A Retro Thanksgiving Menu

Reject modernity, embrace mini marshmallows on your Thanksgiving table.

Kitchens across America enter a time warp on Thanksgiving. Home cooks that never work with condensed soup open cans of it to pour over green beans. Diners that would otherwise gag at marshmallows in savory food ask for second helpings of the sweet potato casserole. And when it comes to cranberry sauce, people insist it tastes better with the ridges.

The various cooking outlets I follow have been posting their updated versions of classic Thanksgiving dishes all month. I consume this content hungrily—reinterpreting the same basic menu is a fun exercise, and I’m always interested to see how recipe developers put their spin on it. But when the fourth Thursday in November rolls around, I almost never find myself craving the recipes saved in my bookmarks. You can make attractive, modern, well-balanced meals any time of year. Thanksgiving is for wet, beige foods that don’t require a knife to eat. It’s for dishes that are just as appealing to the 5-year-olds at the table as the 85-year-olds. It’s for those “outdated” recipes that may not be in our regular rotation but we still make once a year because they’re delicious.

If you’re searching for menu inspiration for next week, consider leaning into the retro nature of the holiday. Many old-school recipes—like the green bean casserole Dorcas Reilly famously developed for the back of a Campbell’s soup can—have stood the test of time and become perennial classics. But there are plenty of forgotten dishes that fit the Thanksgiving flavor profile. If you’re looking for something “light” to brighten up the meal, why not make a fluffy cranberry salad, complete with mini marshmallows, canned pineapple, and heavy cream?

There are endless takes on stuffing, but I rarely see people making it with diced oranges, as the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook suggested to do in 1968. For a vintage twist on pumpkin pie, you can try the Vermont version from The New York Times New England Heritage Cookbook published in 1972. It calls for mixing pumpkin puree with sherry, cottage cheese, and sour cream. And for the star of the spread, I don’t see how you can go wrong with oven fried turkey breaded in stuffing crumbs.

Are the recipes below weird by modern standards? Maybe. Any weirder than oysters in stuffing or canned cranberry sauce on turkey? Definitely not.

Fluffy Cranberry Salad

3 cups fresh cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 No. 303 can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Combine cranberries, sugar, pineapple, and marshmallows; mix. Chill in refrigerator overnight. Whip cream; fold in cranberry mixture. Serve in chilled bowl. Serves 12-14.

Pani Lawryk, A Book of Favorite Recipes, Compiled by The Sisterhood of St. John’s Ukranian Orthodox Church (1968)

Orange Stuffing

2 cups finely diced celery
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 cups toasted bread cubes (about 5 slices, cut in 1/2-inch cubes)
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
2/3 cup diced orange sections (2 medium oranges)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 beaten egg

Cook celery in butter till tender but not brown. Add remaining ingredients and dash pepper; toss lightly. Makes enough stuffing for a 5-pound duckling.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1968)

Oven Fried Turkey

3 cups packaged herb-seasoned stuffing mix
1 4- to 6-pound ready-to-cook fryer-roaster turkey, cut up
Salt
Pepper
3/4 cup butter ot margarine, melted

Crush stuffing finely (will be about 1 1/2 cups). Sprinkle turkey pieces with salt and pepper. Brush with melted butter or margarine; roll in stuffing crumbs. Place pieces, skin side up (don’t crowd), in greased large shallow baking pan. Drizzle with any remaining butter or margarine. Cover pan with foil. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 30 to 45 minutes or till tender. Serves 6 to 8.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1968)

Vermont Pumpkin Pie

2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup cottage cheese, sieved
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Whipped cream

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

2. Mix the pumpkin with the cottage cheese, ginger, cinnamon, salt, and sour cream.

3. Beat the eggs with the milk and sherry and gradually stir into the pumpkin mixture. Pour into the pie shell.

4. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes longer, or until set. Cool and chill. Serve cold, garnished with whipped cream.

The New York Times New England Heritage Cookbook (1972)