What is the main dish in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner?

Roasted Herb Turkey and Gravy A traditional Thanksgiving menu wouldn't be complete without the star of the meal: a roasted bird. Coated in herb-infused butter, it's no wonder why this dish remains a long-time favorite.

What was the original traditional Thanksgiving dinner?

But according to the two only remaining historical records of the first Thanksgiving menu, that meal consisted of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, cod, bass, and flint, and a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge .

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 the 3 traditional foods Americans eat during Thanksgiving?

Along with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry the "traditional" table now included white bread, apple pie, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and various fruit pies.

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 is served at a 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 popular side dish served on Thanksgiving Day?

Three of the New York Times cooking section's most popular Thanksgiving recipes are potato-related: a mashed potato casserole , potato gratin and cheddar mashed potatoes. As with potatoes, there's a Thanksgiving-preferred way for green beans to be consumed: the casserole, of course.

What are 4 commonly consumed foods at Thanksgiving other than turkey?

Cornish game hen, goose, duck, ham, beef, salmon, and mushroom recipes make worthy centerpieces for holiday meals.

Which two foods had not been invented during the first Thanksgiving?

White potatoes, originating in South America, and sweet potatoes, from the Caribbean , had yet to infiltrate North America. Also, there would have been no cranberry sauce. It would be another 50 years before an Englishman wrote about boiling cranberries and sugar into a “Sauce to eat with. . . .

What food was missing from the first Thanksgiving?

It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes , since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn't yet have mills to produce flour.

What president refused to declare Thanksgiving a holiday?

Thomas Jefferson was famously the only Founding Father and early president who refused to declare days of thanksgiving and fasting in the United States.

What is everyone's favorite Thanksgiving food?

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and though the turkey (or ham) might take top billing, everyone knows the sides are the true stars of the table. What would our national holiday be without stuffing and sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese, green beans and rolls?

Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (2024)

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by Stacey Published: Nov 4, 2023

This post may contain affiliate links.

This week’s recipe collection features classic Thanksgiving main dish recipes to make your celebrations easy and delicious!There’s a little something for everyone– from hams to turkey, prime rib to tantalizing stuffed tenderloin. It doesn’t matter if you’re serving a small crowd, a large one, or need a last minute solution for unexpected guests. Everything you need is right here!

Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (2)

Each Thanksgiving main dish recipe included here delivers a mouthwateringly tender, perfectly seasoned and simple-to-make protein that is sure to make your holiday spread your most delicious yet. Holiday success has never been so appetizing!

For More Holiday Yum: 7 Must-Make Holiday Fruit Salads

Southern Pecan Crusted Ham

Easy Southern Pecan Crusted Ham is as delicious as it is gorgeous! This showstopping stunner bakes up golden brown with a rich brown sugar, molasses, apple juice glaze and buttery pecan crust. Savory, sweet and holiday perfect, you won’t believe how easy it is to bake up this amazing ham!

Creole Roasted Turkey Breast

Coated with simple creole seasoning & butter, then roasted with fresh herbs & touch of citrus, bone-in Creole Roasted Turkey Breasts are deliciously tender, juicy & full of savory flavor! Perfect for holidays when you’re feeding a smaller crowd or maybe need just a little extra for unexpected guests.

Holiday Prime Rib

Prime rib is the choicest of beef cuts.Rich, tender, elegant– but still the utmost of traditional family dishes– it harkens back to the golden days of those large family Sunday dinners. So come holiday time, prime rib might just be that perfect traditional, but unexpected, main dish you’ve been looking for to grace your family table.

Bacon, Cranberries, Walnuts, and Collards Stuffed Tenderloin

In this stuffed pork tenderloin recipe, juicy roasted tenderloin wraps around a seasonal filling of bacon, collard greens and walnuts combined with cranberries and goat cheese to create a beautiful holiday and special occasions dish that looks fancy but is so easy to make!

Pineapple Mustard Glazed Ham

Beautifully glazed hams have taken center stage atholidays for as long as anyone can remember. Keeping with this star-powered tradition, thisPineapple Mustard Glazed Hamrecipe with its golden coat ofpineapple, mustards, brown sugar and horseradishoffers a kick of flavor that will soon become your go-to favorite!

Southern Pecan Chicken

This gorgeous dish was Inspired by a visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Crusted with pecans and rosemary and covered in a delicious Dijon glaze and sauce, this mouthwateringly elegant chicken says special occasion, but is surprisingly quick & easy to whip up. But shhh… we’ll let that part be our little secret!

The Perfect Peppered Pork Loin

This easy-to-follow Pepper Crusted Pork Tenderloin recipe uses a simple, wonderfully aromatic cracked peppercorn rub, plus Dijon mustard, to create a delightful main dish that is perfect for family meals or holiday dinners. First, seared in a cast iron skillet to seal in the juices then baked in an oven, this Perfect Pepper Crusted Pork Loin is melt in your mouth tender with a fiery little pepper kick!

Classic Southern Pot Roast

Nothing says Sunday dinner like a fork tender, classic Southern Pot Roast recipe. Cooked low and slow with beef broth, red wine, savory seasonings, aromatic herbs and plenty of dinner vegetables, this traditional comfort food has been gathering friends and families around the dinner table for more years than we can count!

Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls

This recipe speaks for itself- buttery, flaky crescent rolls, stuffed with a cream cheese and chicken filling and smothered in a cheesy cream sauce. In short,Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rollsare quite simply divine. There are one or two other versions of this recipe floating around the Internet, but there is nothing that comes close to this onemy mamawbrought home from her little Louisiana beauty shop. Yes, the beauty shop. The source from which everything flows in a small southern town. The latest in style, class, local news, wisdom and, for all practical purposes, some of the best recipes that have ever been swapped. All done under dryer and cape. Those ladies knew their stuff and then some.

Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes (12)

Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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