10 Classic American Thanksgiving Foods

10 classic Thanksgiving foods

If Korea has Chuseok and Seollal, the United States has Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is considered one of the biggest holidays in America — a day to give thanks for the year’s harvest. It’s similar in meaning to Korea’s Chuseok, but that’s not the only thing the two have in common. Just as we eat tteokguk on Seollal and songpyeon on Chuseok, Americans, too, have their own Thanksgiving foods. The most familiar ones are probably roast turkey and pumpkin pie. But there are many other dishes people enjoy as well, so today, join me in exploring 10 classic Thanksgiving foods!

1. Green Bean Casserole

Green bean casserole

The first Thanksgiving food I’ll introduce is green bean casserole. I didn’t know exactly what a casserole was, so I looked it up: it’s a broad term for dishes made by putting ingredients in a wide dish or pan and cooking them in the oven. Among them, green bean casserole is said to be one of those traditional dishes you can’t leave off the Thanksgiving table.

Green bean casserole is made with green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and fried onions — and they say you should never skip the fried onions, since they’re the crucial element that defines the flavor. The cream of mushroom soup can be reworked with ingredients to taste, and to finish, you simply top it with cheese and bake it in the oven. Beyond green bean, the casseroles enjoyed at Thanksgiving include sweet potato casserole, potato casserole, and corn casserole.

2. Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potato

Mashed potatoes, where a creamy texture is considered essential, are another popular Thanksgiving food. Americans seem to do all kinds of research into how to make their mashed potatoes even smoother. It’s a relatively simple recipe — you mash boiled potatoes and mix in milk, butter, salt, and pepper — but depending on taste, people also add pumpkin, garlic, cream cheese, or balsamic. They’re better enjoyed alongside steak than on their own; though I couldn’t actually find any mention of pairing them with steak.

3. Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese

Mac and cheese is one of those Thanksgiving foods that has been steadily loved for years. That’s because it has a relatively simple recipe, tastes great, and lets you use all kinds of ingredients to suit your taste. There are three things considered most important in mac and cheese. First, the texture should be smooth; second, the cheese flavor should be rich; and finally, third, it should have a crispy golden topping. That third condition actually isn’t part of the traditional mac and cheese recipe, but they say it’s the most popular version today.

4. Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie

Pecan pie holds the dessert spot among Thanksgiving foods. You spread a mixture of eggs, butter, flour, brown sugar, and syrup over a thin pastry crust, then finish it by scattering plenty of pecans on top. A finished pecan pie should have a caramel flavor and the consistency of a rich, smooth custard. That said, depending on the region and personal taste, there are also plenty of pecan pies with a crunchy texture.

5. Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie — also popular as a Halloween food — symbolizes the fall harvest in the United States and Canada. There’s nowhere else in the world that enjoys pumpkin pie quite this much, but interestingly, pumpkin pie is said to have originated not in America but in France. It’s said to have been born from a recipe by Amelia Simmons in 1796.

Traditional pumpkin pie is made by mixing custard made from roasted pumpkin with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg, baking it, and then garnishing it with whipped cream. Since it’s an indispensable Thanksgiving dish, there are pumpkin pies in all sorts of textures and recipes.

6. Thanksgiving Rolls

Thanksgiving Rolls

When you hear “rolls,” many people probably picture something rolled up like gimbap. But at Thanksgiving, rolls are a kind of bread. Introduced as soft, fresh rolls, this dish is a relatively simple bread made by mixing flour, yeast, water, olive oil, sugar, salt, eggs, and so on. Since nothing else gets mixed in, I looked for any sauce or ingredient served on the side — but there wasn’t one. At Thanksgiving, the tradition really does seem to be eating the most basic rolls.

7. Roast Turkey

Roast Turkey

If there’s one thing you can’t leave out of Thanksgiving food, it has to be roast turkey. Since it’s the time of year when the most turkey is sold, people jokingly call it “Turkey Day.” You take a clean, gutted turkey, rub it with butter, add lemon, onion, garlic, and the like, and just roast it in the oven. Because it’s so large, it has to cook for a long time, so even a top-grade roast turkey can’t help but turn out a little dry. That’s why these days, plenty of households skip the turkey altogether!

8. Goose or Duck

Goose or Duck

If you skip the turkey, what Thanksgiving food do you eat? Goose or duck. Americans who don’t care for turkey, or who are heavily influenced by Europe, often roast goose or duck instead of turkey. When a region has its own specialty bird, people sometimes recommend that. For example, Texas has a lot of quail, and at one point there was reportedly a suggestion to roast quail instead of turkey.

9. Honey-Glazed Brussels Sprouts

Honey-glazed Brussels sprouts

Americans eating vegetables? I was a little surprised (haha), but honey-glazed Brussels sprouts were also a popular Thanksgiving food. With its rather literal name, this dish is made by sautéing Brussels sprouts until they turn golden, then finishing them with mild honey or balsamic vinegar. It’s a dish you’ll commonly see not just at Thanksgiving but during the Christmas season too. Depending on taste, people also add roasted parsnips, crispy bits of bacon, cheese, and the like.

10. Cranberry Sauce / Gravy

Cranberry Sauce / Gravy Sauce

These are ingredients more than dishes, strictly speaking, but cranberry sauce and gravy are also indispensable at Thanksgiving — because people often enjoy meat, pie, and all sorts of other foods served with these sauces. Cranberry sauce, whose main ingredient is cranberries, is made simply by mixing well-boiled cranberries with finely grated orange peel and sugar. Gravy is mostly made from chicken or beef stock; if making the stock is too much trouble, you can use a seasoned stock product instead. They say it tastes especially fantastic paired with fries.

Many other dishes are introduced as Thanksgiving foods, but based on four sources, I picked and presented just the 10 that came up most often. Some of the others were pudding, caramel, salad, lasagna, and so on. Just as not everyone in Korea eats the exact same foods on Chuseok, the United States — a vast country — surely has even more recipes and types of dishes. So this piece may not be the definitive answer; I recommend enjoying it for reference only!