The 8 Essential Thanksgiving Dishes

"The biggest myth in all of American cookery is the belief that a juicy, perfectly cooked turkey is difficult for the novice cook to achieve," says Chef John. "One of the secrets to a moist, delicious, and beautiful turkey is spreading butter under the skin. You can season the butter any way you want; the possibilities are endless."

Did you know you can make this Thanksgiving staple ahead of time? Chef John even recommends it! "This make-ahead turkey gravy frees up valuable kitchen time for Thanksgiving, plus it will look and taste even better than those frantic, last-minute versions," he says.

A perfect counterpart to rich, savory turkey and gravy, this sweet stuffing stars apples and cranberries. "This Thanksgiving stuffing is fantastic," says Stacy M. Polcyn. "It is very flavorful and fresh-tasting. This recipe will stuff a 10-pound turkey plus extra. I replaced the usual pork sausage with much healthier turkey sausage. Other dried fruits may also be used in place of cranberries."

This sweet potato casserole goes strong on savory. Instead of brown sugar, maple syrup does the sweetening here. And the topping stars pistachios instead of mini-marshmallows, keeping things nice and savory. This classic casserole comes out of the oven beautiful and delicious, an amazing combination of tastes and textures.

"No cans here! Fresh mushrooms, onion, and herbs with frozen green beans, sour cream, and Cheddar cheese make this a delightfully tasty twist on the traditional casserole," says Auriel.

This quick-and-easy cranberry sauce is sweetened with maple syrup and spiced with freshly grated ginger, a splash of sweet port, a cinnamon stick. Toasted chopped walnuts finish things off. "The maple syrup sweetens it perfectly and the walnuts make the texture so much more interesting," says Chef John.

Simple and delicious. "If you love good, old fashioned mashed potatoes, this is the perfect recipe," says Esmee Williams.

Of all the desserts you could serve at Thanksgiving, pie should top the list. And if you're going to serve pie, pick pumpkin. Recipe submitter Cindy B. calls this top-rated pie's walnut streusel topping "optional," but you can't go wrong with streusel.