Find the perfect turkey, ham, or pork recipe to anchor your holiday meal.
Sweet-and-Spicy Roast Turkey
Recipe: Sweet-and-Spicy Roast Turkey
This turkey packs the heat with a spice rub. Top that off with a honey-hot sauce glaze while its roasting.
Roasted Herb Turkey and Gravy
Recipe: Roasted Herb Turkey and Gravy
Basted in butter, made with sage, thyme, and fennel seeds, this turkey comes our juicy and moist.
Roasted Turkey with Béarnaise Butter
Recipe: Roasted Turkey with Béarnaise Butter
This classic roasted turkey is made even more divine with a rich Béarnaise Butter. Garnish with roasted onions, fresh herb sprigs, and grapes.
Citrus-Grilled Turkey Breast
Recipe: Citrus-Grilled Turkey Breast
To prevent a top-heavy turkey breast from tilting onto its side, use kitchen shears to trim the bony lower portion of the rib cage—just enough to level the underside of the breast so it rests securely in the pan or on the grill.
Apple-Bourbon Turkey and Gravy
Recipe: Apple-Bourbon Turkey and Gravy
Apple slices and aromatic vegetables line the turkey's roasting pan, creating a colorful rack that adds terrific flavor to both the turkey and pan juices.
Creole Deep-Fried Turkey
Recipe: Creole Deep-Fried Turkey
Southerners love to fry their food, and there's no stopping us when it comes to our Thanksgiving turkey. Give this fried turkey recipe a try and enjoy the flavors that only deep-frying can create.
Honey-Bourbon Glazed Ham
Recipe: Honey-Bourbon Glazed Ham
Roasting ham with cloves makes for a showstopping Southern classic. Your family and friends are sure to love the flavorful sweet glaze. For a twist, try Honey-Bourbon Boneless Glazed Ham.
Roasted Dry-Rub Turkey With Gravy
Recipe: Roasted Dry-Rub Turkey With Gravy
This recipe, with its Paprika-Brown Sugar Rub, yields a turkey with dark crusty skin. That’s good—it will remind you of the crispy outside pieces of barbecued meats.
Roast Pork with Garlic-Onion Gravy
Recipe: Roast Pork with Garlic-Onion Gravy
It's worth purchasing a meat thermometer for this recipe. We used an instant-read version, but a standard one would work equally well. Cook the roast to 180° to 185° for incredibly tender but sliceable meat, making a pretty holiday presentation.
Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham
Recipe: Sweet-Hot Plum-Glazed Ham
You guest will love the sweet-hot glaze on this ham. Garnish with wintry herbs for a holiday presentation.
Garlic-Herb Roasted Chicken
Recipe: Garlic-Herb Roasted Chicken
Add additional moistness and flavor by replacing the wire roasting rack with a colorful rack of carrots and celery ribs. Tuck in a few sprigs of fresh herbs, some unpeeled whole shallots, and apple slices to enhance the flavor of the chicken.
Classic Roasted Duck with Orange-Bourbon-Molasses Glaze
Recipe: Classic Roasted Duck with Orange-Bourbon-Molasses Glaze
The secret to crispy skin is a dry duck. Pat ducks with a paper towel before, during, and after refrigerating. Store uncovered in the back, coldest part of your fridge for up to two days ahead.
Two-Alarm Deep-Fried Turkey
Recipe: Two-Alarm Deep-Fried Turkey
Fry your turkey for extra moist, flavorful meat that will taste perfect with your spread of sides and desserts.
Baby Back Ribs With Jackie’s Dry Rub
Recipe: Baby Back Ribs With Jackie’s Dry Rub
Take a break from the traditional turkey meal and try a relaxed, lively cookout complete with ribs, cheese grits, and butter beans. You’ll enjoy all the warmth and spirit of the holiday as well as food so good you won’t even miss the turkey and dressing.
Herb-Roasted Turkey
Recipe: Herb-Roasted Turkey
Turn up the flavor on classic Thanksgiving fare with this show-stopping bird.
Delta Roasted Turkey With Million-Dollar Gravy
Recipe: Delta Roasted Turkey With Million-Dollar Gravy
The cornerstone dish for the holiday meal is turkey, and this recipe is a winner. Its unusual method, which comes to us from reader Elizabeth Heiskell, produces a crisp exterior with incredibly juicy meat.
Brown Sugar-Bourbon Baked Ham
Recipe: Brown Sugar-Bourbon Baked Ham
Delicious warm or cold, this Southern Living favorite is the ultimate make-ahead main dish. Basting delivers big flavor and a beautiful glaze with little effort.
Roasted Turkey Stuffed with Hazelnut Dressing
Recipe: Roasted Turkey Stuffed with Hazelnut Dressing
For a nutty twist on traditional turkey, add toasted hazlenuts or pecans to your dressing. Garnish with fresh collard greens, nuts, kumquats, and pomegranates.
Ham Glazed with Spiced Plum Conserve
Recipe: Ham Glazed with Spiced Plum Conserve
Any brined, smoked supermarket ham will be welcomed on your holiday table in addition to (or in lieu of) the turkey. If you're using a spiral ham, there's no need to score it and stud with cloves. For the Spiced Plum Conserve, experiment with your favorite seasonal fruit, including muscadines.
Salt-and-Pepper Roasted Turkey
Recipe: Salt-and-Pepper Roasted Turkey
With a turkey this simple and with so few ingredients, focus on the techniques that matter most. First, pat the turkey very dry, which will help it achieve a crispier skin in the oven. Then season liberally with kosher salt. Season the cavity, gently under the skin, and again on the surface of the skin to enhance the flavor from the skin to the bone.
Cooking Video: Salt-and-Pepper Roasted Turkey
Herb-Roasted Turkey Legs
Recipe: Herb-Roasted Turkey Legs
While cooking a whole bird is traditional, most chefs smartly cook the white and dark meat separately to achieve the best flavor and perfect level of doneness. Brining and smoking the breast and curing and roasting the legs yields the most succulent results.
Smoked Turkey Breast
Recipe: Smoked Turkey Breast
In this recipe, the tender white meat is infused with apple cider, herbs, and hickory flavor.
Citrus-Roasted Turkey with Lemon Aïoli
Recipe: Citrus-Roasted Turkey with Lemon Aïoli
Seasoning with a citrus-salt rub and stuffing the cavity with lemons and oranges imparts fresh flavor and citrus fragrance and keeps the turkey extra juicy.
Grill-Smoked Turkey
Recipe: Grill-Smoked Turkey
The dry brine used on the turkey is inspired by a wet brine that cookbook author Gena Knox sells through her brand Fire & Flavor (fireandflavor.com).
Smoked Self-Basting Turkey
Recipe: Smoked Self-Basting Turkey
Chris Lilly, one of our favorite pit masters and four-time Memphis in May grand champion, taught SL recipe tester and developer Pam Lolley this cool technique. The key? Mounding herb butter on top of the breast, covering the bird with aluminum foil, and cutting a slit in the foil. The butter will slowly melt and baste the turkey as it cooks and the smoke will permeate the bird through the hole. Find out more techniques in Chris' book, Fire and Smoke.
Dry Brined-Herb Roasted Turkey
Recipe: Dry Brined-Herb Roasted Turkey
Recipe: Jerk Brine Roasted Turkey
Recipe: Cajun Brine Roasted Turkey
Recipe: Five Spice Brine Roasted Turkey
Skip the cumbersome wet brines that call for soaking turkey and making the skin flabby. This classic overnight dry brine—a simple herb, salt, and sugar mixture—gives the turkey deep flavor and a crackly crust. Be adventurous and create your own signature dry brine using our sugar and salt ratios as a guide, or try one of our three variations.
Pepper Bacon Fried Turkey
Recipe: Pepper Bacon Fried Turkey
Recipe: Nashville Hot Turkey
Follow this recipe for two delicious takes on your holiday bird. Start with black pepper bacon or any bacon to flavor the peanut oil. For serious spice hounds, take the Pepper Bacon Fried Turkey a step further and try our Nashville Hot Turkey (pictured)—our ode to the city's incendiary fried chicken.
