Mashed potatoes are as American as apple pie and fried chicken. Like those other staples of home cooking, mashed potatoes can be tricky to master. You need to start with the right potatoes and do your best not to overcook them or over-mash them. The best potatoes for beginners to mash are “dry” potatoes usually used for baking, like Idaho potatoes.
Recipes
Sheet Pan Bread Stuffing with Sausage + Spinach
Since stuffing rarely appears separate from Thanksgiving, it’s an inherently nostalgic and meaningful dish. I bake my stuffing on a sheet pan so the crispy-to-soft ratio is basically one to one.
Roast Turkey Breast + Onions with Mustard + Sage
This is my go-to recipe for turkey breast that is the opposite of dry and boring and also cooks so quickly, which is the antithesis of most Thanksgiving turkey.
Crispy Scallion + Sesame Pancakes
These crispy scallion pancakes have all of the traditional appeal of their restaurant namesakes, with more flavor and texture thanks to sesame oil and sesame seeds and less greasiness than what is often served in Americanized Chinese restaurants.
Simplest Gravy for Thanksgiving
Nobody cares that the Thanksgiving turkey is dry and the mashed potatoes are lumpy when you’ve got a gravy this rich and nuanced to pour over them.
Chicken Piccata (Chicken Breast Cutlets with Lemon and Caper Sauce)
Chicken piccata is a recipe that every cook should know. It is simple, quick, and almost universally popular.
