30 Thanksgiving Recipes to Master

This gratin combines blanched chard and sautéed leeks, cooked until just tender in a creamy two-cheese sauce made with both Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Even though he’s lived in Los Angeles for years, Lee Hefter gravitates to people from the East Coast, who, like him, might have seen the fall foliage every year and watched maple syrup being tapped. He thinks adding maple syrup to gravy makes it go better with all the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes.

Adding shredded butternut squash to mini potato pancakes adds a touch of sweetness and a nice orange hue.

A splash of pear brandy plus maple syrup and Spanish almonds put a modern spin on baked Brie.

Chef Tom Fundaro looks forward to fall just so he can eat Fuyu persimmons as sweet as sugar. Fundaro features them in this satisfying and nicely bitter fall salad.

These buttery, onion-flecked, pull-apart rolls are an irresistible cross between Parker House classics and bialys.

Maria Guarnaschelli likes to joke that when you cook French food on a regular basis, you need a cow in the backyard to provide enough butter and cream. This dairy-rich recipe calls for whipped cream and cheese.

This unbelievably simple side dish counters the slight bitterness of brussels sprouts with a sweet maple-syrup pan sauce.

Cornmeal biscuits make a delicious crust for these smoky, spicy collard greens.

This corn bread dressing includes plenty of brussels sprouts, so it's like two classic Thanksgiving side dishes in one.

Chef Kevin Kathman stuffs maple-glazed roasted squash with quinoa and sautéed wild mushrooms. For a more substantial dish, serve it with roasted root vegetables brushed with the same glaze.

Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Tip: The pickled pears, dressing and cleaned greens can be refrigerated separately for up to 2 days. Slice the onion just before serving.

This is a marvelous turkey—simple, satisfying and completely delicious. Since Grace Parisi is a big fan of sweet Italian sausage (which was always in the rice-based stuffing she ate as a kid), she often adds it to the dressing; the fennel seed in the sausage truly elevates the dish.

Spaghetti squash, which separates into spaghetti-like strands when cooked, is an excellent base for this easy salad from Patrick Stubbers. The recipe would also be good with roasted cubes of butternut squash.

This deliciously rich gratin is Robert Stehling’s take on the Southern casseroles he refers to as “church-supper dishes.”

With a variety of mushrooms and creamy polenta, this dish will hit the spot if you're craving something savory.

Aida Mollenkamp packs tart (pomegranate), bitter (watercress, arugula) and sweet flavors (honey, pear) into this spicy salad.

Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Tip: The squash and cilantro cream can be made a day ahead and refrigerated separately overnight.

Pro tip—you can make the crispy leeks the night beforehand, and re-crisp them at 350° Fahrenheit in the oven day-of.

Crusty country Italian bread is the star of this dish, paired with pumpkin seeds, scallions, celery, and garlic with a touch of sherry.

A dry brine is not only an easier technique, but it also results in crispier skin and more flavorful meat than a classic wet brine. Those final six to 12 hours of drying will ensure crackling, crispy skin.

Chestnuts, lemons, artichokes, garlic, and thyme come together in this fragrant roast, which is ready in an hour.

This pie is a delicious combination of cream pie and apple pie, best served with baked apple slices.

This cake is a riff on a traditional English steamed pudding. Warm, soft, spicy and simple, it may be one of the best pumpkin desserts you’ll ever eat.

Cranberries usually appear on the holiday table as a condiment, but here they flavor a delicious cake, topped with a crumbly, buttery oat streusel.

With more eggs than a traditional pumpkin pie, this pie-version is much richer and matches the creamy texture of the accompanying licorice ice cream.

Baked in thin layer in a sheet pan, this nostalgic stuffing has plenty of deliciously crispy edges. When buying challah, look for a loaf that feels springy; when you poke it, the loaf should slowly bounce back to its original shape. The addition of orange juice adds a lightly sweet, floral flavor to this otherwise-traditional dish.

To make these next-level potatoes, Food & Wine’s Justin Chapple first steeps cubes of double-smoked bacon in half-and-half, then folds the strained bacon-scented cream into boiled and riced potatoes. Pressing the potatoes through a ricer makes a deliciously light and extra-creamy potato puree.

Fresh haricots verts are quickly cooked in beef fat just until they’re crisp-tender, giving them deeply savory flavor without overcooking them. The acidic lemon juice and licoricey tarragon add just enough bright, light flavor to this rich side dish.

Creamy coconut milk and a touch of sugar help to round out this fragrant and rich sauce, heady with the scent of lime and lemongrass.