17 Chefs Share Their Must-Have Thanksgiving Dishes

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"I love a good biscuit with my Thanksgiving meal. It is the perfect way to make little sandwiches with the turkey, gravy, and stuffing and also to sop of all of the remains on my dish. My favorite tip is to brush a salted honey glaze on the top of the biscuit to give it a little salty and sweet flavor which works well with the savory dishes on my Thanksgiving plate."

"Growing up my mom always made lasagna and it's always been my favorite dish during the holidays. I could never have a Thanksgiving without it. When I met my wife, her mom also always made lasagna. The two recipes are very close but I prefer my mom's (shhh).

My mother-in-law does add small meatballs inside her lasagna, though, and I think that is a nice, unique touch inside the pasta."

"I also love homemade gravy. When making the gravy, it's very important to use the drippings in addition to a fresh stock. You can buy fresh stock from the store but my preferred method is to make one following a whole chicken dinner earlier in the week that uses the leftover bones.

This will make the gravy for the turkey much richer and more complex than buying the boxed stock. As a bonus, you can start the gravy a day in advance to save time making the other dishes."

"You never really want to break tradition on Thanksgiving, but it's worth it to skip the Pepperidge Farm and Stove Top stuffing mixes. Get yourself a good sourdough and let it dry out.

Add some high-quality chicken broth, a classic mirepoix with aromatics of sage and thyme, and really good sweet fennel sausage. You'll never go back! And cover that stuffing with as much gravy as you want. Thanksgiving is only once a year."

"Because I've been known to eat a Thanksgiving meal that consists almost entirely of mashed potatoes and gravy, I replace the cream and some of the butter in the recipe with an aromatic garlic- and chile-infused broth that I cook the potatoes in, resulting in lighter mashed potatoes that are BIG on flavor.

"I like serving chicken as an alternative to turkey for Thanksgiving. Especially this year, with many still considering smaller gatherings, a chicken is a great option. Plus, as a New Yorker, the ovens in New York aren't conventional to cook a turkey, and the bird can easily dry up at the wrong temperature.

Chicken is also better because it's lighter. It won't leave you feeling heavy. Chicken unlike Turkey really retains all the flavors, and we can create a more exciting bite for our guests, like the guava glaze we do for our chicken at HOWM Cocina & Cocktails.

Make sure you rest your chicken for at least 10 minutes, brining the chicken is very important to keep it juicy and flavorful, and cook the chicken slowly at 350F to achieve crispy skin."

"Truth be told, my favorite thing to make at Thanksgiving is something called ambrosia. I am literally the only one in my family or circle of friends who likes it. It is essentially Jello, whipped cream, coconut, and canned fruit. Fight for it. Make the ambrosia a couple days in advance. Make extra for you, yourself, and you!"

"My favorite Thanksgiving dish is a green bean casserole. It is a dish that isn't really made any other time of the year besides Thanksgiving but really should be. A way to make it my own and to make it authentically New England is to add lobster to it. This becomes a delicious, rich dish that is the star of the Thanksgiving plate."

"My favorite Thanksgiving dish is candied yams. This sweet and hearty meal is not a dessert, but it's still a table staple I like to indulge in. My pro tip is to boil your sweet potatoes before combining your ingredients to cut back on your baking time. Make sure to drain before mixing everything.

"If you follow this tip, don't cover your candied yams while baking, if you do you will end up with a lot of liquid."

"The turkey is my favorite dish to cook, of course! After years of working on a recipe, I have perfected a turkey duet with a butter roasted breast, pan gravy, and confit leg and thigh with cranberry gastrique. The main reason why turkey breast is dry is due to the fact that when you roast the entire bird, by the time the legs are cooked completely the breast is overcooked.

My solution is to separate the legs from the breast and cook separately. For the breast, I stuff herb butter under the skin and roast in a 475F oven to 'sear' the bird for the first 20 minutes or so. Then, I turn it down to 325F and slowly cook it to an internal temp of 160F…then let it carry over and rest for at least 30 minutes.

The legs get a quick cure in warm spices, salt, and sugar, then confited in duck fat until almost falling off the bone…right before service the skin is crisped up to golden brown."

"For Thanksgiving, I make my mother's 'Italian dressing' to go alongside the turkey. It's essentially a sausage dressing that combines fennel scented pork sausage, chopped beef, onions, garlic, celery, raisins, white wine, pecorino cheese, bread crumb, and the livers from the turkey.

"For Thanksgiving, I make my mIt's the perfect combination of sweet and savory with back notes of umami and earthiness from the cheese and livers. Plus the top gets super crunchy, which is the best part!"

"Stuffing, hands down. My tip for great stuffing is the bread. I like to use a variety of fresh-baked breads. It's important to have a pain de mie (white loaf bread), sourdough, and a funky one like rye or a seeded bread. I make sure to let it get stale. Then I use a combination of EVOO and butter to toss the croutons.

I use a fresh combination of herbs, parsley, thyme, and rosemary. Make sure to season with salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan. I toss everything together in a bowl and add some chicken stock and moisten up to soak up the bread but not turn it into mush. I then bake it in the oven covered for 20ish minutes until cooked through."

"My all-time favorite dish at Thanksgiving was always green bean casserole with crispy onions. My secret tip: Normally you make this dish with cream of mushroom soup as the base to bake it in, but this time of year is also matsutake season which is my favorite mushroom of all time.

So I like to make a stock with matsutakes and then make a velouté with the reduced stock mounted with truffle oil and use that as my own fancy version of cream of mushroom. And if you want to really take it up a notch it is also white truffle season so finishing the dish with shaved white truffles really takes it over the top."

"I have to say Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The food is great, and the only real thing to worry about is not running out of booze. I'm a fan of cooking cranberry sauce. The tart cranberries are so acidic that they can cut through the fatty richness of the rest of the meal.

Cranberries are native to Massachusetts for one, and a few years ago the main corporation that buys the majority of cranberries from the local farmers played hardball with them, so they were stuck with a ton of them. A few of the chefs in town agreed to take a bunch off of their hands.

It was fun to find all of the ways to get rid of them. A food trick that I've been using for the last few years has been to put grated horseradish on the table. It satisfies the flavor junkies that crave spicy food, but it fits with the profile.

And a wine tip—I've found some rosés that are rich enough to hold up with Thanksgiving food, and that can keep the red wine drinkers happy too. For beer: Stouts and Porters are the way to go."

"I render foie gras scraps with the turkey hearts and livers, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, and chestnuts. Don't stuff the bird with the stuffing. Use aromatics like onion, garlic, celery, carrots, herbs, and citrus."

"It's not traditional, but my favorite Thanksgiving dish to make is marinated sweet potatoes glazed with fish sauce and bourbon barrel maple syrup. I slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch pieces and toss it with the glaze mixture, parsley, and chives.

Then I pop them in the oven at 275F until they are slightly firm. Then, I finish them on a wood-fired grill until tender."

4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar 1 ½ to 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) Vegetable oil for frying

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in mixing bowl. Stir in 11/2 cups lukewarm water and knead by hand until the consistency is sticky, mixing well to ensure a smooth consistency with no lumps. You may need to add more water, a little at a time.

Lightly sprinkle dough with a dusting of flour and let it rise. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 to 45 minutes. Lightly dust working table with flour. Reserve flour to keep your hands from sticking to the dough.

Gently pinch off dough balls about 3 inches in diameter and lay each ball on the lightly floured work table. Using your floured hands, softly flatten and form balls into circular patties 1/2 inch thick.

In a heavy skillet, heat 2 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees for frying. Gently drop flattened and formed dough into the hot oil. Watch closely for the frybread to brown. Turn after approximately 2 minutes on each side, depending on the size of your frybread.

Remove and drain on paper towels. Frybread is excellent served with traditional foods, stews, and soups, and even integrated into desserts.

Milise ti’me (sweet corn) ice cream (vegan) 2 13- to 15-ounce cans of full-fat coconut milk 1 ear of fresh sweet corn taken off the cob and coarsely crushed 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/4 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons cornstarch or 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat coconut milk and add in crushed corn. Allow to come up to a simmer, but do not boil. Let simmer 5 minutes.

Strain the coconut milk and return it to the sauce pan. Stir in maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.

Once the mixture is smooth, make a slurry of cornstarch and a little water and add it to the mixture. Allow the mixture to thicken until it is the consistency of pudding. Remove, cool, then freeze in an ice cream maker. Store frozen until ready to use.

S’kepukeyi’nini wipeko (pumpkin blue corn bread) 1 medium Indian field pumpkin or butternut squash Olive oil to brush pumpkin 2 cups blue corn Meal or white corn meal (masa) 3 tablespoons real maple syrup

S’kepukeyi’nini wipeko (pumpkin blue corn bread) 1 medium Indian field pumpkin or butternut squash Olive oil to brush pumpkin 2 cups blue corn Meal or white corn meal (masa)

3 tablespoons real maple syrup 1 cup and ½ cup hot water for pumpkin dough 2 cups of water for the juice bath 2 cups of cranberry juice Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Peel and seed the pumpkin or squash. Brush it lightly with olive oil and roast. The pumpkin will be ready when you can insert a knife into it with ease.

Scoop the warm pumpkin flesh into a mixing bowl. Add maple syrup and blue corn meal or masa, then add 1 cup of hot water.

Mix together until the pumpkin-cornmeal mixture is the consistency of biscuit dough. Add an additional ½ cup water if the mixture seems too dry.

Allow to set for 20 minutes until the corn meal hydrates and you can form it into soft disks. In a stainless steel skillet on low medium heat, mix 2 cups of water and 2 cups of cranberry juice. Allow to come to a simmer, then gently add the pumpkin cakes.

Cook on each side for 8 to 10 minutes, gently turn, and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove and make cranberry compote, reusing the cranberry water.

Pe’qeme (cranberry) compote Water and cranberry juice mixture left from poaching the pumpkin corn bread 2 cups dried cranberries 2 cups cranberry juice 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Add dried cranberries and additional cranberry juice to the water and juice simmering mixture. Allow the cranberries to rehydrate. If the mixtures seems too thin, add a corn starch slurry and simmer to thicken.

Remove from heat. Place blue corn pumpkin bread onto a plate or bowl and top with warm compote and ice cream. Wetheneko! (Eat!) Makes 12 servings Silinoke kenoli. (Until next time.)

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17 Chefs Share Their Must-Have Thanksgiving Dishes

Biscuits

"Growing up my mom always made lasagna and it's always been my favorite dish during the holidays. I could never have a Thanksgiving without it. When I met my wife, her mom also always made lasagna. The two recipes are very close but I prefer my mom's (shhh).

Lasagna

My mother-in-law does add small meatballs inside her lasagna, though, and I think that is a nice, unique touch inside the pasta."

Lasagna

"I also love homemade gravy. When making the gravy, it's very important to use the drippings in addition to a fresh stock. You can buy fresh stock from the store but my preferred method is to make one following a whole chicken dinner earlier in the week that uses the leftover bones.

Homemade Gravy

This will make the gravy for the turkey much richer and more complex than buying the boxed stock. As a bonus, you can start the gravy a day in advance to save time making the other dishes."

Homemade Gravy

"You never really want to break tradition on Thanksgiving, but it's worth it to skip the Pepperidge Farm and Stove Top stuffing mixes. Get yourself a good sourdough and let it dry out.

Homemade Stuffing

Add some high-quality chicken broth, a classic mirepoix with aromatics of sage and thyme, and really good sweet fennel sausage. You'll never go back! And cover that stuffing with as much gravy as you want. Thanksgiving is only once a year."

Homemade Stuffing

Spicy, Smokey Mashed Potatoes

Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken

Chicken is also better because it's lighter. It won't leave you feeling heavy. Chicken unlike Turkey really retains all the flavors, and we can create a more exciting bite for our guests, like the guava glaze we do for our chicken at HOWM Cocina & Cocktails.

Roast Chicken

Make sure you rest your chicken for at least 10 minutes, brining the chicken is very important to keep it juicy and flavorful, and cook the chicken slowly at 350F to achieve crispy skin."

Roast Chicken

Ambrosia

Green Bean Casserole with Lobster

"My favorite Thanksgiving dish is candied yams. This sweet and hearty meal is not a dessert, but it's still a table staple I like to indulge in. My pro tip is to boil your sweet potatoes before combining your ingredients to cut back on your baking time. Make sure to drain before mixing everything.

Candied Yams

"If you follow this tip, don't cover your candied yams while baking, if you do you will end up with a lot of liquid."

Candied Yams

Roast Turkey

Roast Turkey

The legs get a quick cure in warm spices, salt, and sugar, then confited in duck fat until almost falling off the bone…right before service the skin is crisped up to golden brown."

Roast Turkey

"For Thanksgiving, I make my mother's 'Italian dressing' to go alongside the turkey. It's essentially a sausage dressing that combines fennel scented pork sausage, chopped beef, onions, garlic, celery, raisins, white wine, pecorino cheese, bread crumb, and the livers from the turkey.

Italian Dressing

"For Thanksgiving, I make my mIt's the perfect combination of sweet and savory with back notes of umami and earthiness from the cheese and livers. Plus the top gets super crunchy, which is the best part!"

Italian Dressing

Homemade Stuffing

Homemade Stuffing

"My all-time favorite dish at Thanksgiving was always green bean casserole with crispy onions. My secret tip: Normally you make this dish with cream of mushroom soup as the base to bake it in, but this time of year is also matsutake season which is my favorite mushroom of all time.

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions

Green Bean Casserole with Crispy Onions

"I have to say Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. The food is great, and the only real thing to worry about is not running out of booze. I'm a fan of cooking cranberry sauce. The tart cranberries are so acidic that they can cut through the fatty richness of the rest of the meal.

Cranberry Sauce

Cranberries are native to Massachusetts for one, and a few years ago the main corporation that buys the majority of cranberries from the local farmers played hardball with them, so they were stuck with a ton of them. A few of the chefs in town agreed to take a bunch off of their hands.

Cranberry Sauce

It was fun to find all of the ways to get rid of them. A food trick that I've been using for the last few years has been to put grated horseradish on the table. It satisfies the flavor junkies that crave spicy food, but it fits with the profile.

Cranberry Sauce

And a wine tip—I've found some rosés that are rich enough to hold up with Thanksgiving food, and that can keep the red wine drinkers happy too. For beer: Stouts and Porters are the way to go."

Cranberry Sauce

"I render foie gras scraps with the turkey hearts and livers, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, and chestnuts. Don't stuff the bird with the stuffing. Use aromatics like onion, garlic, celery, carrots, herbs, and citrus."

Homemade Stuffing with Foie Gras

"It's not traditional, but my favorite Thanksgiving dish to make is marinated sweet potatoes glazed with fish sauce and bourbon barrel maple syrup. I slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch pieces and toss it with the glaze mixture, parsley, and chives.

Marinated Sweet Potatoes

Then I pop them in the oven at 275F until they are slightly firm. Then, I finish them on a wood-fired grill until tender."

Marinated Sweet Potatoes

4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon sugar 1 ½ to 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) Vegetable oil for frying

Monie Horsechief (Pawnee): National championship-winning frybread

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in mixing bowl. Stir in 11/2 cups lukewarm water and knead by hand until the consistency is sticky, mixing well to ensure a smooth consistency with no lumps. You may need to add more water, a little at a time.

Monie Horsechief (Pawnee): National championship-winning frybread

Lightly sprinkle dough with a dusting of flour and let it rise. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 to 45 minutes. Lightly dust working table with flour. Reserve flour to keep your hands from sticking to the dough.

Monie Horsechief (Pawnee): National championship-winning frybread

Gently pinch off dough balls about 3 inches in diameter and lay each ball on the lightly floured work table. Using your floured hands, softly flatten and form balls into circular patties 1/2 inch thick.

Monie Horsechief (Pawnee): National championship-winning frybread

In a heavy skillet, heat 2 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees for frying. Gently drop flattened and formed dough into the hot oil. Watch closely for the frybread to brown. Turn after approximately 2 minutes on each side, depending on the size of your frybread.

Monie Horsechief (Pawnee): National championship-winning frybread

Remove and drain on paper towels. Frybread is excellent served with traditional foods, stews, and soups, and even integrated into desserts.

Monie Horsechief (Pawnee): National championship-winning frybread

Milise ti’me (sweet corn) ice cream (vegan) 2 13- to 15-ounce cans of full-fat coconut milk 1 ear of fresh sweet corn taken off the cob and coarsely crushed 1/2 cup maple syrup 1/4 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Anthony Warrior Siwinoa blue corn pumpkin bread with cranberry compote and sweet corn maple ice cream

2 tablespoons cornstarch or 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract In a heavy bottom sauce pan, heat coconut milk and add in crushed corn. Allow to come up to a simmer, but do not boil. Let simmer 5 minutes.

Anthony Warrior Siwinoa blue corn pumpkin bread with cranberry compote and sweet corn maple ice cream

Strain the coconut milk and return it to the sauce pan. Stir in maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.

Anthony Warrior Siwinoa blue corn pumpkin bread with cranberry compote and sweet corn maple ice cream

Once the mixture is smooth, make a slurry of cornstarch and a little water and add it to the mixture. Allow the mixture to thicken until it is the consistency of pudding. Remove, cool, then freeze in an ice cream maker. Store frozen until ready to use.

Anthony Warrior Siwinoa blue corn pumpkin bread with cranberry compote and sweet corn maple ice cream

S’kepukeyi’nini wipeko (pumpkin blue corn bread) 1 medium Indian field pumpkin or butternut squash Olive oil to brush pumpkin 2 cups blue corn Meal or white corn meal (masa) 3 tablespoons real maple syrup

Anthony Warrior Siwinoa blue corn pumpkin bread with cranberry compote and sweet corn maple ice cream

S’kepukeyi’nini wipeko (pumpkin blue corn bread) 1 medium Indian field pumpkin or butternut squash Olive oil to brush pumpkin 2 cups blue corn Meal or white corn meal (masa)

Anthony Warrior Siwinoa blue corn pumpkin bread with cranberry compote and sweet corn maple ice cream

3 tablespoons real maple syrup 1 cup and ½ cup hot water for pumpkin dough 2 cups of water for the juice bath 2 cups of cranberry juice Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Anthony Warrior Siwinoa blue corn pumpkin bread with cranberry compote and sweet corn maple ice cream