what other food is eaten as a main course on thanksgiving

What are the main Thanksgiving dishes?

 · Over 40 most popular best Thanksgiving main dishes from turkey, chicken, vegetarian mains, and everything else that is not turkey (beef, lamb, or pork).

What are traditional Thanksgiving foods?

 · These main-course dishes can serve as alternatives to turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, whether you're in the mood for roast chicken, lamb chops, beef, or quail. Read on for even more alternative ...

What are the best Thanksgiving recipes?

 · A typical modern-day Thanksgiving feast usually includes the requisite turkey, ham, corn (on or off the cob), potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie or sweet potato pie. Of course, the Pilgrims were more limited in their menu options.

What food do they eat on Thanksgiving?

 · Given their proximity to the Atlantic, local seafood like oysters and lobsters were likely on the menu as well. As the holiday grew in popularity, however, turkey …

Is beef a Thanksgiving main?

Beef might seem an unorthodox Thanksgiving main but don't discount it just yet. Beef cuts are delicious and varied, some cook in no-time, and they can be served in an elegant and beautiful way to be carved or cut at the table:

Is chicken good for Thanksgiving?

Chicken is cheap, healthy and easy on the palates of adults and kids alike. These two chicken recipes are wonderful for a Thanksgiving meal and need less cooking time than the traditional turkey:

How long to bake a 5 lb chicken?

Bake for roughly 20 minutes per pound of chicken, or approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes for a 5-pound chicken.

How long to cook chicken in cast iron skillet?

It's ready in under 1 hour and you can cut the cooking time by an extra 15 minutes if you butterfly the chicken. While you heat up a cast-iron skillet in the oven, cover your chicken inside and out with a delicious blend of spices and bake. 02 of 05.

How long to cook a smoked ham?

Bake a 4-to-6 pound smoked ham for 20 minutes per pound, and after 1 hour and 40 minutes make the glaze with Jack Daniel's spices and sugar. Coat the ham and bake until ready for a wonderfully flavored meat, so tender and juicy that you'll keep making it year after year.

How long to bake a pound of ham?

Use sugar, mustard, cinnamon, and vinegar to make a glaze that you'll use during the final moments in the oven. Bake 20 minutes per pound of ham and have this beauty at your table in approximately 4 hours.

How long to bake a crown?

Make a flavorful stuffing with apples, celery, onions, cranberries and spices, and stuff the crown before baking it for an average of 3 hours (2.5 to 3.5 depending on size). If you have the time, buy paper frills to decorate the tips for an even more beautiful presentation.

What is the main food of Thanksgiving?

Corn. Bread rolls are another staple (an important part) of the Thanksgiving meal. Many times, these rolls are cornbread, which is made with cornmeal, a powder from dried and ground corn. Corn is served in other ways at Thanksgiving, too.

Why do people eat Thanksgiving?

Even though there are leftovers, a lot of food is also eaten on the holiday. Many people eat so much on Thanksgiving that they feel the need to detox afterwards—to remove toxins or bad substances from the body. The day after Thanksgiving is another famous day, known as Black Friday.

When is Canada's Thanksgiving?

Canadian Thanksgiving is on the first Monday of October every year . Canada was actually the first country to celebrate the festival of giving thanks, which was started by Martin Frobisher in 1578 after he returned safely from an exploration trip. Today, Thanksgiving has a slightly different meaning for people.

Is Thanksgiving the same without turkey?

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without the turkey. The turkey is usually prepared whole, filled with fruit, vegetables or other stuffing (more on stuffing in #2!). It’s also usually seasoned , which means covered in herbs for flavor and smell.

What is mashed potatoes?

Mashed potatoes are potatoes that have been boiled and peeled, and then crushed (mashed) into a soft and creamy dish. Add butter, milk and some garlic, and you have a perfect dish!

What happens when you cook a turkey?

While you’re cooking the turkey (or many other meats), it will create juices. These juices can be turned into gravy, a thick sauce. This sauce is usually poured onto the mashed potatoes to give them more flavor.

What are some good side dishes to serve with turkey?

5. Cranberry Sauce. There is something about the sweet but tangy (slightly sour) flavor of cranberry sauce that makes it the perfect side dish for turkey. There are plenty of places that sell cranberry sauce , but it’s very easy to make on your own as well.

What is the main course of Thanksgiving?

Turkey is a classic main course for Thanksgiving dinner, but that certainly doesn’t mean you have to serve it. There are plenty of other show-stopping dishes that can take center-stage at your table, including herb-roasted king salmon with Pinot Noir sauce, crackling coppa roast with fennel and onions, and creamed spinach–stuffed filet roast.

Where was the throwback salmon originally served?

Originally served at Seattle’s Hotel Sorrento by chef David Pisegna, this throwback salmon dish stands the test of time. We simplified the original recipe, but didn’t change a thing about the velvety, wine-blushed beurre blanc; keep it warm and serve it immediately for the best results.

Can you serve cranberry chutney warm?

Cranberries may call the holidays to mind, but this combination tastes great any time of year. You can serve the chutney warm or at room temperature; if there's any left over, use it to light up a chicken, turkey, or ham sandwich.

What is Mike Lata's sauce?

Romesco, a traditional Catalonian sauce with almonds and red bell pepper, is the inspiration for Mike Lata’s squash puree, which does double duty as a side dish and a flavorful sauce for the pork.

How thick is a pork shoulder?

Ask your butcher for pork shoulder with an untrimmed fat cap (about 3/4 inch thick) for this recipe; the fat renders as the pork roasts, simultaneously getting crispy while basting the meat with its flavorful juices. The fennel cooks down into a rich and jammy condiment that complements every bite.

What spices are used in roasted cauliflower steak?

A quick spice blend of roasted fennel seeds, black pepper, and orange zest lend a sausage-like flavor to these roasted cauliflower steaks—without the meat. Browning the cauliflower before adding the toppings and melting the cheese ensures a tender, sweet, and nutty bite.

What is Romesco sauce?

Go to Recipe. Romesco, a traditional Catalonian sauce with almonds and red bell pepper, is the inspiration for Mike Lata’s squash puree , which does double duty as a side dish and a flavorful sauce for the pork. 15 of 24. View All.

What is the typical Thanksgiving feast?

A typical modern-day Thanksgiving feast usually includes the requisite turkey, ham, corn (on or off the cob), potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce and a pumpkin or sweet potato pie. Of course, the Pilgrims were more limited in their menu options.

Is Thanksgiving a holiday?

Thanksgiving is a holiday any food lover, regardless of national origin, can enjoy. Originally a celebration of colonists' first successful harvest in the New World, the holiday has become a major part of American culture and an excellent excuse to gain several pounds in a single sitting. A typical modern-day Thanksgiving feast usually includes ...

What did the pilgrims eat?

They most likely dined on locally available seafood, wild turkey, swans and other fowl, seal, peas, beans, radishes, grapes, plums and nuts. Sadly, there was nary a pumpkin pie in sight -- and certainly no whipped cream!

Where is goat meat eaten?

Goat is the world's most commonly consumed meat. It's eaten in Mexico, India and in many European countries . In fact, America is one of the only places on the planet this tasty animal isn't often on the menu.

What is baklava dessert?

Baklava is a Mediterranean treat that will complement anything on your Thanks giving dessert menu. Its flavor is enjoyable but not too overpowering. It's made with layers of phyllo pastry soaked in butter, chopped nuts and mouth-watering spices.

What spices are used in tandoori chicken?

To turn out top-notch tender, spicy tandoori chicken, you'll need plain yogurt, onions, garlic and a smattering of herbs and spices typically used in Indian cuisine, such as cilantro, turmeric, cumin and ginger. If you're interested in shaving calories and fat from the meal, you can always use non-fat yogurt.

Is couscous pasta or pasta?

Technically, couscous is a grain by nature, though many people confuse it with pasta thanks to its similar consistency and taste. The distinction is pretty minimal, since both pasta and couscous are made from semolina (a granular form of durum wheat). The only difference is that couscous' grains are crushed and pasta's are ground.

1. Turkey

Turkey has become so synonymous with Thanksgiving that most of us probably imagine the pilgrims and Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans chowing down on a roast bird in 1621.

2. Stuffing

Stuffing would have been a familiar concept to those early settlers as well, although their version was likely quite different from what we're used to. We know that the first Plymouth colonists didn't have access to white flour or butter, so traditional bread stuffing wouldn't have been possible yet.

3. Cranberries

Like turkeys, cranberries were widely available in the area, but cranberry sauce almost certainly did not make an appearance at the first Thanksgiving. Why not? The sugar reserves the colonists would have had were almost completely depleted after their long sea journey, and thus they didn't have the means to sweeten the terrifically tart berries.

4. Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes weren't yet available in 17th-century Plymouth, so how did mashed potatoes become another Thanksgiving superstar? The answer lies in the history of the holiday itself. In America’s earliest years, it was common for the sitting president to declare a "national day of thanks," but these were sporadic and irregular.

5. Gravy

Despite a dearth of potatoes, it's likely that some type of gravy accompanied the turkey or venison at the earliest Thanksgiving gatherings. The concept of cooking meat in sauce dates back hundreds of years, and the word "gravy" itself can be found in a cookbook from 1390.

6. Corn

Corn is a natural symbol of harvest season—even if you're not serving it as a side dish, you might have a few colorful ears as a table centerpiece. We know that corn was a staple of the Native American diet and would have been nearly as plentiful in the 17th century as today.

7. Sweet Potatoes

In the midst of so many New England traditions, the sweet potatoes on your table represent a dash of African-American culture.

What are the foods that are served at Thanksgiving?

Many of the dishes in a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner are made from ingredients native to the Americas, including turkey, potatoes, yams, pumpkin and cranberries. Immigrants such as the Plymouth Pilgrims may have learned about some of these foods from the Native Americans, but other foods were not available to the early settlers.

What is the tradition of Thanksgiving dinner?

New England Puritans proclaimed days of thanksgiving to commemorate many specific events. Such days were marked by religious observances, prayer, and sometimes fasting. Church records of the time do not mention food or feasting as being part of such events. A single exception records that following church services in 1636, there was “Then makeing merry to the creatures, the poorer sort being invited of the richer.”

What is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving dinner. The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and in Canada is Thanksgiving dinner, a large meal, generally centered on a large roasted turkey. Thanksgiving may be the largest eating event in the United States as measured by retail sales of food and beverages and by estimates of individual food intake.

How many calories are consumed during Thanksgiving?

People often consume as much as three or four thousand calories during the course of the dinner.

Where was the first Thanksgiving feast?

In a footnote in 1841, Alexander Young claimed that this event “was the first thanksgiving, the harvest festival of New England”. Jamestown, Virginia and other locations have also been suggested as sites of the "First Thanksgiving".

What is Thanksgiving without stuffing?

Many Americans would regard Thanksgiving dinner as "incomplete" without stuffing or dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, and cranberry sauce. A recipe for cranberry sauce to be served with turkey appeared in the first American cookbook, American Cookery (1796) by Amelia Simmons.

What are some side dishes that are served with turkey?

At Thanksgiving dinner, turkey is served with a variety of side dishes which vary from traditional dishes such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, to ones that reflect regional or cultural heritage. Many of the dishes in a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner are made from ingredients native to the Americas, including turkey, ...

What is the Thanksgiving meal?

For many Americans, the Thanksgiving meal includes seasonal dishes such as roast turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie. The holiday feast dates back to November 1621, when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, ...

What foods did the Pilgrims eat on Thanksgiving?

Local vegetables that likely appeared on the table include onions, beans, lettuce, spinach, cabbage, carrots and perhaps peas. Corn, which records show was plentiful at the first harvest, might also have been served, but not in the way most people enjoy it now. In those days, the corn would have been removed from the cob and turned into cornmeal, which was then boiled and pounded into a thick corn mush or porridge that was occasionally sweetened with molasses.

When was Thanksgiving first celebrated?

The holiday feast dates back to November 1621, when the newly arrived Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians gathered at Plymouth for an autumn harvest celebration, an event regarded as America’s “first Thanksgiving.”. But what was really on the menu at the famous banquet, and which of today’s time-honored favorites didn’t earn a place at ...

Who sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the three-day event?

While no records exist of the exact bill of fare, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow noted in his journal that the colony’s governor, William Bradford, sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the three-day event:

What did the Native Americans eat on Thanksgiving?

Fruits indigenous to the region included blueberries, plums, grapes, gooseberries, raspberries and, of course cran berries, which Native Americans ate and used as a natural dye. The Pilgrims might have been familiar with cranberries by the first Thanksgiving, but they wouldn’t have made sauces and relishes with the tart orbs.

What was the main food of the New England colonists on Thanksgiving?

The colonists occasionally served mussels with curds, a dairy product with a similar consistency to cottage cheese. Lobster, bass, clams and oysters might also have been part of the feast. Colonist Edward Winslow describes the bounty of seafood near Plymouth:

Why is turkey bad for you?

Turkey often gets blamed because it contains tryptophan, an amino acid that can have a somnolent effect. But studies suggest it’s the carbohydrate-rich sides and desserts that allow tryptophan to enter the brain. In other words, eating turkey without the trimmings could prevent that post-Thanksgiving energy lull.