Thanksgiving is coming so it’s time to publish my Thanksgiving Dinner Favorites! It one of my favorite holidays for so many reasons. It’s a time to get together with wonderful family, which seems harder and harder to do as kids get older. When the air gets crisp and you can just feel the excitement of the holidays approaching. It’s the time to cook up a storm and stuff myself with some of my most favorite foods of all. You can watch football, go Black Friday shopping, jump in crunchy leaves or simply hanging out around the kitchen, cooking, eating and chatting with family, which I’m pretty sure that is my favorite part of all. It’s a time when I’m extra grateful for all the wonderful people that surround me and bring so much happiness to my life. And it’s a time for sharing and caring a little extra.
Growing up, Thanksgiving dinners were a combination of delicious Korean and American foods. Right along with the traditional turkey, gravy and stuffing were bulgogi, rice, mandoo and chap chae (just to name a few), which made for quite the spread! New family members and friends were always very happy and quick to adapt. A few years ago, the hubby was sick and we had to cancel our plans to visit family. Since it was just the four of us, I opted for an easy traditional American spread. While delicious, the hubby and girls lamented that part of Thanksgiving was missing: extended family and Korean food. lol.
As you can see, there’s a lot going on on this plate! Starting from the top left corner and snaking around, consumed at this Thanksgiving dinner were:
- Sweet potato casserole
- Mashed potatoes and gravy
- Korean Pajun (veggie pancakes) – From Trader Joe’s frozen section
- Roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots
- Korean Chap Chae (sweet potato noodles with veggies)
- Corn casserole
- Cranberry sauce extraordinaire
- Turkey
- Green bean casserole
- Korean Oie Muchim (cucumber kimchee)
- Rice
- Bread rolls
- Korean bulgogi (not pictured, but consumed)
- Mom’s Stuffing (not pictured, but consumed)
- Korean Mandoo (dumplings, not pictured, but consumed)
- Cauliflower Casserole (not pictured, but consumed)
With that, here are some of my all-time Thanksgiving Dinner Favorites dishes that have been made in my kitchen for the past many, many years. People often ask me for the recipes, so now I can just send them one link! And please excuse the not-so-great pictures, but it’s hard to take decent ones when everyone’s ready to dig in, not to mention the lack of natural lighting by dinner time! lol. But don’t let my crappy pictures stop you from trying some of these yourself!
Most of these recipes are pretty simple and don’t require too much work (minus all the chopping you need to do for the cranberry sauce – but it’s SO worth it I tell ya!). The ones that require a little more work, like the cranberry sauce and the apple pie, can be made a day or two ahead in advance and refrigerated until turkey day. The cranberry sauce can even be made a month ahead and frozen until the day before. You can’t tell one bit!
Lastly, this is NOT a complete dinner, ie, no turkey or gravy recipe! But I added what I could, including Mom’s Stuffing. This post is a work-in-progress and my collection of all foods Thanksgiving. And I will try to update it with better pictures, IF I can ever capture them! Until then, have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your time w/ family, friends and lots of food! And hope you are able to enjoy some of these Thanksgiving Dinner Favorites!
American Classics
Korean Favorites
Beverages
Dessert!
American Classics
1. Sweet Potato Casserole – This is one from one of the first Thanksgiving my hubby and I ever hosted. Neither of us are into the kind with marshmallows, but we LOVE sweet potatoes! This one is sweet but not toooo sweet. The corn flake topping is icing on the cake.
2. Cranberry Sauce Extraordinaire – Growing up, my family and I loved Ocean Spray’s cranberry sauce from a can and it was always a must a Thanksgiving dinner. We used to crack up when my brother ever so carefully removed it in one piece from the can and served it whole on a plate. One Thanksgiving, I ran across this recipe and I was intrigued. Never even thought of making my own, but once I tried this one, there was no going back.
3. Cauliflower Cheese Casserole – This one has been very popular on Pinterest lately and I can see why – bacon and cheese make anything delicious! My kids actually like this so be sure to give it a try!
4. Corn Casserole – My sister-in-law Lisa brought this to a Thanksgiving dinner we hosted a few years back and it was absolutely DELICIOUS and so incredibly easy to make. Doesn’t look like much in the pic, but it has become one of my favorite sides.
5. Mom’s Turkey Stuffing– Bake it in the turkey or out, but either way, it’s a staple with turkey!
6.Green Bean Casserole – It’s right off the can of French’s Fried Onions, but it’s SOOOO good. I try to use organic mushroom soup and green beans and usually double or even triple the recipe for dinner of 12-20 and it’s almost always the first to go. Even the kids love it, so I have to include it here.
Korean Favorites
7. Korean Bulgogi – Korean Beef BBQ offers a meat variety to the traditional turkey and the leftovers (if there are any) are a great excuse to make some bibimbap the next day!
8. Oie Muchim (Cucumber Kimchee) – Pickled cucumbers are a delicious side to any Korean meal and offer a wonderful crunch and kick to the meal. Also a must for bibimbap!
Beverages
9. Spiced Apple Cider – Made in a slow cooker, I’m so excited to add this drink option to my Thanksgiving this year. Not only is it tasty, it’s gorgeous, too!
Dessert!
10. Pumpkin Pie – Another one, right off the can. This one from Libby’s. It’s tried, it’s true, it’s simple and delicious and will always be a part of our Thanksgiving dinner.
11. Caramel Glazed Apple Pie – Easy. Yummy. Need I say more?
12. Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie – SO easy. SO good. Don’t make this much anymore because of my girls’ nut allergies, but oh do we long for this pecan pie.
13. Carrot Cake I’ve been on a carrot cake kick lately and can’t seem to get enough of it. I’m adding it to my menu this year!
Well, hope you enjoy my Thanksgiving Dinner Favorites! And whaddya think about my turkey art? lol. Probably not the most pinterest-grabbing button, but I sure had fun with it. Ha ha. Hand-made every last bit of this using various shapes, so it took a while!
And whaddya think about my turkey art? lol. Probably not the most Pinterest-grabbing button, but I sure had fun with it. Ha ha. Hand-made every last bit of this using various shapes, so it took a while!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Feel free to make my day by leaving me a comment, following my blog via email, on Facebook or on Instagram – the more the merrier!
Christine, aka happyvballgirl : )
To check out items used in this post or some of my favorites, simply click here: “Products I Love“. Purchases made using these links earns me a little extra cash to support my bento habit, which Hubby really appreciates. Haha! So, THANK YOU, should you choose to purchase any of ’em!
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