thanksgiving

40 Recipes to Make for Thanksgiving in Canada

updated Oct 8, 2024
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overhead shot of thanksgiving stuffing in a white baking dish, with some of the stuffing taken out of the bottom right corner of the dish.
Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Ben Weiner

Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving a full month-and-a-half or so before Americans. While it’s often not quite the affair that it is in the States, the food is generally the same. There’s always the classic roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and maybe there’s a little more maple mixed into desserts and special side dishes.

Canadian Thanksgiving is this coming Monday, so we’ve gathered up a few of our favorite Thanksgiving recipes on the site to celebrate. From the easiest way to make turkey, to the most glorious stuffing, to a special maple fudge, you have a lot of options to choose from.

Thanksgiving Appetizers

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Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

Learn how to wrap brie in puff pastry with the toppings of your choice for an easy appetizer to serve all holiday season.

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2 / 10
Cranberry Jalapeño Dip

Cranberry jalapeño dip is a play on the crowd-pleasing classic: pepper jelly and cream cheese. With its vibrant red hue and sweet-tart flavor, this cranberry jalapeño dip is a must-make for your Thanksgiving gathering.

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3 / 10
Bacon-Wrapped Dates

An irresistible combination of salty, crispy bacon with sugar-sweet dates and creamy cheese.

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4 / 10
Spinach and Feta Bourekas

Store-bought puff pastry makes these spinach and feta cheese bourekas as easy as they are delicious (and they’re very delicious).

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5 / 10
Thanksgiving Deviled Eggs

A recipe for deviled eggs flavored with sage and shallots and topped with bacon, perfect as an appetizer for Thanksgiving.

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6 / 10
Stuffed Mushrooms

Easy, cheesy stuffed mushrooms are the perfect Thanksgiving party appetizer. Tender mushroom caps are filled with crispy panko, fresh herbs, and a double dose of cheese for the perfect pre-dinner bite.

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7 / 10
Cranberry Brie Bites

This easy appetizer promises buttery puff pastry, creamy Brie, sweet-tart cranberry sauce, and toasted walnuts in every bite.

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8 / 10
Puff Pastry Cheese Straws

These crispy, flaky, cheesy twists require just two ingredients and a few minutes of your time, and yet they deliver big — real big — out on the buffet table. Make puff pastry cheese straws for your Thanksgiving party or serve them with cocktails for happy hour at home.

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9 / 10
Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts

Tender Brussels sprouts wrapped in smoky bacon with a creamy blue cheese dipping sauce is the ultimate Thanksgiving party appetizer.

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10 / 10
Cheese Gougères

Looking for an easy make-ahead appetizer for Thanksgiving? These cheese puffs are the ticket. Gougères are made from the classic French pâte à choux, with a generous amount of cheese folded into the dough before baking. The dough puffs and then dries in the oven, making for a tender, crisp puff with a hollow center.

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Thanksgiving Side Dishes

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Perfect Mashed Potatoes

So rich and creamy, these mashed potatoes are the only ones we ever make on Thanksgiving.

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Thanksgiving Stuffing

Like the boxed stuff, but so much better. This is the only stuffing recipe you'll need on Thanksgiving — or any day.

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Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce is the jewel of the Thanksgiving table and often the only spot of brightness on a table full of brown, orange, and tan dishes. While canned cranberry sauce is available year-round, you have to wait until October for fresh cranberries to come to market. Once the ruby-red fruits arrive, it’s your cue to make this sweet and tangy sauce for your Thanksgiving celebration.

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4 / 10
Mashed Sweet Potatoes

We love sweet potatoes any which way, but there's something special about having classic mashed sweet potatoes at the Thanksgiving table.

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Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts

Take roasted Brussels sprouts to a whole new level with smoky bacon and a glaze of maple syrup.

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Honey Glazed Carrots

Toss roasted carrots in a sticky honey-garlic glaze and you have the best Thanksgiving side dish ever.

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Thanksgiving Slaw

Serving a big salad at Thanksgiving is always a good choice — you want something light, crunchy, and refreshing to balance out the roast turkey and rich holiday side dishes. This no-wilt slaw is the perfect side, plus it can be made ahead.

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Turkey Gravy

This savory gravy is made from rich, deeply browned roast turkey drippings, resulting in the best 5-minute gravy imaginable.

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Maple-Roasted Delicata Squash with Bacon

An easy Thanksgiving side dish recipe for roasted delicata squash sweetened with maple syrup and tossed with crispy bacon.

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10 / 10
Canadian-Syrian Thanksgiving Stuffing

This recipe takes a classic Thanksgiving stuffing and adds a Syrian twist. The result is a deliciously smoky-yet-sweet stuffing any turkey would love to be next to.

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Thanksgiving Main Dishes

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Thanksgiving Turkey

This is the only roast turkey recipe you'll ever need. It's ridiculously delicious (the herb butter is everything!), but simple and easy enough for anyone to pull off.

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Glazed Baked Ham

The most delicious holiday centerpiece you can serve. Plus, you'll enjoy all the ways to enjoy leftover ham the following days.

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3 / 10
Black Pepper & Maple Roast Turkey

Spicy black pepper and sweet maple syrup mix together in a compound butter to flavor this easy roast turkey.

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Citrus-Herb Roast Turkey

A citrus and fresh herb compound butter flavors this easy roast turkey and also turns the tasty drippings into gravy.

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Honey Baked Ham

Honey butter and a crunchy spiced sugar coating makes this the very best Thanksgiving-worthy ham.

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Roast Stuffed Turkey with Cornbread Chestnut Dressing

The aroma of roasted chesnuts combined with cornbread, sage, thyme, and a hint of bay leaf is just as magical as it is delicious.

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7 / 10
Roasted Pork Loin

For your next holiday dinner, make this easy-yet-stunning juicy roast pork loin with apples and onions.

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8 / 10
Roast Turkey Breast

Are you hosting a small gathering for Thanksgiving this year? Then hear us out: You don’t have to bother with cooking a whole turkey. You can just roast a turkey breast. One half-breast or even a whole turkey breast makes more than enough for a small party of four to six. (And yes, you’ll still have plenty of pan drippings to make gravy.)

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9 / 10
Bourbon-Glazed Ham

Brushed with bourbon, brown sugar, and orange, then roasted until juicy and crispy, this ham is the centerpiece you want on your table while entertaining at the holidays.

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10 / 10
Turkey Roulade

No part of the holiday meal gets more attention than the turkey, and here we’re taking the traditional roast on a (literal) spin. This roulade features juicy white turkey breast meat spiraled around a savory mixture of fresh herbs, cornbread crumbles, apples, and crispy browned pork sausage for a stunning take on turkey that’s sure to impress.

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Thanksgiving Desserts

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Classic Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is a creamy combination of sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and custardy filling, baked in a homemade pie crust and topped with a dollop of whipped cream. Thanksgiving isn’t the same without it.

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2 / 10
Maple Pecan Pie Bars

These maple pecan pie bars bring you all the flavor of pecan pie, with none of the fuss.

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Apple Pie

This apple pie is the ultimate fall dessert, with a golden-brown, flaky crust filled with tender apples tossed with just the right amount of spice and sweetness.

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Sucre à la Crème (Maple Fudge)

A French Canadian confection made with maple syrup and served as a spread or fudge.

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Pumpkin Cheesecake

Pumpkin pie meets the creamy goodness of a classic cheesecake.

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Apple Crumble Pie

The classic apple pie gets crowned with an unforgettably crumbly top.

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Pecan Pie Cheesecake

This luscious, creamy cheesecake with a caramel pecan pie topping will wow any crowd, making it perfect for any holiday dessert spread.

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8 / 10
Apple Crumble

A really good apple crumble tops the charts of not just apple desserts, but also all the fall desserts.

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9 / 10
Chocolate Pecan Pie

Classic pecan pie studded with bittersweet chocolate.

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10 / 10
Caramel Apple Cheesecake

The creamiest cheesecake topped with soft apples and a simple, elegant caramel sauce inspired by English toffee.

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