A Thanksgiving turkey is a beautiful thing. It’s undeniably imposing, the focal protein of many holiday feasts and the (literal) anchor of the table. It feeds a crowd, dark and white meat lovers alike, and yields excellent leftovers: turkey soup, turkey sandwiches, turkey potpie. It’s the unofficial bird of November, the mascot of Thanksgiving, shorthand for the holiday itself.
But also: fried chicken.
Sohla El-Waylly has assembled a gorgeous Thanksgiving menu with golden, crispy sage fried chicken as the centerpiece. “It’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser,” writes Sohla, “letting the dinner feel like a real celebration. But it’s also great alongside a ton of sides, so you can still get in the Thanksgiving spirit loading up the table. And, best of all, when made properly, fried chicken is something turkey can never be — undeniably juicy.”
About those sides — there’s fluffy sour cream and onion mashed potatoes, hot-mustard gravy, salted butterflake rolls, crushed green bean salad with cranberry, quick dill pickles and Cheddar-smothered sweet potatoes. Oh, and there’s a pumpkin pecan sheet cake for dessert, to go with all the pies.
You can watch Sohla make her fried chicken feast here:
Sohla’s Fried Chicken Thanksgiving
But if it’s not Thanksgiving without a turkey, not to worry. We’ve got many excellent turkey recipes for you (with a new one from Eric Kim on the way). And fried chicken — as many a person standing in front of an open fridge chomping down on a drumstick can tell you — is good pretty much anytime, anywhere. Make it tonight. Make it this weekend. Make it for Friendsgiving. Make it for Christmas! Just be sure to make it sometime, because again: fried chicken.
Featured Recipe
Crispy Sage Fried Chicken
But maybe you’d prefer your chicken to be less crispy, more fall-off-the-bone tender. I’ve made Naz Deravian’s one-pot whole roasted chicken and rice twice now, and both times I’ve marveled at how luxurious it is for a recipe that’s so simple. Denise, a reader, agrees: “This is a joy to cook and satisfyingly delicious to eat as an autumn dinner.”
Are you tired of apples yet? Me neither. These skillet pork chops and apples with miso caramel from Ali Slagle look like a perfect dinner party option, but they’re weeknight fast — 30 minutes from pan to table. Serve with Julia Moskin’s perfect lemon-garlic kale salad and, naturally, Yossy Arefi’s apple cake for dessert.
And for the nights when you just need a heaping tangle of carbs with some greens thrown in for good measure, there’s this blond puttanesca from Colu Henry. Imagine a tomato-less take on everyone’s favorite punchy, garlicky, anchovy-y pasta, and you’re pretty much there. Colu’s recipe is not unlike Melissa Clark’s midnight pasta, so feel free, too, to make this one when you’re up late.
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