Everything I've learned from 50 years of hosting Thanksgiving: the menu, the timing, the turkey questions everybody asks, and what to do with all those leftovers.
until Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26
Start with my whole dinner: seven recipes plus a Game Plan that tells you what to make and when.
See the bundle →Plan on about 1 to 1½ pounds of turkey per person. My turkey and stuffing are written for 10 to 12, so for a bigger table, double the sides and bake the extra stuffing in foil.
See the bundle →Easy dishes that travel well and disappear fast.
Pick a dish →Three new dinners from leftover turkey, plus two free recipes to download.
Use them up →The Thanksgiving dinner I've made for my family for 50 years. Every recipe is a printable PDF with my notes and make-ahead tips.
Stuffed and roasted breast side down at 325°F, so the turkey and the stuffing flavor each other.
Terri's tipPush softened butter and three bay leaves under the breast skin. Pull the bay leaves out when you carve.
Get the recipe · $2.29White and sourdough bread with celery, green onion, garlic and poultry seasoning. Serves 10 to 12.
Terri's tipThe bread doesn't have to be stale. I use fresh bread all the time. Want more bite? Add more Tabasco.
Get the recipe · $2.29Simmered on the stove while the turkey roasts, then thickened just before dinner.
Terri's tipRather have plain gravy? Still cook it with the giblets for flavor, then take them out before you thicken it.
Get the recipe · $2.29Fresh green beans parboiled with green onion and garlic, then pan fried with bacon.
Terri's tipParboil them in the same skillet you'll fry them in. One less pan to wash.
Get the recipe · $2.29Apples, pineapple, mandarin oranges and bananas under sweetened whipped cream.
Terri's tipDrain the fruit well so the whipped cream doesn't get runny, and cut the apples and bananas at the last minute.
Get the recipe · $2.29Sweet yams and tender apples baked together. A family favorite for a reason.
In the bundle onlyA fluffy chocolate-speckled marshmallow pie in a buttery cinnamon-oat crust.
Terri's tipMake it the day before. It's ready straight from the fridge.
Get the recipe · $2.29The bundle comes with every recipe on this menu, including the Yam and Apple Casserole, plus my Thanksgiving Game Plan as a free bonus: a printable timeline of what to make and when, so everything comes out hot and on time.
Get the bundle
With a family as big as mine, there is always a spilled drink, a story we've heard a hundred times, and somebody asleep on the couch by four o'clock. Now you can make a game of it.
Free PDF, no email needed. Print on regular paper or card stock.
USDA says to plan on about 1 pound of turkey per person. I go closer to 1½ pounds per person so there are leftovers for the next day. My recipe is written for a 16 to 18 pound turkey, and that feeds 10 to 12 of us with some left over.
At 325°F, USDA's roasting chart says about 4 to 4¼ hours for a stuffed 14 to 18 pound turkey, and 4¼ to 4¾ hours for 18 to 20 pounds. Mine usually takes 4 to 4½ hours. The clock is only a guide, though. Your turkey is done when a food thermometer reads 165°F in the thickest part of the thigh, the wing, the thickest part of the breast, and the center of the stuffing.
I've stuffed my turkey for 50 years. I know it's not the popular thing anymore, but the stuffing flavors the turkey and the turkey juices flavor the stuffing. USDA's safest advice is to bake stuffing in a dish, so if you do stuff the bird, do it the careful way: mix the stuffing and fill the turkey right before it goes in the oven, never the night before. Fill it loosely so it heats all the way through, and roast it right away. The center of the stuffing has to reach 165°F, just like the turkey. When it comes out, take all the stuffing out of the bird. If you have extra, wrap it in foil and bake it about an hour at 325°F.
Give it about 24 hours in the refrigerator for every 4 to 5 pounds. A 16 to 18 pound turkey needs about 4 to 5 days, so move it from the freezer to the fridge by the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Leave it in its wrapper and set it on a tray to catch any drips. Short on time? USDA's cold water method takes about 30 minutes per pound. Keep it wrapped, change the water every 30 minutes, and cook it as soon as it's thawed.
Make Charlotte's Chocolate Chip Pie the day before. It's ready straight from the fridge. Wash and chop the celery and green onions for the stuffing and keep them in a container. Earlier on Thanksgiving day, you can whip the cream for the fruit salad and put it back in the fridge. What I don't do ahead: stuff the turkey. That waits until right before it goes in the oven. The Game Plan in my bundle lays out what to do the days before and hour by hour on the big day.
Truth is, I don't make a good pumpkin pie. There, I said it. I've always just bought one, and most years somebody shows up at my door holding one anyway. So grab one from the store, or let your guests bring it. The pie that's actually mine is Charlotte's Chocolate Chip Pie, a fluffy chocolate-speckled marshmallow pie in a buttery cinnamon-oat crust, named for my mother-in-law and my granddaughter.
Food safety times and temperatures follow USDA guidance (fsis.usda.gov). Always check your turkey and stuffing with a food thermometer.
These travel well and always come home in an empty dish.
Make the beans ahead, cover them, and keep them somewhere warm.
Get the recipe · $2.29Whip the cream ahead and keep it cold. Cut the apples and bananas at the last minute.
Get the recipe · $2.29Made the day before and carried in straight from the fridge.
Get the recipe · $2.29No pumpkin pie from me, but nobody leaves my table without something sweet.
Fluffy marshmallow and chocolate in a cinnamon-oat crust. Makes one 8-inch pie.
Get the recipe · $2.29Old-fashioned marshmallow fudge made in one big pot. Makes a 9x13 pan.
Get the recipe · $2.29A cross between a cream puff and an eclair. Vanilla cream, pastry shells, chocolate on top. Makes about 17.
Get the recipe · $2.29The turkey sandwich at midnight is a classic. When you want something different, these are the three dinners I reach for: creamy turkey tortilla soup, Top Ramen with turkey, and turkey fajitas.
