The Ultimate Guide to Thanksgiving (2025)
The best recipes, tips, and expert advice from our Test Kitchen
RecipesCandied Purple Sweet Potatoes
Slowly roasting purple sweet potatoes in a sticky-sweet mixture of brown sugar and spices gives them a glossy sheen that’s as stunning as it is flavorful.
RecipesGarlic Mashed Potatoes
A good garlic mashed potato recipe can upstage even the flashiest of mains. Adding just a few cloves of garlic turns what could be a simple side dish into something with undeniable charm.
RecipesGreen Bean Salad
Crisp-tender green beans meet a punchy Parmesan dressing in this easy, make-ahead fresh green bean salad that’s perfect for dinner parties or holidays.
RecipesSweet Potato Rolls
Sweet potatoes lend a soft orange glow and beguiling sweetness to this tray of dinner rolls with its shiny top coat of melted butter.
RecipesSweet-and-Spicy Squash With Scallion Oil
Roasted squash loses its bland reputation and turns glossy and fragrant thanks to a gingery miso-glaze and a quick scallion oil.
RecipesMaple Bacon Cabbage Wedges
Roasted cabbage wedges get cloaked in a salty-sweet glaze of maple syrup and Dijon mustard before getting topped with crunchy bacon.
Luxe Mushroom Bourguignon
In this mushroom bourguignon, a vegetarian take on a French classic, earthy fungi braise in a wine-rich umami broth with pearl onions and tender carrots.
More Can’t-Miss Thanksgiving Stories
ShoppingHeirloom-Worthy Tableware for Your Thanksgiving Spread
Take inspiration from the BA team to start your own traditions with stunning statement pieces.
DrinksThis Thanksgiving, Skip the Cocktail and Pour Vermouth Instead
It’s low-effort, low-proof, and built for a meal teeming with side dishes
DrinksIt’s a Fine Time for American Wine
A collective of wine pros is energizing the industry with new perspectives on sustainability and an embrace of native grapes.
Thanksgiving Advice from Our (Test) Kitchen to Yours
CookingHow Long to Cook a Turkey for Maximum Accolades
Whether you’re roasting your turkey whole or in parts, here’s how to get the timing just right.
Recipes37 Leftover Turkey Recipes Because Your Holiday Surplus Won’t Use Up Itself
Steamy pot pies, silky rice porridge, and more than one post-Thanksgiving sandwich, which, yes, you do need a recipe for.
CookingHow to Make Stuffing Ahead of Time (and Reheat It Later)
Free up oven space and thank yourself later.
CookingWhat’s the Best Potato for Mashing? Well, That Depends
Start with superb spuds and the rest is, pardon our pun, gravy.
CookingDo Not Use a Potato Masher to Mash Potatoes
For the smoothest spuds, the only tool we trust is a ricer.
CookingThe Best Apples for Baking
Our eight go-to varieties, plus how to pick an apple for baking in the first place.
CultureWine Calculator: How Many Bottles of Wine Does Your Dinner Party Need?
We’ve done the math—there’s a chart and everything.
CookingHow to Cook Ham, the Handsome, Glazed Centerpiece on My Holiday Table
At my party, it’s all about the pork.
CookingWe Found the Best Boxed Stuffing for Thanksgiving
We tasted seven popular stuffing mixes from Stove Top, Pepperidge Farm, Trader Joe’s, and more. These three came out on top.
Turkey and Mains
Cooking23 Turkey Recipes for Every Kind of Thanksgiving
Whole birds, turkey breasts, braised legs, and more ways to rule the Thanksgiving table.
RecipesClassic Brined and Roasted Turkey
A simple wet brine, one clever use for a cooler, and a golden roast turkey that needs no basting.
RecipesDry-Brined Turkey With Tangy Honey Glaze
Our never-fail turkey is excellent in every way that other turkeys often fall short. Period.
RecipesSmoked Turkey With Spicy BBQ Rub
Ditch the overcrowded oven and turn to your trusty grill—no smoker required.
RecipesExpertly Spiced and Glazed Roast Turkey
A peppery dry brine, tangy soy-orange glaze, and clever method for roasting turkey in parts.
RecipesSpice-Crusted Ham With Brown Sugar Glaze
A show-stopping, relatively hands-off main built for a dinner party or holiday meal.
RecipesCarrot Wellington
This vegetarian main highlights roasted carrots two ways: glazed as the center of the Wellington, and blended to form the tender filling.
RecipesCheesy Roasted Cabbage Wedges
Are these rich, hefty wedges a luscious side or meatless main? The answer is yes.
Stuffing, Potatoes, and Other Sides
Cooking53 Thanksgiving Side Dishes That’ll Outshine the Turkey
Brown-butter brussels sprouts, green beans in Parmesan dressing, and more reasons to dub the day “Sidesgiving.”
RecipesSimple-Is-Best Stuffing
Crisp on top, custardy underneath, and generous with the butter, this holiday icon keeps earning its place at the table.
Cooking29 Stuffing Recipes That Make Thanksgiving Thanksgiving
Calabrian chile and chorizo, cornbread and biscuit dressing, and more stuffings to be thankful for.- Recipes
BA’s Best Mashed Potatoes
A buttery, silky mash that doesn’t need gravy—but happily welcomes it. 
RecipesPotatoes au Gratin
Whatever you call it (au gratin potatoes, potato gratin, that cheesy potato thing), this classic dish never disappoints.
RecipesBA’s Best Buttermilk Biscuits
Quartering and stacking the dough creates lots of flaky layers that beg to be pulled apart and slathered with softened butter.
RecipesBA’s Best Mac and Cheese
This homemade mac and cheese is our Platonic ideal: It is deeply cheesy and creamy and has a crunchy crust. Plus, it doubles easily for a crowd.
Vegetable Sides and Salads
Recipes53 Thanksgiving Vegetables So Tasty You’ll Stop Calling It Turkey Day
Brussels sprouts. Green beans. Winter squash. All our favorite Thanksgiving vegetables in one delicious place.
RecipesBA’s Best Green Bean Casserole
Go high-low with fresh green beans, deeply browned mushrooms, Parmesan béchamel, and plenty of store-bought fried onions.
RecipesCheesy Corn Pudding
Boxed cornbread mix becomes its very best self thanks to cheddar cheese, sour cream, and lots of chives.
RecipesThe Easiest Glazed Carrots
Carrots need not be boring. These are sweet and sticky, with a hint of orange and ginger.
RecipesRoasted Delicata Squash With Crispy Onions
Top caramelized delicata squash with juicy pomegranate seeds and spiced crispy onions for an easy holiday-worthy side.
Cooking31 Fresh and Crunchy Salads for Thanksgiving
Like kale with a pecan vinaigrette, radicchio with mustard-slicked croutons, and a black-garlic Caesar.
Pies, Cakes, and Other Desserts
Recipes31 Thanksgiving Desserts to Cap Your Holiday Feast
Like caramel layer cake and a colossal bowl of chocolate mousse.
Cooking31 Thanksgiving Pies Worth a Second Slice at Breakfast
Bourbon-caramel apple, marshmallow-butterscotch, cranberry meringue, and more reasons to save room for dessert.
RecipesBA’s Best Pumpkin Pie
Silky filling, flaky crust, a whisper of spice: This is pumpkin pie done right.
RecipesBA’s Best Apple Pie
Claire Saffitz’s cardamom-and-cider-spiked apple pie will rival any bakery version.
RecipesBA’s Best Pecan Pie
No booze, no chocolate, no hard-to-find ingredients in this rendition of the classic pecan pie.
RecipesChocolate Pecan Pie
All the gooey goodness that chocolate pecan pie lovers crave, but with a cocoa crust, bittersweet morsels baked right into the custard, and fluffy chocolate cream.
Recipes25 Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Desserts We Can't Get Enough Of
There's a decadent world of cakes, ice creams, and cookies beyond your average pie.
Cooking24 Thanksgiving Cookies Just as Festive as Pie
Like caramel apple cookies and pumpkin-spiced chocolate chip cookies.
RecipesFall Fruit Galette
This fill-in-the-blank, easy-going galette is here for your crisp fall apples or pears.
Cocktails, Wine, and Appetizers
Recipes37 Thanksgiving Appetizers Worth Showing Up Early For
Make-ahead dips, flaky cheese twists, and more starters to nibble while the turkey takes her time.
RecipesJammy Brie Galette
This Brie galette is party food at its finest—and easiest! A 5-ingredient sweet-salty appetizer that takes just five minutes to prep.
RecipesCreamy Giardiniera Dip
Four simple ingredients, one party-ready dip that takes mere minutes to blitz together.
RecipesBA’s Best Shrimp Cocktail
Shrimp cocktail is all about the shrimp: big, fat, perfectly cooked gorgeous shrimp. Here’s how to do it.
Recipes41 Thanksgiving Cocktails That’ll Really Shake Things Up
From hot toddies to big-batch punch, these festive drinks will get you in the holiday spirit.
RecipesWhiskey Sour
Bright lemon juice, warming bourbon, and simple syrup combine for this easy, refreshing classic.
RecipesMulled Wine
This heady mulled wine recipe is perfect for the holiday season—or any time you’re looking for something fragrant and cozy.
RecipesCranberry-Maple Mule
This big-batch cocktail made with ginger beer, cranberry juice, fresh lime, and a spiced maple simple syrup makes the perfect low-alcohol holiday drink.
Cooking29 Mocktails Worthy of a Second Round
Pomegranate spritzers, chile-cucumber agua frescas, blood orange shrubs, and more drinks with zero alcohol, but a lot of spirit.
