Thanksgiving is coming up soon, so it’s time to start thinking about which recipes you’ll be pulling out this year. Below are some easy recipes almost anyone should be able to make, even if they are only a beginner in the kitchen. We’ve assembled a mix of classic, savory, and sweet recipes for your perusal, as well as directions. Bon appetite!
Native American Fry Bread
Many people associate Native Americans with Thanksgiving, so we thought it would be fun to incorporate a famous Native American recipe into this list. Native American fry bread, more commonly called Indian fry bread, is made with just flour, water, salt, oil, and baking powder.
The recipe itself is pretty simple. Just sift together two cups of flour, one teaspoon of salt, and three teaspoons of baking powder. Add a cup of hot (not boiling) water and mix it by hand until you can form it into a ball. Then cover it with a handtowel and let it rest for ten minutes. While it’s resting, add some oil (any vegetable-based oil) in a saucepan so that the oil comes up about two inches. Roll the dough into golf-ball-sized balls and then roll it flat, so it is about as thick as a pencil. Then add the flour disc into the oil; fry it for about twenty seconds on each side, and pull it out!
Picture courtesy of Red Corn Native Foods
If that sounds a bit complicated, you can also buy a fry bread mix that will have its own set of simpler instructions. Either way, when the cooking is done, it should have a similar texture to a light naan bread.
Rosemary Corn
There’s no spice that screams Thanksgiving quite as loudly as rosemary. It’s commonly used in stuffing and to season turkeys, and it tastes just as great on corn. You can use rosemary on roasted or boiled corn on the cob or even to jazz up canned corn. No matter which type of corn you like to make, the rosemary comes in when it’s time to butter it up.
Mix fresh or dried rosemary (use less if you are using dried) into melted butter before you wash it over the corn (or mix in it corn, with canned corn). Optionally, you can also add a mix of salt, pepper, garlic, and powdered onion to the butter to make it extra flavorful.
Sweet Potato Casserole
It’s debatable whether sweet potato casserole is a side dish or a dessert, but there’s no debate on whether or not it’s a classic Thanksgiving food. For this recipe, you will need sweet potatoes, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt and pepper. Optionally, you can top the dish with mini marshmallows and pecans.
Peel and boil three sweet potatoes for 15 minutes. When done, drain and mash with 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/3 softened butter, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/4 cinnamon, and salt and pepper to taste. If using pecans, add 1/3 cup of them into the mix. Next, put the mix into a baking dish. Top with another 1/3 cup of pecans and 2 cups of mini marshmallows. Bake for 25 minutes at 375°F.
Which of these dishes will you try this Thanksgiving? If you have any favorites, make sure to add the recipe link to the comments. Most importantly, have a nice holiday, and make sure to make time for your loved ones.
