. Cranberry Jelly.
Nov 22, 2023

What are the top 20 Thanksgiving foods in America? ›

Top 20 Thanksgiving Recipes
  • Creamy Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes.
  • Turkey Gravy.
  • Pumpkin Pie.
  • Southern Pecan Pie.
  • Apple Pie.
  • Baked Apple Pies.
  • Caramel Apple Pie Bars.
  • Pumpkin Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting.

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 3 main foods on Thanksgiving? ›

Many Americans would regard Thanksgiving dinner as "incomplete" without stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cranberry sauce. A recipe for cranberry sauce to be served with turkey appeared in the first American cookbook, American Cookery (1796) by Amelia Simmons.

What are 4 other traditional Thanksgiving foods? ›

Of course, everybody knows that a traditional Thanksgiving dinner consists of turkey, ham, green been casserole, potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, etc.

What is the most unpopular Thanksgiving food? ›

The Most Disliked Traditional Thanksgiving Foods
  • Ham — 25.57%
  • Coleslaw — 25.57%
  • Pumpkin Pie — 24.28%
  • Mashed Potatoes — 18.66%
  • Macaroni and Cheese — 17.47%
  • Carrots — 16.98%
  • Apple Pie — 16.29%
  • Corn — 15.50%
Nov 21, 2023

What is the unhealthiest Thanksgiving food? ›

Worst: Sausage Stuffing

It's often made with fatty processed meat, butter or margarine, and refined bread or rice. It's a high-calorie food that packs a load of fat, carbs, and nitrates, which are cancer-causing. If you add dried cranberries, there's a good chance they're sweetened and add sugar to your stuffing.

What is the most favorite dessert on Thanksgiving? ›

In general, pie reigns supreme as a Thanksgiving dessert. While some families have their nice selections of pie servings, tradition says apple, pumpkin pie, and a southern pecan pie are the go-tos, typically made with a buttery pastry pie crust.

What is the most common Thanksgiving meal? ›

Most Traditional Thanksgiving Foods. 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.

How many side dishes should you have for Thanksgiving? ›

For sides like mashed potatoes and stuffing, you should have at least one dish for every five people and at least two dishes for 10 people or more. If you're serving a salad, one should be enough unless you're serving 20 people or more.

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 do most people eat on Christmas? ›

Traditional Christmas dinner features turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables. Other types of poultry, roast beef, or ham, are also used. Pumpkin or apple pie, raisin pudding, Christmas pudding, or fruitcake are staples for dessert.

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 ...

What is the most eaten food on Thanksgiving? ›

Mashed Potatoes

It is one of the easiest and most popular entrees. Mashed potatoes are one of the only Thanksgiving items that comes in an “instant” version, making it easily accessible to those of all cooking abilities. After turkey, mashed potatoes rank as the most popular Thanksgiving dish as of 2020.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Francesca Jacobs Ret

Last Updated:

Views: 6035

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (68 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Francesca Jacobs Ret

Birthday: 1996-12-09

Address: Apt. 141 1406 Mitch Summit, New Teganshire, UT 82655-0699

Phone: +2296092334654

Job: Technology Architect

Hobby: Snowboarding, Scouting, Foreign language learning, Dowsing, Baton twirling, Sculpting, Cabaret

Introduction: My name is Francesca Jacobs Ret, I am a innocent, super, beautiful, charming, lucky, gentle, clever person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.