50 Thanksgiving Potluck Ideas, from Make-Ahead Casseroles to Appetizers and Desserts

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, make ahead
• Serves: 10

If you’re only in charge of making one dish, why not go all out with intricate phyllo rosettes? They look more complicated than they are and taste like a heavenly Parmesan breadcrumb.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegetarian, special occasion–worthy
• Serves: 4 to 6

Some things are just better with cheese, butter and a bubbly breadcrumb crust. But good news: The gratin club isn’t exclusive, and humble cabbage is joining the group. Make this dish in advance and reheat it in the oven once you arrive at your destination.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: vegetarian, special occasion–worthy, one pan
• Serves: 8

Sweet, spiced and eye-catching, this easy Thanksgiving potluck side dish would be just as delicious with another winter squash in place of butternut. Try delicata—it doesn’t even require peeling.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy
• Serves: 6

Speaking of winter squash, this gorgeous gratin is like a slightly healthier version of the traditional potato dish. Parsnips, sweet potatoes and squash stand in for the usual spuds, but there’s still plenty of cheese to go around.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, vegetarian, <500 calories
• Serves: 6

Behold, two cruciferous veggies working together in cheesy harmony. What could be tastier than that? (Only the fact that you can easily transport this dish and bake it upon arrival.)

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, make ahead
• Serves: 6

You can’t bring Ina Garten to the Thanksgiving potluck, but you can bring her elegant mini vegetable gratins. If you don’t have individual serving dishes, just bake it in one and increase the cooking time.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, low sugar
• Serves: 8

Why are these potatoes the best, you ask? Well, they’re impossibly creamy and comforting, plus they taste even better if you make them ahead of time. Experiment with different cheeses if you’re feeling feisty ahead of your Thanksgiving potluck.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegan, gluten free, make ahead
• Serves: 8

It’s a known fact that vegans don’t get enough love at the Turkey Day table, but this plant-based casserole can help. It even does double duty as a side dish or a main.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients
• Serves: 6

Two types of cheese, one beloved vegetable and zero problems. A pinch of nutmeg makes this one extra cozy.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian
• Serves: 6

Everyone loves mac — and the cauliflower definitely adds ~sophistication~.

• Time Commitment: 37 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian
• Serves: 8

This fancy-sounding dish is secretly a piece of cake... er, casserole.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegetarian
• Serves: 8

What could be cozier than this? We're definitely going back for seconds.

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: no cook, make ahead, <15 minutes
• Serves: 6

So often the salad options at Thanksgiving are lacking. This crunchy number is a refreshing change of pace to all the creamy goodness, and since it’s made with cabbage, it can be assembled in advance.

• Time Commitment: 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <15 minutes, beginner-friendly, make ahead
• Serves: 2 to 4

That half bag of celery in your crisper drawer isn’t going to cook itself. Instead, transform it into this surprising salad that’s equal parts crisp and rich, thanks to a sherry vinaigrette.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, dairy free, gluten free
• Serves: 4

Once you bring pine nut cream to the celebration, you’ll have a standing invitation for every year to come. This hearty salad can be served warm or at room temperature if you need to free up the oven.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, make ahead, no cook
• Serves: 8

The dressing is based on the rich flavors of a Caesar salad dressing, but uses nuts and seeds as a dairy-free base. Even better, if you dress the greens ahead of time, it gives them time to become tender.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 minutes, make ahead, dairy free
• Serves: 4

The jewel-like persimmons and homemade frizzled onions will put last year’s bagged salad to shame. Bonus: It’s made with just ten ingredients.

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: no cook, make ahead, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 4 to 6

It’s not a party unless there are appetizers. Fact. Assign yourself the cheese board and you’ll be the talk of the soiree, especially if it includes this effortless black pepper–honey brie.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, vegetarian
• Serves: 4

This work of art can be made up to three days in advance and stored in the fridge. Just refresh it in the oven or toaster before serving to revive its flaky crust.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy, make ahead
• Serves: 10

These cuties are as versatile as they are delectable. You can either bake them as individual tarts or as one large tart, in which case just roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle.

• Time Commitment: 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegan, make ahead
• Serves: 4

Homemade aioli is sort of magical. If you don’t have time to make it from scratch while you roast the veg, you can just as easily start with high-quality, store-bought mayonnaise. (We told you these Thanksgiving potluck ideas were easy.)

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy
• Serves: 8

Roasted, stuffed or pureed into soup, we’ll eat winter squash any way you make it. And if you wrap it in a golden, flaky crust with some melted cheese, we’re ready to marry the final dish. Slice it into thin slivers for one crowd-pleasing appetizer.

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, <15 minutes, make ahead
• Serves: 6 cups

These savory nuts take 15 minutes to make and will disappear by the handful, so yeah, we’d say doubling the recipe is a no-brainer decision.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 10

Even if you’re not assembling the charcuterie platter this Thanksgiving, odds are it’ll be in attendance. Bring this bacon jam to serve on the side, and suddenly you’re a holiday hero.

• Time Commitment: 15 minutes
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, make ahead, crowd-pleaser, <15 minutes
• Serves: 10

Hello, most ingenious potato recipe of all time. These spuds are so foolproof, you don’t even need boiling water to make them (and you can refrigerate them for up to a day).

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, vegan, gluten free
• Serves: 6

A creamy salad dressing is far superior to all others, but bottled ranch isn’t going to cut it on Thanksgiving. This cashew dressing is just the thing to balance the bitter radicchio and tart apples, and no one will guess that it’s vegan.

• Time Commitment: 25 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, <30 minutes, vegetarian
• Serves: 6 to 8

Think of these pimento-cheese-stuffed shishito peppers as a trendy, classed-up version of jalapeño poppers. They’re spicy, festive finger food at its finest.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, make ahead
• Serves: 8 to 10

Want to know a secret? Everyone attending the dinner wishes there were pigs in a blanket involved. That’s where you (and these savory bites) come in.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: one pan, make ahead, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 9

Skip the sad, bagged dinner rolls and make this simple, one-skillet cornbread instead. It’s best served at room temperature, so bake it and let it cool before you even think about getting in the car.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 20 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion–worthy
• Serves: 6

Feta tart? We’ll bite… It’s a little bit sweet, a little bit salty and extremely delicious, plus it features a press-in crust that even beginner bakers can make.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, <10 ingredients, vegetarian
• Serves: 4

Normally we’d advise against bringing a green veg side to a potluck, since it’s best served piping hot. But these green beans flip the script: They’re served chilled, so you can make them days in advance.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: <10 ingredients, vegetarian
• Serves: 6 to 8

This colorful dish is bound to get you brownie points at your Thanksgiving potluck.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegan
• Serves: 6 to 8

Fries? Say no more.

• Time Commitment: 35 minutes
• Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, vegetarian
• Serves: 10

This is lighter than your average mashed tater, and the flavor is honestly just as good!

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 50 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion–worthy
• Serves: one 9-inch pie

Let someone else handle the pumpkin; you’re in charge of this custardy, spiced dessert. It’s basically a type of sugar pie, which just means it’s thickened with flour instead of eggs and is impossible to mess up.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, make ahead
• Serves: 24 mini pies

Want a dessert that looks impressive but is ready to go in under an hour? These itty-bitty pies will do the trick.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 5 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, special occasion–worthy
• Serves: 10

If a spiced pumpkin pie and a fluffy angel food cake had a delicious baby, it would be this pumpkin dessert. The cream cheese glaze is just gilding the lily.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 18

A sheet pan cake that’s ready in less than an hour will always beat out a complicated pie recipe. (Sorry to all the gorgeous lattice crusts out there.) Plus, who can deny that tangy, sweet apple cider frosting?

• Time Commitment: 4 hours, 25 minutes (includes chilling)
• Why We Love It: make ahead, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients
• Serves: 30

Whether you forgot to make dessert or save room for dessert, these impossibly simple, just-rich-enough truffles have your back.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 10 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, vegan, gluten free, make ahead
• Serves: 10

This stunning tart already features cinnamon in the filling, but you can add other warming spices such as cardamom, nutmeg or orange zest to take it up a notch.

• Time Commitment: 45 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, make ahead
• Serves: 12

Kids and adults alike won’t be able to resist a soft pumpkin cookie. Make them even better with the classic black-and-white frosting treatment.

• Time Commitment: 6 hours, 30 minutes (includes chilling time)
• Why We Love It: no cook, make ahead, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy
• Serves: 10 to 12

Other than the chill time, this layered custard is a breeze to make, plus it requires no fussing with a cooked custard and is laced with booze.

• Time Commitment: 55 minutes
• Why We Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, special occasion–worthy
• Serves: 32

Go ahead, make these cookies up to five (!) days ahead. Then pat yourself on the back for being so prepared for the Thanksgiving chaos.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: make ahead, kid-friendly, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 12

We’ve never met a snickerdoodle we didn’t like, and these caramel-stuffed cookies are no exception. (Of course, you could leave the caramel out…but why?)

• Time Commitment:
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly, make ahead
• Serves: 9

Haven’t you heard? Pie is out and brownies are in. We’re totally kidding, but these bites start with a boxed mix and taste like you spent hours in the kitchen, so you could make a case for the argument.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 6

Store-bought frozen puff pastry is the secret to making these bite-size pies look totally profesh with minimal effort on your part. Bring vanilla ice cream along and you’ll really win Thanksgiving.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly
• Serves: 10

Apples are the epitome of fall — take your average apple pie up a notch with one of these... and don't forget the vanilla ice cream.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead
• Serves: 12

Whether you're doing a Friendsgiving brunch or looking to bring dessert, this is definitely a winner.

• Time Commitment: 48 minutes
• Why We Love It: <500 calories, crowd-pleaser
• Serves: 32

For a not-so-sweet dessert, this one is guaranteed to impress.

• Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
• Why We Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead
• Serves: 24

Pumpkin and cheesecake? We'll take five.