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Classic Thanksgiving Main Dish Recipes

Stacey Pirtle

by Stacey Published: Nov 4, 2023

This post may contain affiliate links.

This week’s recipe collection features classic Thanksgiving main dish recipes to make your celebrations easy and delicious! There’s a little something for everyone– from hams to turkey, prime rib to tantalizing stuffed tenderloin.  It doesn’t matter if you’re serving a small crowd, a large one, or need a last minute solution for unexpected guests. Everything you need is right here! 

a collage of Thanksgiving main dish recipes that are delicious for Christmas too- featuring stuffed pork tenderloin, ham, roasted turkey and prime rib.

Each Thanksgiving main dish recipe included here delivers a mouthwateringly tender, perfectly seasoned and simple-to-make protein that is sure to make your holiday spread your most delicious yet.  Holiday success has never been so appetizing!

For More Holiday Yum: 7 Must-Make Holiday Fruit Salads

Holiday Main Dishes

1

Southern Pecan Crusted Ham

Easy Southern Pecan Crusted Ham is as delicious as it is gorgeous!  This showstopping stunner bakes up golden brown with a rich brown sugar, molasses, apple juice glaze and buttery pecan crust.  Savory, sweet and holiday perfect, you won’t believe how easy it is to bake up this amazing ham!

2

Creole Roasted Turkey Breast

Coated with simple creole seasoning & butter, then roasted with fresh herbs & touch of citrus, bone-in Creole Roasted Turkey Breasts are deliciously tender, juicy & full of savory flavor!  Perfect for holidays when you’re feeding a smaller crowd or maybe need just a little extra for unexpected guests.   

3

Holiday Prime Rib

Prime rib is the choicest of beef cuts. Rich, tender, elegant– but still the utmost of traditional family dishes– it harkens back to the golden days of those large family Sunday dinners. So come holiday time, prime rib might just be that perfect traditional, but unexpected, main dish you’ve been looking for to grace your family table.

4

Bacon, Cranberries, Walnuts, and Collards Stuffed Tenderloin

In this stuffed pork tenderloin recipe, juicy roasted tenderloin wraps around a seasonal filling of bacon, collard greens and walnuts combined with cranberries and goat cheese to create a beautiful holiday and special occasions dish that looks fancy but is so easy to make!

5

Pineapple Mustard Glazed Ham

Beautifully glazed hams have taken center stage at holidays for as long as anyone can remember. Keeping with this star-powered tradition, this Pineapple Mustard Glazed Ham recipe with its golden coat of pineapple, mustards, brown sugar and horseradish offers a kick of flavor that will soon become your go-to favorite!

6

Southern Pecan Chicken

This gorgeous dish was Inspired by a visit to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.  Crusted with pecans and rosemary and covered in a delicious Dijon glaze and sauce, this mouthwateringly elegant chicken says special occasion, but is surprisingly quick & easy to whip up.  But shhh… we’ll let that part be our little secret!

7

The Perfect Peppered Pork Loin

This easy-to-follow Pepper Crusted Pork Tenderloin recipe uses a simple, wonderfully aromatic cracked peppercorn rub, plus Dijon mustard, to create a delightful main dish that is perfect for family meals or holiday dinners. First, seared in a cast iron skillet to seal in the juices then baked in an oven, this Perfect Pepper Crusted Pork Loin is melt in your mouth tender with a fiery little pepper kick!

8

Classic Southern Pot Roast

Nothing says Sunday dinner like a fork tender, classic Southern Pot Roast recipe.  Cooked low and slow with beef broth, red wine, savory seasonings, aromatic herbs and plenty of dinner vegetables, this traditional comfort food has been gathering friends and families around the dinner table for more years than we can count!

9

Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls

This recipe speaks for itself- buttery, flaky crescent rolls, stuffed with a cream cheese and chicken filling and smothered in a cheesy cream sauce.  In short, Chicken Stuffed Crescent Rolls are quite simply divine.  There are one or two other versions of this recipe floating around the Internet, but there is nothing that comes close to this one  my mamaw brought home from her little Louisiana beauty shop.  Yes, the beauty shop. The source from which everything flows in a small southern town.  The latest in style, class, local news, wisdom and, for all practical purposes, some of the best recipes that have ever been swapped.  All done under dryer and cape. Those ladies knew their stuff and then some.

This week's recipe collection features classic Thanksgiving main dish recipes to make your celebrations easy and delicious! There's a little something for everyone-- from hams to turkey, prime rib to tantalizing stuffed tenderloin.  It doesn't matter if you're serving a small crowd, a large one, or need a last minute solution for unexpected guests. Everything you need is right here! 

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Filed Under: Recipe Collections Tagged With: Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving

Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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Meet Stacey

Southern Discourse is a place where you can find southern family dishes, along with special recipes & table settings. Bringing connection & friendship back to the table by wrapping everything in the faith & grace from which true hospitality springs! Read More

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