Top 10 Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes {Start Here!}

Planning a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for the first time? Start with this basic Thanksgiving meal plan and then add your favorite variations to fill your buffet table.

The photo collage shows several traditional Thanksgiving dinner recipes including a roast turkey, stuffing, cranberries, and sweet potato casserole.

If you want to host a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with a classic turkey and old fashioned side dishes, you only need a handful of popular family recipes to pull it off.

These main Thanksgiving dinner recipes are at the core of the most delicious Thanksgiving feast.

Start your Thanksgiving meal plan with these dishes and then be playful with your favorite holiday variations.

Why These are the Best Traditional Thanksgiving Recipes

The Thanksgiving holiday is all about family and memory making.

Who doesn't love to come to the table knowing they'll find a cherished favorite waiting for them?

These are the best traditional Thanksgiving recipes because:

Widely Popular: These are the core Thanksgiving dinner recipes that make up that picture-perfect Thanksgiving table everyone imagines.
Time Tested: These are the dishes I've made again, and again, and again, for almost 20 years of Thanksgiving cooking.
Easy and Wholesome: The recipes are simple to prepare, made from scratch whenever possible, and use just a few handy shortcuts to make the meal prep easier.

Thanksgiving Turkey Recipes

The star of any traditional Thanksgiving dinner is always a turkey but you definitely have options for which turkey recipe to choose depending on your goal for the feast:

Classic Roasted Herb Butter Turkey: This is the Normal Rockwell whole turkey recipe that you'll proudly bring on a platter to the table.
Easy Slowcooker Boneless Turkey Breast: This is my new favorite holiday shortcut and the easiest turkey recipe you'll ever find.

A roasted turkey sits in a metal roasting pan, golden brown all over.

Roasted Herb Butter Turkey

Two slices of slow cooked turkey breast are on a plate drizzled with gravy.

Slowcooker Boneless Turkey Breast

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Turkey Gravy and Cranberry Sauce

Every Thanksgiving turkey needs a little sauce to bring out the flavor.

Traditionally you'll use a homemade turkey gravy and a citrusy cranberry sauce.

These sauces help to add so much flavor to all the dishes on your dinner plate.

The turkey gravy is being served in a china gravy boat with fresh sage for garnish.

Easy Homemade Gravy for Beginners

A pot of fresh cranberries is cooking with a wooden spoon to stir.

Cranberry Sauce with Grand Marnier

Thanksgiving Stuffing

While Thanksgiving stuffing is usually stuffed into the turkey while it bakes, you can have a traditional dinner with an oven baked dressing made in a baking dish and served on the side.

My mom always made this easy Italian sausage stuffing. Want something easier? You can make air fryer stuffing or crock pot stuffing if you need to save room in your oven.

And for all you southern recipe fans, don't miss my delicious corn bread dressing.

Corn Bread Dressing

The pan of stuffing is coming out of the air fryer.

Air Fryer Stuffing

A scoop of golden brown Crock Pot stuffing is served on a small white plate. The slowcooker power knob is seen in the back.

Make Ahead Crock Pot Stuffing

A baking dish filled with homemade sausage stuffing sits next to a striped towel.

Italian Sausage Stuffing

Thanksgiving Potatoes

A traditional Thanksgiving dinner will offer one or two potato side dishes.

The most classic options are usually a white mashed potato with butter that pairs well with gravy and a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows or streusel topping.

You could always mix things up and serve slow cooker sweet potatoes with brown sugar, whipped butter, and chopped pecans for family to top their own potato.

A pan of cheesy cornflake potatoes is a Thanksgiving potluck party favorite, too.

A silver Crockpot has finished mashed potatoes that are sprinkled with fresh chives and two pats of butter.

Creamy Crockpot Mashed Potatoes

A baking dish filled with the finished sweet potato casserole with pecan topping.

Make Ahead Sweet Potato Casserole

A slow cooker pot has several sweet potatoes in it ready to bake.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes

The funeral potatoes recipe has been baked and a spoon has scooped out a serving from the baker.

Cheesy Cornflake Potatoes {Oven or Crock Pot}

Thanksgiving Vegetables

Fall seasonal vegetables roasted or turned into an easy casserole side dish traditionally fill out the Thanksgiving dinner plate.

You can keep my Crockpot green bean casserole or homemade Crock pot creamed corn warm on the counter.

The air fryer is a great way to roast veggies that won't fit in the oven. Try my air fried butternut squash or even these delicious sweet roasted carrots.

Get all the best Thanksgiving vegetables here.

A serving of crispy green bean casserole is in a blue dish with a fork.

Crispy Crockpot Green Bean Casserole

A sliced open acorn squash has been filled with red dried cranberries and a spoonful of brown sugar.

Slowcooker Acorn Squash with Apples

Oven Roasted Carrots

A white platter of cubed butternut squash has been air fried to a golden crispy brown.

Air Fried Butternut Squash

The Bread Basket

Yes, there are already lots of starches on the table at this point but it's not really a traditional Thanksgiving dinner without a bread basket and pats of softened butter.

Use your bread machine to make homemade crescent dinner rolls or these make ahead brown and serve dinner rolls. A pan of rosemary pull apart rolls can be prepped in advance and frozen. Pans of buttermilk cornbread will also be well received at thet able.

Get all the best Thanksgiving bread recipes here.