If you’re hosting this Thanksgiving—whether it’s a cozy family gathering or fifty people around the table—getting everything organized ahead of time is the secret to enjoying this holiday… Print the Grocery List at the bottom!
Between prepping your rolls, getting the turkey ready, and making sure everyone has a seat, the kitchen can get a little wild. This complete Thanksgiving menu and grocery list brings all my favorite traditional scratch-made recipes together in one spot… So you can plan your prep days, check off your shopping list, and feel ready before company arrives.
The Complete Thanksgiving Menu
The Main Event
- Oven Roasted Turkey Breast (or whole turkey): Complete with fail-proof time guides to ensure a golden, crispy skin and juicy, tender meat every single time
- Moist smoked turkey: Brined for juicy, flavorful meat, then seasoned and slow-smoked over hardwood to absolute perfection!
- Prime Rib Roast: An elegant, show-stopping alternative to poultry, featuring a rich garlic-herb crust and a tender, juicy center.
- Pineapple Glazed Ham: Sweet, savory, and caramelized to perfection with a sticky brown sugar and pineapple glaze.
- Glazed Fresh Ham Roast: A traditional cut roasted low and slow and finished with a rich, glossy glaze.
Savory Sauces & Gravy
- Old Fashioned Cranberry Sauce from scratch: Ditch the canned version! This bright, from-scratch cranberry sauce is simmered with real fruit and warm spices.
- Turkey Gravy from pan drippings: Rich, savory, and made completely from scratch using the flavorful pan drippings left from your turkey.
Hearty Sides & Casseroles
- Oven Baked Candied Yams: Sweet potatoes baked to tender perfection in a rich butter, brown sugar, and warm spice sauce!
- Green Bean Casserole from scratch: A classic holiday comfort food made entirely from scratch—no canned cream-of-mushroom soup required!
- The best Turkey Stuffing (dressing): Savory bread dressing loaded with fresh herbs, celery, onion, and rich broth.
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes: Fluffy, buttery, and ultra-smooth potatoes that practically melt in your mouth.
Fresh Breads & Rolls
- Grandma’s Dinner Rolls: Fluffy, golden, butter-brushed yeast rolls that are an absolute must-have on any holiday table.
- Soft Sourdough Rolls: Wholesome, scratch-made sourdough rolls with a pillowy soft crumb and a wonderful depth of flavor.
Cozy Soups & Salads
- Apple Pomagranite Salad: A crisp, refreshing autumn salad tossed with tart apples, vibrant pomegranate arils, and a light dressing.
- Waldorf Salad: A classic combination of crisp apples, celery, walnuts, and mini marshmallows folded into a creamy, lightly sweet dressing.
- Chopped Broccoli Salad: Crunchy fresh broccoli florets tossed with a creamy, tangy dressing, bacon, and dried cranberries.
- Curried Butternut Squash Soup: A velvety, warming soup seasoned with sweet curry spices to kick off the meal.
Traditional Desserts
- Flaky Pie Crust: My go to pie crust recipe! A foolproof, all-butter pastry crust recipe that rolls out like a dream and bakes up golden and flaky.
- Herritage Apple Pie: This apple pie recipe has been passed down for generations… Overflowing with sweet-tart sliced apples, cinnamon, and a buttery, double-crust pastry.
- Old Fashioned Easy Pumpkin Pie: A silky-smooth classic spiced pumpkin custard baked inside a buttery, flaky pie crust.
- Chai Pumpkin Pie: A cozy twist on the traditional favorite, infused with aromatic chai spices.
- Maple Pecan Pie: A rich, gooey, southern-style pie sweetened naturally with pure maple syrup and loaded with toasted pecans.
- All American Cherry Pie with Canned Cherries: Bursting with tart, sweet fruit using home-canned cherries for a taste of summer at the holiday table.
Make-Ahead Game Plan
Feeling a little overwhelmed by the kitchen schedule? Don’t worry! I’ve put together a step-by-step Make-Ahead Thanksgiving Timeline that walks you through exactly what to prep 3 days before, 2 days before, and on Thanksgiving morning so you can actually enjoy your company.
Pro-Tips for Hosting a Crowd
Whether you are cooking for a cozy family dinner or a large gathering of fifty, remember that sides like mashed potatoes, stuffing, and roasted root vegetables scale up easily—just make sure you account for extra roasting pans and oven space!
If you’re working around a single oven (or a vintage range), coordinate your baking temperatures. Dishes that bake at 350°F can share oven racks, while your turkey or prime rib can rest while casseroles go in to warm up just before serving.
If guests ask what they can bring, let them! Assign easy-to-transport items like a cold salad, a fruit dish, or extra dinner rolls so your counter space stays manageable.
At the end of the day, Thanksgiving isn’t about a picture-perfect table or spending all day trapped in the kitchen….
It’s a bout gathering around the table with the people you love, sharing good food, and pausing to give thanks. I hope this menu and grocery list helps take the stress out of your holiday prep so you can actually sit back, relax, and enjoy every single moment with your family.
From my farmhouse to yours, I wish you a warm, blessed, and delicious Thanksgiving!
Print The Thanksgiving Grocery List!
The Master Thanksgiving Grocery List
Ingredients
Choose Your Main (Pick One or Two)
- Turkey: 1 whole turkey or bone-in turkey breast calculate roughly 1 lb per person
- Prime Rib: 1 4 to 7-bone prime rib roast
- Ham options: 1 spiral-sliced ham or fresh ham roast calculate about 1/2 lb per person.
- Main Extras: Brine ingredients / smoking wood chips if smoking, or extra garlic & fresh herbs (if roasting prime rib).
Produce
- Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes: 5–10 lbs for creamy mashed potatoes or roasting
- Sweet potatoes / yams: 3–4 lbs for oven-baked candied yams or casseroles
- Fresh celery: 2 bunches you will need celery for both your stuffing/dressing and holiday soups
- Yellow onions & shallots: 3-4 large onions and 3-4 shallots for soups, stuffings, and gravies.
- Fresh garlic: 2 to 3 large bulbs you’ll go through plenty for roasting, turkey rubs, and sides
- Fresh herbs: 1 bunch each of sage thyme, rosemary, and flat-leaf parsley (or a packaged poultry herb blend)
- Apples: 3 to 4 lbs of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp great for both heritage apple pies and crisp autumn salads
- Fresh cranberries: 1 to 2 bags 12 oz each (if making from-scratch cranberry sauce)
- Broccoli: 2 large heads or 3-4 crowns for chopped broccoli salad
- Mushrooms: 1 8ounce package button mushrooms for cream of mushroom soup casserole base.
- Pomegranates & salad greens: 2 pomegranates for arils and 2 large bags or plastic clamshells of mixed salad greens
- Lemons: 2 For salad dressing!
- Oranges: 2 for the cranberry sauce and the turkey brine!
Meat & Butcher (Non-Turkey)
- Thick-cut bacon: 1 to 2 packs for broccoli salad or green bean casserole option
Dairy & Refrigerated
- Unsalted butter: 4 to 6 blocks / pounds you can never have too much high-quality butter for holiday baking, potatoes, and rolls!
- Heavy whipping cream: 2 pints for ultra-rich mashed potatoes, pie fillings, and homemade whipped cream
- Whole milk & half-and-half: 1 gallon of whole milk and 1 pint of half-and-half.
- Eggs 2 dozen large eggs essential for scratch baking, dinner rolls, pie custards, and casseroles
Pantry Staples
- Chicken or turkey broth: 4 to 6 cartons 32 oz each (you’ll need plenty for stuffing, gravy, and soups)
- All-purpose flour & sugar: A 5-lb bag of unbleached all-purpose flour plus a 5-lb bag each of granulated sugar and light brown sugar
- Pecans & walnuts: 2 bags of pecans and 1 of walnuts chopped or halves for pecan pie, salads, and streusels
- Canned pumpkin puree & pumpkin pie spice: 2 large cans or 3 regular 15-oz cans of pure pumpkin puree and 1 jar of pumpkin pie spice.
- Dried bread cubes / Stuffing cubes: 2 to 3 large bags or a few loaves of day-old bread cut into cubes and dried out in the oven overnight if you are making it completely from scratch
- Marshmallows: 2 large bags of mini marshmallows for sweet potato casseroles and Waldorf salad.
- Crispy Fried Onions: 2 packages for green bean casserole if not making them from scratch. This saves you a lot of time!
- Canned cherries: 2 to 3 cans of tart cherries for home-style cherry pie.
- Pure maple syrup & Honey: 1 bottle of pure maple syrup and a small bottle of honey if you dont already have it.
- Cornstarch: For thickening gravy or pies.
- Olive oil: 1 bottle of good olive oil
- Salt black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sage & thyme: Check your pantry inventory for salt, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves dried sage and thyme, and top up as needed.
Bakery & Bread (If Not Baking From Scratch)
- Artisan dinner rolls: 2 to 3 packages if skipping scratch sourdough or yeast rolls
About Juliea
Juliea is a mother of six, a sourdough baker, and a homestead builder living in Idaho. Alongside her husband and their horse, Dude, she manages a busy farmhouse and shares her love for scratch-cooking and simple homemaking. Through her blog and YouTube channel, she helps millions of families every year master the art of the handmade home.
