Thanksgiving dinner can be a particularly tricky landscape to navigate. Many find their tables filled with the same recipes year after year, dishes that are often tangled with nostalgia and emotional attachment. They might be family recipes passed down through the generations, archived magazine or cookbook clippings, or something gleaned from a cooking show, revisited annually simply because “this is what we have every year.”
I love to explore traditional dishes and embellish them with a little something extra. This collection of recipes presented by Better Than Bouillon is meant to breathe some life into familiar dishes your guests might expect to see with pops of flavor they might not. The beauty of these recipes is that they all feature 8 ingredients or less (including pantry items like butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper). And while the ingredients lists aren’t a mile long, each recipe is bursting with flavor, texture, and color. You will also find substitutes and optional add-ons listed if you have a well-stocked pantry. Making recipes with minimal ingredients means it’s important to search for the best quality items that fit your budget because you will really taste each one!
It might feel scary to suggest switching up your entire Thanksgiving menu, but rest assured that whether you try just one recipe or go all-in and take on the whole menu, each dish compliments each other as well as the typical Thanksgiving fare you or your family just can’t imagine a holiday without.
Have questions or concerns? Reach out! DM @thefeedfeed on Instagram or email foodstories@thefeedfeed.com, where I will personally answer every message.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Lisa & The Feedfeed Team |
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| This easy appetizer is inspired by classic Italian prosciutto with melon but reimagined to be enjoyed into the fall and winter months when pears are in season. It’s sweet, salty, savory, and perfect for Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving. You can showcase just one variety of pear or several different, but my personal favorites are Asian pears for their irresistible crunch and juicy bite for the raw preparation, and just ripe comice pears for the broiled preparation. A slightly bitter note from the radicchio is welcomed to cut through the richness of the prosciutto. Another perk of this simple dish is that you can serve it at room temperature just after assembling, or pop it under the broiler for about 5 minutes until the prosciutto renders slightly and becomes crisp. Either way is delicious. |
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| A creamy dip is one of the best ways to get a party started, and this one is absolutely bursting with flavor. If you find yourself with a little time on your hands, go ahead and try making the labne yourself. All you have to do is stir a little salt into plain yogurt, then strain it over a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth for about 24 hours. Castelvetrano olives are tossed with lots of garlic, citrus zest, and chili flakes to punch up the flavor. You’ll stir some of the olive mixture into the labne to distribute the flavor, then arrange the rest on top before broiling, where the olives will wrinkle slightly and concentrate their flavor. It’s perfect served with crackers, sliced bread, or fresh veggies. |
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| A creamy potato side dish is the ultimate crowd-pleaser on Thanksgiving. These easy parmesan scalloped potatoes get a little flavor boost from infusing the cream with fresh herbs, LOTS of parmesan cheese, and some Better Than Bouillon Roasted Garlic Base. Use a mandoline slicer to make quick work of slicing waxy potatoes such as Yukon Gold very thinly, then shingle them into a buttered-and-cheese-dusted baking dish that makes for a pretty presentation. |
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| Everyone loves a glazed carrot, and this elevated version is perfect for Thanksgiving. Honey and balsamic vinegar complement each other perfectly and coat the carrots in a sweet-tart glaze while roasting. Sesame seeds and chopped pistachios add texture and earthiness and deepen their flavor in the oven. Top with an extra drizzle of balsamic vinegar before serving and a sprinkle of fresh pomegranate arils for a gorgeous garnet hue, as well as flavor and texture. |
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| The secret to keeping your cool on Thanksgiving is to approach your turkey just like you would a simple roast chicken: aromatics, plenty of salt and pepper, and keeping the skin nice and dry. This easy recipe combines rosemary, orange peel, fennel seeds, and plenty of garlic with olive oil to create a flavorful wet rub that is applied underneath the skin of the turkey. Then, just rub the skin with salt and pepper and let the oven do the rest. The result is super juicy and flavorful, and worth every ounce of effort! (Note: the turkey in this photo was prepared exactly as the recipe lists, no food styling tricks here!) |
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| When it comes to Thanksgiving dessert, we could all use a decadent and impressive recipe that comes together without much effort. And most people will be expecting something with pumpkin. Enter: maple pumpkin pudding. It’s rich, sweetened with maple syrup, and perfectly pumpkin-spiced. It also cooks on the stovetop in about 25 minutes. Top with a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream, a sprinkle of roasted pumpkin seeds for an earthy bite, and a drizzle of olive oil for depth of flavor. It’s sure to become a new fall and winter favorite. |
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