Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays of the year, and this means planning big meals.
While it’s perfectly alright to opt for a simple celebration that entails less planning, opting for a Thanksgiving catering service to bring you your holiday favorites will undoubtedly ease your burden, no matter the size of the crowd.
If you are planning on ordering food this Thanksgiving, take the first step to plan your menu, and don’t be fooled into thinking this just includes writing down a list of dishes.
For a proper Thanksgiving menu, you need to think of your guests, their dietary requirements, and of course, dishes that everyone will love.
Creative Thanksgiving Catering Ideas
With all this in mind, here are some great ideas to go for a different setting, making the best of your Thanksgiving catering service.
Restyle your Traditional Menu
Think of ways you can update the traditional Thanksgiving table.
Take a look into the menu options offered by your caterers and perhaps pick a new turkey dish that goes best with the rest of your menu.
Turkey pie, turkey drumsticks, or grilled turkey, for example, are some substitutes for roast turkey. Try main courses like baked salmon with parmesan toppings or roast Cornish hens for the main course outside of turkey. It can certainly spice up your table!
Order innovative seasonal favorites to your table—exchange your pumpkin pie for pumpkin cheesecake or spiced pumpkin lattes and replace the mashed potatoes with mashed potato puffs baked with bacon, cheese, or pepper.
With catering, you have a variety of food options so don’t hesitate to try the traditional foods with little tweaks to their recipes.
Celebrating with Thanksgiving brunch
Thanksgiving brunch is one of the most uncommon but welcomed ways to celebrate Thanksgiving. Instead of a big dinner, gather your nearest and dearest friends for brunch and order some brunch-worthy food.
Cornbread biscuit muffins, ham and cheese puffs together with spinach, sausage, and egg muffins are some timeless choices for your Thanksgiving brunch menu.
Since a whole turkey might look out of place for brunch, you can settle for something simpler like turkey sausages, turkey breast cooked with vegetables, or turkey meatballs coupled with pasta.
Bring the seasonal flavors to your table with pumpkin spice-flavored light delicacies like crepes, chocolate chip muffins, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pancakes, and pumpkin pie parfaits.
Add apple cider or apple ginger banana smoothies to the mix and create the classic Thanksgiving ambiance.
Going vegan
For those who follow vegan or vegetarian diets, the traditional thanksgiving table is never the right option. Instead, you can try these amazing vegan meals that will be right up your alley.
For the main course, take your pick from stuffed squash, stuffed Portobello, or roasted cauliflower. A chickpea meatloaf customized with ingredients of your preference like nuts, dried fruits, rice, or mushrooms also recreates the meat flavor, but with a vegan-friendly option.
Order creative side dishes, like zucchini casserole, squash casserole, sweet potato noodle salad with avocado, stuffed mushroom muffins, sweet potato casserole, and pumpkin ravioli.
Most caterers offer a vegan menu option so you can easily order a Thanksgiving meal that is free of any animal product.
Around the world recipes
Another out-of-the-box meal plan is an around-the-world Thanksgiving dinner. As the name suggests, don’t just settle for a traditional meal with turkey as your main course; instead, invite international flavors to your table.
Ask your Thanksgiving catering company about their international meal options and try a range of meals from around the world.
An all-time favorite main course is tandoori chicken made by mixing chicken with ginger, garlic, cumin, and chili powder. For more South Asian flavors, you can try turkey biryani, a one-pot meal native to India and Pakistan made by rice layered with tender meat of choice.
Some other options you can try are lasagna and lo main coupled with turkey or chicken.
Tacos and burritos to celebrate the Latin heritage on Thanksgiving day is another international Thanksgiving favorite.
Thanksgiving Catering—for a hassle-free and creative Thanksgiving table
With so many Thanksgiving menu ideas to try and so many preferences to consider, preparing them at home may not always be a practical option.
Instead, you can communicate all your menu preferences—the traditional, the non-traditional, and the ones in between—to a Thanksgiving catering company, and get your favorite meals ready and sizzling for the table!
