Our Thanksgiving Menu for A Small Gathering

We always have a smallish crowd on Thanksgiving. Here’s our favorites for a Thanksgiving menu for a small gathering!

I love Thanksgiving because I looooove gathering around the table with people I love and I really love good food! We typically celebrate with a small amount of family, but still like to feast!

Here’s our usual Thanksgiving menu for our small gathering– what we prep, what we snack on before, and our usual main dishes (turkey!), sides, and desserts!

More Like This :: Instant Pot Holiday Recipes

Our Thanksgiving Menu for A Small Gathering

PREPPING BEFORE

Make the French bread and cornbread a day early so they can dry out
Make sure we have enough stock— take out from freezer so they will be thawed in time to use in stuffing and for gravy
Take butter out the day before to come to room temp for cake
Make several discs of pie dough

APPETIZERS

Easy “Trash”
Instant Pot ‘Lil Smokies with Homemade Sweet Barbecue Sauce
Charcuterie Spread
Deviled Eggs

MAIN DISH & SIDES

Turkey (either smoked in our Pit Barrel smoker, or roasted by my mother-in-law)
Skillet Blistered Garlic Green Beans (this is a must at any family dinner, not just holidays!)
Mashed Potatoes (easily made in the Instant Pot!)
Roasted Butternut Squash with Apples & Cranberries (this is a delicious alternative to heavier sweet potato casserole. Though, if you want to stick to that, I have a lighter version you can make in your Instant Pot).
Maple Brussel Sprouts with Bacon (and I’ll probably toss in some pomegranate arils to be extra festive)
Rosemary Parmesan Squash Casserole(I have squash frozen from our summer garden, and am so excited to make this again!)
Pioneer Woman Stuffing (I make this with my One-Hour French Bread, Skillet Cornbread, and homemade stock)
Everything Dinner Rolls or Sourdough Rolls (not sure which yet)
Cranberry Sauce (my mother-in-law is always in charge of making this!)

DESSERTS

Homemade Apple Pie (my father-in-law’s favorite and something I make at every holiday)
Pecan Pie (I ONLY make this at Thanksgiving and I look forward to it every year. I use a recipe that subs maple syrup for corn syrup from America’s Test Kitchen. The recipe is in one of the Holiday Baking magazine collections, but you can see it on their site if you sign up for a trial.)
Old-Fashioned Pound Cake (this is my grandmother’s recipe and one I grew up eating at every holiday. It’s a very special cake for me.)