10 Easy Sheet-Pan Thanksgiving Recipes for Easy Cooking—and Cleanup!

A serving of root vegetable gratin on a plate with a fork garnished with herbs and set on a red background — Serious Eats / Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Styling: Abby Armstrong

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law asked me if I really needed to keep such a huge pile of sheet pans—I’m in the process of purging for a move in the near future—and after a few seconds of contemplation, I replied: heck yeah. I use my sheet pans baking, roasting, and cooking just about everything, including Thanksgiving dinner.

You really don't need to dirty every pot and pan you own to make a great Thanksgiving meal—not when you have great sheet-pan recipes like the 10 below, which take full advantage of the pan's versatility. You can roast a butterflied whole turkey with vegetables, bake biscuits, or even make an apple pie—all on a sheet pan.

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Spatchcocked (Butterflied) Roast Turkey with Gravy

Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

Sometimes speed and efficiency are reason enough to eschew traditional cooking methods, especially when it comes to roasting turkey. Removing the backbone lets you flatten the bird so you can roast it at a higher temperature, cutting the cooking time in half and freeing up precious oven space for other dishes.

Spatchcocked (Butterflied) Roast Turkey with Gravy
Sheet-Pan Root Vegetable Gratin

Serious Eats / Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Styling: Abby Armstrong

The thing about casserole-baked gratins is that there’s never quite enough crispy, cheesy sections to go around, and we’re all duking it out for the corner pieces. This spectacular sheet-pan root-vegetable gratin solves that problem by exposing more surface area to direct oven heat, maximizing browning and creating a higher crust-to-cream ratio. Now everyone gets both a crisp, cheesy top and a tender, saucy interior.

Sheet-Pan Root Vegetable Gratin
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Serious Eats / Mateja Zvirotic Andrijanic

I’m a firm believer in the power of crispy bacon to exponentially increase the delicious factor of vegetables. Here Brussels sprouts are roasted in smoky, flavorful rendered bacon fat until they’re caramelized and tender. Toasted pecans and a maple balsamic vinaigrette add crunch and a sweet-tangy edge.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon
Brown Butter Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Vicky Wasik

This savory, aromatic take on classic sweet potatoes starts with parcooked slices that are lightly tossed in oil and roasted on a sheet pan until they’re nicely browned and crispy around the edges. They’re then bathed in a rosemary-infused brown-butter glaze enriched with chicken stock and brightened with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Brown Butter Rosemary Roasted Sweet Potatoes

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Roasted Delicata Squash and Kale Salad with Hazelnut-Parmesan Crumble

Jillian Atkinson

This vibrant autumnal salad balances creamy, tender, naturally sweet delicata squash with hearty, earthy roasted kale, all tossed with a punchy mustard vinaigrette and a savory Parmigiano-Reggiano–toasted hazelnut crumble. Arranging thick cross-section squash slices around the perimeter of the sheet pan allows for even caramelization while leaving space to roast the kale in the center.

Roasted Delicata Squash and Kale Salad with Hazelnut-Parmesan Crumble
Buttermilk Drop Biscuits with Garlic and Cheddar

Photograph: Vicky Wasik. Video: Natalie Holt

Without question, you need biscuits at Thanksgiving—it’s just a matter of which type. I vote for these garlic and cheddar buttermilk drop biscuits. They’re easy to make, and you can toss the cheddar with the dry ingredients ahead of time.

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits with Garlic and Cheddar
Make-Ahead Roasted Squash and Kale Salad with Spiced Nuts, Cranberries, and Maple

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

Opting for a roasted vegetable salad like this one at Thanksgiving is one of the smartest ways to cut down on cooking-related stress. You can make the dressed salad up to five days in advance, and it only develops better flavor as it sits in the fridge.

Make-Ahead Roasted Squash and Kale Salad with Spiced Nuts, Cranberries, and Maple
The Best Roast Potatoes Ever

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

What’s the secret to roast potatoes with an impossibly crisp, crunchy exterior and a creamy, intensely potatoey interior? It’s all about choosing the right potato—preferably a medium-starch variety like Yukon Gold—and parboiling them in alkalinized (baking soda) water to break down their exteriors and create a starchy slurry that crisps beautifully in the oven. Use a high-quality fat such as olive oil or beef (or turkey) drippings to enhance the potatoes’ flavor.

The Best Roast Potatoes Ever

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Roasted Cauliflower With Pine Nut, Raisin, and Caper Vinaigrette

Photograph: J. Kenji López-Alt. Video: Serious Eats Video

When given the high-heat treatment, cauliflower becomes an entirely different vegetable than when it’s merely steamed. The interior turns tender, while the exterior develops crispy, caramelized edges. Slicing it into wedges rather than small florets amplifies those contrasting textures and the nuttiness from roasting, which pairs beautifully with the sweet-tangy Sicilian-style vinaigrette.

Roasted Cauliflower With Pine Nut, Raisin, and Caper Vinaigrette
Apple Pie Slab

Serious Eats / Fred Hardy

Apple slab pie is the perfect way to feed a large crowd at Thanksgiving and saves you the hassle of assembling multiple pies, because who has time for that? Baking the slab pie directly on a baking stone helps prevent soggy bottoms. Bake until the crust is golden brown and you're guaranteed crisp, sturdy slices every time.

Apple Pie Slab

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10 Easy Sheet-Pan Thanksgiving Recipes for Easy Cooking—and Cleanup!

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