hello my last minute thanksgiving recipe seekers and menu planners! i’ve got you covered! here is a quick roundup of recipes that would be a lovely addition to your thanksgiving table, with notes about how you can squeeze them into your day, whether that day is cooking 1,284 dishes or mostly watching the game before dashing out the door at the last minute with the dish you promised to bring to thanksgiving. for your convenience, i’ve listed them in order from “couldn’t be easier” to “you’re gonna need to actually plan when you make this”.
easy
(aka as long as the grocery store isn’t closed yet, you’re good to go)
first up, mulled apple cider. i know i harped on this last time but your house will smell amazing. and whether you’re going for coziest host or least-effort-but-still-seems-like-you-tried, this cider is your friend. make it in advance and just heat it up (there’s no shame in microwaving on thanksgiving!) or throw everything in the slow cooker and walk away.
sautéed spinach and cherry tomatoes. the recipe basically goes like this: wash tomatoes, cut in half, sauté tomatoes and spinach. you’ll need a burner on the stove for no more than 5 minutes, right before the meal is served.
medium
(not too time-consuming but you do need to grab a few ingredients before the store closes)
green beans with shallots, pecorino, and basil are a delicious alternative to the whole cream of mushroom soup/onions from a can situation. if it’s just not thanksgiving to you without crispy alliums, you can fry the shallots as the original recipe indicated but i honestly prefer them sautéed and it’s easier that way. i love it when i genuinely prefer the outcome of the lazy method. speaking of which, the green beans can be cooked in advance and kept separate from the other prepped ingredients until it’s time to eat then just heat up the green beans and toss everything together.
healthier, quick and easy biscuits so that you can douse them in more gravy? right here. bonus: no rolling, cutting butter into flour, or any other annoying biscuit-making steps. these are best the day they are made but can easily be made in the morning and come together quickly so you can sneak them in and out of the oven ahead of the turkey in no time.
hard
(you do actually have to plan for these recipes – but there’s still time!)
butternut squash, sage, and goat cheese pizza provides some much needed textural contrast to a meal that can get a little, well, mushy. a thanksgiving favorite with my family, it’s a great way to incorporate thanksgiving flavors like butternut squash and sage in a fun, new recipe. make the dough the night before, roast the squash in advance, and shred/crumble your cheeses in advance so that you have less than 15 minutes of work to do to assemble and bake the pizza.
dutch apple pie is so freaking good but i won’t lie to you, you need to set aside a bit of time to make this and a bunch of time for it to cool. do it, though, as it blows every other american apple pie you’ve ever had out of the water. making the crust involves grabbing handfuls of dough and pressing them so if you’re daunted by making traditional pie crust, this is your new favorite recipe. this pie is an ideal candidate for making the day before (refrigerate overnight then take out several hours before serving to let it come to room temperature before serving).
and off you go! happy thanksgiving!