Sides For Your Thanksgiving Meal: Part 1

by | Nov 1, 2024 | The Puréed Kitchen

four frames picturing different thanksgiving side dishes

One of the best parts of any Thanksgiving meal is the variety of sides to choose from. These four sides are all classics with a few little twists to make them extra special to elevate them for a special holiday meal.

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. It’s all about the food; celebrating the end of the harvest season; and cooking up all that bounty for your family! To me it has always signaled the end of a busy season and transitioning into the darker and colder months to come and settling into a different pace.

Holidays, however, do bring stressors as any person knows that is the main cook of the family. The key to managing the stress is to prepare in advance any foods that freeze well and get them made and into the freezer a few weeks ahead of the holiday. The squash and green bean casserole would freeze nicely. The cranberry sauce and sweet and sour beets can be made 1-2 days before the special meal.

Side #1: Roasted Squash with Sage

baking sheet of butternut squash chunks with bundle of fresh sage leaves. on the table ornamental pumpkins, bottle of olive oil, salt and pepper mills and vase of fall flowers

the ingredients you will need:

  • fresh sage leaves
  • winter squash (I used 2 butternut)
  • olive oil
  • sea salt and fresh ground pepper
  • Pureed thickened broth

Instructions: Peel squash and remove seeds. Cut into equal size cubes onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil , salt and pepper. Spread sage leaves on top. Bake at 400 degrees until tender and soft. Once cooled, remove sage leaves and add squash to the food processor and blend until smooth. (I did need to add 1 teaspoon of pudding thick broth when processing. Results may vary so thin or thicken as needed to fit a smooth pudding consistency.)

The smell in the kitchen is wonderful!
It’s a beautiful color, a heady scent, and a smooth robust flavor!

Side #2: Green Bean Casserole

I don’t really know why I make this every Thanksgiving but I do. It’s the familiarity and ease I guess to throw a dish together that takes no thought to make or very much time. I follow the Campbell’s soup recipe.

baking pan of green bean casserole baked and a dish of it pureed
It pureed to a light, soft and smooth texture. The green was a pretty color as well.

Ingredients you will need:

  • 1 can Campbell’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 4 cups cooked cut green beans
  • 1 1/3 cups French’s French Fried Onions

Instructions: Heat oven to 350 Degrees. Mix all of the ingredients including half of the fried onions (2/3 cup) and pour into a 1 1/2 quart oven safe casserole. Bake for 25 minutes or until hot and bubbling. Top with remaining onions and bake an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Blend in food processor until smooth consistency. (I did not have to add any additional liquid to thin down or food thickener to thicken to achieve a pudding consistency. Results may vary so test for appropriate consistency before serving. )

Side #3 and #4: Harvard Beets and Cranberry Sauce

Bottle of aunt nellie's Harvard beets and Hannaford jellied cranberry sauce with bowls in front of the bowls of each food pureed
Beautiful color and texture. Tastes amazing and very little effort.

For the Harvard beets, I literally opened the jar and dumped it into my food processor, added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and blended until smooth. I did not need to add any additional liquid to thin or food thickener to thicken it to get the lovely smooth pudding consistency. (Results may vary so do the spoon test on the beets you have purchased and add thickener if needed. ) Elderly people in the nursing homes loved Harvard beets any time they were on the menu. It’s a very quick and easy side dish for any meal and very pretty presented in a small bowl.

ingredients needed to make pureed cranberry sauce to include them laid out on a table with measuring spoons : cinnamon spice jar, can of jellied cranberry sauce, 2 quart jug of sweet apple cider, 1/2 gallon jug of pure maple syrup and bottle of simply thick food thickener

For the cranberry sauce I did doctor it up a bit to add extra nice touch for a holiday meal. I borrowed from homemade cranberry sauce recipes and came up with my own mix to add a little sweetness to cut down on the tartness of the cranberries. Take liberty and feel free to adjust the amounts of the added ingredients to your liking.

Ingredients you will need:

  • 14 ounce can jellied cranberry sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons of apple cider
  • 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup (could use honey)

Instructions: Add all ingredients to a small food processor and blend until smooth consistency. Adjust taste to your liking by adding more sweetener if needed. I did not have to add any additional liquid or food thickener to this recipe to achieve a smooth pudding consistency. Results may vary so adjust accordingly to get an appropriate pudding consistency by checking your results by using the spoon test.

four individual small bowls each of pureed foods for thanksgiving side dishes to include pureed roasted sage squash, pureed Harvard beets, pureed jellied cranberry sauce and pureed green bean casserole

Conclusion:

It’s always a great feeling of accomplishment when you can be ahead of the clock and have a head start on having some foods prepared for the upcoming holiday meal! These four sides were very easy to prepare for the busy caregiver. Your loved one is going to enjoy eating these dishes.

Please check next week for the next post, Part 2, of more Thanksgiving sides to try. Some of the foods will be traditional but I’ll throw in a surprise to keep it fresh and interesting. If you would like to watch me make these dishes check out the YouTube video. https://youtu.be/L16hH8A0ktM

Best wishes,

Jean